The Upper Mississippi, endangered red wolves, & Florida fires
As I walked across the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca in Minnesota, I couldn’t help but think about the Gulf of Mexico. The…
Poisoned water, a black lung epidemic, & flash flooding
When I arrived back in Louisville after six days in Eastern Kentucky, I forgot I was allowed to drink water from the faucet. So thirsty, I…
Southern soil, artificial oyster reefs, & new national monuments
There is a wall in the Legacy Museum in Montgomery lined with dozens of jars of soil gathered from the sites of lynchings around the country. Each is…
Holly Beach, light pollution, & America’s dumping ground
I sat on the shore of Holly Beach, Louisiana, watching the tide creep up the sand. The distant offshore oil rigs, which shined brighter than the…
Rate hikes, border zones, & Walter Anderson’s landscapes
When the board of directors for Tennessee Valley Authority—the country’s largest public power utility that serves 9 million people in seven Southern states—unanimously approved a new “grid…