Environment News

Van Jones returns: 'I'm more committed to the politics of hope now'

By Karen Finney

9:19 AM on 02/26/2010

OPINION - So what's on Jones' mind these days? Everything from the meaning of the NAACP Image award to the African-American community's role in the green economy...

TheGrio's 100: Robert Bullard, Father of environmental justice inspires next generation

By Brentin Mock

5:00 AM on 02/10/2010

TheGrio's 100 - For three decades Robert Bullard's been publishing reports and books that have spelled out precisely where environmental dangers lay...

TheGrio's 100: Shelton Johnson, park ranger bringing kids to nature

By Brentin Mock

8:00 AM on 02/06/2010

TheGrio's 100 - Shelton Johnson has worked in National Park service for more than 20 years. He did not grow up in a small town in the mountains, but in industrial Detroit...

TheGrio's 100: Jerome Ringo, proving blacks can go green

By Brentin Mock

5:00 AM on 02/01/2010

TheGrio's 100 - He's worked staunchly as an environmental justice advocate fighting for safer work conditions...

TheGrio's 100: Kari Fulton, to be young, green, and black

By Talia Whyte

4:59 AM on 02/01/2010

TheGrio's 100 - Did you know that it's cool to be black and green? Kari Fulton has been leading the charge...

Environmental effects on people of color need Obama's attention

By Brentin Mock

9:24 AM on 12/10/2009

OPINION - If President Obama is supposed to be more sympathetic to special interests - including the impact of climate change on black people - because of his skin tone and ancestry, he's not showing any signs.

African-Americans need to 'raise hell' about climate change

By Talia Whyte

8:10 AM on 09/23/2009

OPINION - Right here in the United States, there are serious climate issues that need to be addressed, and these problems disproportionately affect African Americans...

Van Jones' resignation shouldn't change future of green jobs

By Brentin Mock

8:22 AM on 09/08/2009

OPINION - The resignation of Van Jones does not have to equal the end of green jobs for the poor.

Obama's environmental adviser resigns over controversial remarks

By theGrio via AP

9:15 AM on 09/05/2009

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's environmental adviser Van Jones, who became embroiled in a controversy over past inflammatory statements...

Katrina gives New Orleans chance to turn green

By Lisa Jackson

9:12 AM on 08/28/2009

OPINION - I was visiting my mother in the 9th Ward of New Orleans just days before Hurricane Katrina hit. My mother lost everything she had.

Environmental threats contaminate our health and prosperity

By Lisa Jackson

8:01 AM on 08/18/2009

OPINION - The health and prosperity of African Americans, now and in the years ahead, depend on our work to create clean, safe environments in the places where we live, work, play and learn.

EPA head on how environment affects you

By Cynthia Gordy

1:53 PM on 08/10/2009

As the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa P. Jackson wears many hats

Black organizations at odds over climate bill

By Brentin Mock

11:40 AM on 07/20/2009

Last week's brouhaha between Harry Alford, National Black Chamber of Commerce [NBCC] president, and Sen. Barbara Boxer, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, dispelled any assumptions that all African Americans are on board for the new clean energy bill going through Congress...

Palin should spend less energy on energy

By Brentin Mock

7:43 AM on 07/18/2009

(AP Photo/The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, Robert DeBerry) Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced on July 3 that she was resigning her seat and since then people have wondered what her new focus would be. Earlier this week, she revealed in a Washington Post op-ed that her focus would be on advocating...

Give green jobs to ex-cons

By Talia Whyte

7:10 AM on 07/14/2009

Green jobs are all the rage these days. In February, President Obama signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law; $75 billion of which is earmarked to help American businesses create eco-friendly jobs. During a recent weekly radio address, President Obama touted the thousands of jobs that...

Is the climate bill good for black America?

By Brentin Mock

9:15 AM on 07/01/2009

Last Friday, the American Climate and Energy Security [ACES] Act sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) passed through the House bringing the U.S. one step closer to legislation that addresses our global warming and energy problems. The bill passed by a slim margin, 219 to 212...

Lesbian sgt. discharged after police outed her to Air Force

OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) - Jene Newsome played by the rules as an Air Force sergeant: She never told anyone in the military she was a lesbian...