"In a backyard in the Bronx in the mid-1980s, a vine laden with sweet-smelling tomatoes came as a revelation to urban gardening guru Karen Washington. 'It was tomatoes that really got me hooked on growing food, because I hated tomatoes,' she said, laughing at the memory."
As Democratic New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland prepares to possibly become the first Native American Interior secretary, it's becoming clearer than ever that environmental concerns are deeply intertwined with Native American life. But news media often ignore the connections, missing important stories as a result. Our new Backgrounder helps set that to rights by spotlighting 10 key environmental issues affecting Native American communities and offering a dozen-and-a-half reporting resources.
"Even for a pandemic, Main Street is quiet, maybe the quietest it's been during the decade of furious construction that built western North Dakota's Bakken oil fields into the second largest oil-producing region in the nation."
As hurricane season gets into full swing, a perpetual paradox reemerges — does disaster aid help or harm? Government financial assistance in a disaster’s wake may seem a boon, but could it just encourage communities to repeat the mistakes of the past? The latest TipSheet explores the question and provides context, reporting resources and story ideas.
"Early in 2019, a year before the world shut its borders completely, Jorge A. knew he had to get out of Guatemala. The land was turning against him. For five years, it almost never rained. ... Jorge knew then that if he didn’t get out of Guatemala, his family might die, too."
"The group is speaking out against John Muir, its founder and an environmental icon who fought to preserve nature and disparaged African Americans and Native Americans".
"Young climate activists like Jamie Margolin are building a movement while growing up — planning mass protests from childhood bedrooms and during school."
"Low-income Black and Latino communities will be pummeled by the Trump administration’s changes to the nation’s permitting rules for federal infrastructure projects, according to environmental justice leaders across the country."
"On the eve of a new coronavirus reporting system this week, data disappeared from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website as hospitals began filing information to a private contractor or their states instead. A day later, an outcry — including from other federal health officials — prompted the Trump administration to reinstate that dashboard and another daily CDC report on the pandemic."
"The decision to suspend seasonal visas is expected to hurt forestry firms as well as state and federal governments."
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