Hurricane Katrina struck southeast Louisiana on 29 August 2005, flooding roughly 80% of New Orleans and causing $17 billion in damages in Orleans Parish. All ten area colleges and universities were affected, displacing about 84,000 students and 15,000 faculty, with Louisiana's public universities sustaining $500-600 million in physical damage and over $150 million in lost tuition and revenue, plus $75 million in immediate budget cuts.
nature.com
· 2026-10-19
California lawmakers passed AB 1661, directing $5 million in penalty funds from oil wells near Inglewood toward direct cash payments for up to 1,000 households affected by respiratory or reproductive health issues linked to nearby drilling. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Isaac G. Bryan, would offer eligible households as much as $5,000 each and awaits Governor Gavin Newsom's signature, expected by October. The funding draws from a state repair and reinvestment account meant for communities closest to the oil field, which sits near predominantly Black neighborhoods like Ladera Heights and Baldwin Hills.
wired.com
· 2026-09-19
Activists in Philadelphia, led by Shawmar Pitts of Philly Thrive, are pushing for a moratorium on new AI data centers after city officials identified potential construction sites in Northeast Philadelphia and Grays Ferry, a neighborhood near a shuttered oil refinery. Pitts and his neighbors, many of whom suffered health problems linked to decades of industrial pollution, worry that data centers could bring similar environmental and energy burdens despite promises of jobs and growth.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-15
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