Covering environmental justice across the basin

Across the Mississippi River basin, our journalists are devoted to shining light on how pollution, extreme weather and other environmental issues impact the most vulnerable.

From efforts to right environmental injustices in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, to the lack of air conditioning during a record Midwest heat wave, to inequitable access to emergency alerts in Louisville, Desk reporters are highlighting some of the most important issues in the basin this summer.

Read on for these headlines and more from our partner newsrooms, and stay tuned for more stories from the collaborative.

Thanks for being with us,

Tegan Wendland

Ag & Water Desk Editorial Director

PS: Our home base, the University of Missouri, is sharing the good news about our first year and our expanded grant funding — click to read more and hear from the team.

Headlines from the basin

Note: Some stories may be paywalled. If you can, we encourage you to support our partners and reporters and your local news outlets with a subscription or donation.

Shuttered EPA civil rights investigation:

Our expert journalist advisor Halle Parker of WWNO/WRKF investigates the unraveling of federal and state negotiations meant to aid Louisiana’s polluted Cancer Alley. Halle’s story was picked up by the Associated Press this week.

Our reporting on NPR:

The Ag & Water Desk’s latest story, on how regulatory gaps leave farmworkers at risk from increasing extreme heat, aired on Science Friday and NPR’s All Things Considered.

It’s also the subject of a Star Tribune editorial, and available en español.

Solar power in Tennessee:

Keely Brewer of The Daily Memphian digs into why Memphis, under the Tennessee Valley Authority, lags behind the rest of the country in solar growth.

Access to emergency alerts:

Emergency alerts in Louisville aren’t reaching the people who need them most, and those who do receive them are often left with more questions than answers. Connor Giffin of the Courier Journal has that story.

Air conditioning and extreme heat:

Home cooling access can be a life-saving luxury that many don’t have or can’t afford even in record-setting Midwest temperatures, with the heat index hitting 120 degrees recently in Eastern Iowa. Brittney J. Miller of The Gazette reports in Cedar Rapids.

Deepening drought:

Dry conditions are persisting across the Midwest, threatening crops and ecosystems. Chloe Johnson reports for the Star Tribune in Minnesota, and Brittney J. Miller has a story for The Gazette in Iowa.

Climate-smart ag complications:

Our expert journalist Chris Clayton of DTN/The Progressive Farmer reports on a vexing problem facing farmers in credit carbon programs, which remains unsolved in the new $3.1 billion Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities: “additionality.”

How is extreme weather affecting you?

We invite you to share your stories for our ongoing series A Changing Basin.

How are you and your community dealing with floods and intense rainfall, extreme heat, wildfire smoke and other new hazards in the Mississippi River basin?

Let us know and please share with friends and family!

Spread the word: We’re looking for newsrooms to host 10 new Ag & Water Desk reporters

We are recruiting 10 newsrooms to host our next cohort of Ag & Water Desk reporters through Report for America. Applications are due September 18. Find details here. We’d love for you, our readers, to use this quick email template to let your local outlets’ editors know about this opportunity. Thanks in advance for sharing!