This story was produced in partnership with Canopy Atlanta. Columbus Ward, a longtime resident of Peoplestown, has watched storms sweep through his neighborhood for decades, carrying sewage and stormwater into streets and homes. He said he remembers when Atlanta rerouted major sewer lines ahead of the 1996 Olympics due to the construction of the Centennial […]
Environmental Justice
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Georgia Power Expansion for Data Centers Greenlit, Sparking Outrage
State regulators gave Georgia Power permission on Friday to massively expand its power plant facilities across the state. The decision came despite vocal opposition from environmental justice groups, who argue the project — aimed at ensuring future data center owners have the energy they need to operate — could cause people’s energy bills to rise […]
Posted inEconomic Development, Environmental Justice, Gentrification, Politics & Policy
How 20 Years of the Atlanta Beltline Made the City Cleaner and Greener
In the new series From Harm to Healing, Capital B is putting a spotlight on how pollution and environmental dangers are threatening Black communities, and the people who are working to fight back against these threats to health. For longtime resident Tristain O’Donnell, who has lived in the southwest Atlanta neighborhoods of Capitol View and […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Politics & Policy
South DeKalb Residents Protest Data Center Plan, Delay Vote
A vote on new data center regulations in DeKalb County has been postponed to Dec.16 after a heated zoning meeting Thursday where residents shouted grievances, demanded answers, and some were removed from the chamber. The deferral underscores the growing frustration of South DeKalb communities — particularly Black neighborhoods like Ellenwood, where a large-scale data center […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
West Atlanta Turns Flood Zone Into a Park That Protects Homes
In the new series From Harm to Healing, Capital B is putting a spotlight on how pollution and environmental dangers are threatening Black communities, and the people who are working to fight back against these threats to health. For decades, flooding in the West Atlanta neighborhoods of Vine City and English Avenue had been more than […]
Posted inEducation, Extreme Weather, HBCUs, Higher Education
Caribbean Students Gather for AUC Prayer Vigil as Hurricane Melissa Continues Path of Destruction
Atlanta may feel distant from the impact of Hurricane Melissa, but for some Caribbean students at Spelman College, Morehouse College, and Clark Atlanta University, the storm is impossible to escape as they balance classes with news updates and missed calls and messages from home. Reports after the hurricane made landfall Tuesday were devastating, with news […]
Posted inEconomic Development, Environmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Georgia’s Data Centers Are Multiplying Fast — and Largely Untracked
Georgia’s data center expansion is rapidly transforming the state’s economic and physical landscape, from metro Atlanta to rural counties. Major tech companies like Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft are investing heavily in the Peach State, buying up land and building massive server farms to power the digital age. Rising utility bills and environmental impacts caused by […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
How One Woman Turned a Polluted River Into a Protected Community Treasure
In the new series From Harm to Healing, Capital B is putting a spotlight on how pollution and environmental dangers are threatening Black communities, and the people who are working to fight back against these threats to health. In 2010, DeKalb County officials actively discouraged residents from getting too close to the South River. Signs were […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Black Community in South Fulton Fights Georgia’s Data Center Boom
When Yvonne Cole Boone bought her home in South Fulton in 2018, she envisioned a peaceful retirement surrounded by family and friends, spending her days planting new flowers and fruit in her front-yard garden. Her house, nestled in an expansive residential community called Oakley Township, is in a neighborhood Boone says her family naturally fits […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Health, Politics & Policy
Atlanta Neighborhood Says City Failed to Protect Them From Unwanted Gas Station
When Amber Burks became the first person to move into Aviary Park, a new townhome complex on Greenbriar Parkway, she was excited to see how the community would transform and grow over time. But what she didn’t expect three years ago was for the neighborhood to be in an ongoing feud with the city over […]