From forced labor to forced exposure, Black communities still bear the burden of pollution and environmental injustices rooted in slavery and systemic racism. This multimedia storytelling series traces that unbroken line—revealing the past, exposing the present, and charting a path toward a brighter tomorrow.
Explore Plantations to Pollution: Black Communities, Legacy Pollution, and the Path Forward at our link in bio or go to PlantationsToPollution.SELC.org
Slide one photo: @cornwhizzle
Slide two, five photo: Steve Jones
Slide six video: @trlawwmedia
BREAKING: After six years of pressure from local partners, advocates, and SELC, a major threat to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has been defeated.
Twin Pines Minerals LLC is selling its property on Trail Ridge — halting its push to mine on the doorstep of one of the world’s most important wetlands. This deal, made possible by the incredible work of The Conservation Fund, marks a major win for the Okefenokee.
Over 250,000 people raised their voices for the swamp. And together, we proved that when citizens, advocates, and conservationists unite, we can achieve the extraordinary.
Learn more about these permanent protections and the history of this incredible place at our link in bio.
Photo by @JoelwCaldwell
Full statement about the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision weakening Section 2 from SELC President and Executive Director DJ Gerken:
"We cannot have a healthy environment without a healthy democracy. The root cause of environmental injustice is the denial of political power.
Polluting industries often target communities they believe are the path of least resistance: communities they think lack the representation, resources, or political power to fight back. Again and again, those communities prove them wrong. And when SELC has the privilege of standing beside them, we see their strength, determination, and courage.
But the long-term solution to environmental injustice cannot be one community fighting one polluter at a time. The real solution is a political system that values every community, listens to every citizen, and gives every person a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape their health, safety, and future.
For more than 60 years, the Voting Rights Act has been one of the great tools our nation used to move toward that promise, especially here in the South. The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision weakening Section 2 risks deepening the imbalance of power the Act was designed to correct.
That will have many consequences, including for environmental justice.
When communities are denied fair representation, polluters have more room to exploit them. Their concerns are easier to ignore. Their neighborhoods are more likely to be burdened with dirty air, unsafe water, toxic sites, and infrastructure no one else wants.
We should all work to uphold democracy.
And SELC will continue standing with communities denied a political voice, using the law to ensure that clean air and clean water are protected equally for everyone."
Photo of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act into law by Yoichi Okamoto.
With data center growth and skyrocketing fossil fuel prices, electricity bills for Virginians have gone up more than 23% over the past two years. This is an unprecedented time in Virginia and throughout the South where clean energy is under attack at the federal level.
Yesterday, Governor Abigail Spanberger made a stop in Charlottesville to sign eight energy affordability bills that were passed during the 2026 legislative session. SELC’s Virginia office was honored to host the signing.
These are the types of solutions that can help us combat rising bills while staying on track for our clean energy transition.
Senior Attorney Nate Benforado works alongside clean energy advocates across the state during the General Assembly. “The bills signed today continue to advance solar and other affordable clean energy options that we desperately need in the Commonwealth,” he said.
After posting record profits in 2025, monopoly Utility Duke Energy is doubling down on expensive gas resources for its proposed Carbon Plan and Integrated Resource Plan. SELC filed expert testimony on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Vote Solar, and Sierra Club, urging the commission to see the missed opportunities in prior plans and many flaws in Duke’s current plan.
Instead of putting the needs of their customers first, Duke seems to be pursuing profit over affordability and failing to protect customers from its planned over reliance on volatile gas.
As our climate continues to change and we face new challenges, experts noted that relying more heavily on clean energy sources better positions North Carolina customers for a reliable, affordable energy system under an array of likely future conditions.
Learn more at our link in bio.
Alabama is in great hands with all these incredible folks talking about river and water protection at #RiverRally2026 in San Antonio! ARA’s Charles Miller will be presenting about data centers with @southernenvironment ’s Ryan Anderson and @blackbeltwr ’s Portia Shepherd will be presenting about infrastructure throughout the South. Collaborating, sharing and hearing others is such an important part of what we do at ARA!
UPDATE: The North Carolina Department of Transportation's pause on the I-77 expansion until June is a step in the right direction. Now let’s make it count with a transparent process where community input drives real outcomes and viable alternatives are openly considered.
The State of North Carolina has a choice to make: It can repair the harms of the past or repeat them.
Happy Global Big Day.
Spring migration is underway. This year not only are we looking out for our favorite birds, we’re also talking to one of our favorite birders, @ChristianCooperBirder .
He recently sat down with our Webby-award-winning podcast team at Broken Ground to talk about his favorite bird — the Blackburnian warbler — and why birding is good for biodiversity and good for the soul.
Have a listen at our link in bio.
Photo by Ray Hennessy
#GlobalBigDay #BigDay #Birding #Warbler
Toxic emissions from the xAI’s unpermitted power plant threaten to do long-lasting harm to nearby communities in Memphis, Tennessee and Southaven, Mississippi. SELC, NAACP, and Earthjustice are asking the court to grant urgent relief asap.
xAI’s power plant pumps out staggering levels of smog-forming nitrogen oxides, fine particulate matter, and hazardous chemicals like formaldehyde. These pollutants are tied to increases in asthma, respiratory diseases, heart problems, and certain cancers.
- The 33 unpermitted gas turbines that make up xAI’s power plant have the potential to emit a staggering amount of toxic air pollution each year:
- 2,507 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx). These emissions numbers likely make the facility the largest industrial source of NOx in the greater Memphis area, an area already failing to meet national smog standards.
- 236 tons of fine particulate matter, which causes premature death and is linked to cancer, asthma attacks, and hospitalizations and emergency room visits for severe heart and lung diseases.
- 837 tons of carbon monoxide.
- 25 tons of formaldehyde—a toxic, cancer-causing chemical.
Learn more about how communities in Memphis and North Mississippi are pushing back on xAI’s dirty operations and fighting for clean air at our link in bio.
Photo by Steve Jones/Southwings
Sledge Forest spans thousands of acres in New Hanover County — home to rare old-growth swamp forest, some of the state’s oldest longleaf pines, and a nationally significant Natural Heritage Area.
Now, it’s under threat.
In October 2024, a developer announced plans for a massive development that would cram up to 4,000 homes, plus a golf course, into this ecologically sensitive landscape, putting wetlands, streams, and surrounding communities at risk in a region already vulnerable to severe storms.
Recently, County staff conditionally approved 1,800 units of this development without any public input— relying on a flawed interpretation of local conservation rules that could open the door to even more development, including the remaining 2,200 units originally planned.
SELC has filed an appeal to challenge that decision to protect this special place and was granted a temporary stay on construction permits in a unanimous vote by the board on April 28.
Stay in the know on this evolving issue and sign up for @SaveSledgeForest 's newsletter at our link in bio and give them a follow.
Photo courtesy of Save Sledge Forest/@Bootscrap
Victory in Virginia: The Commonwealth is rejoining a climate program that holds polluters accountable while securing a healthier and safer future for every Virginian.
Ongoing success with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, proves that Southern states can lead the way on climate action.
As the first Southern state to turn carbon auctions into hundreds of millions of dollars for flood-prone neighborhoods and energy-burdened families, Virginia isn’t just lowering its emissions — it is laying a roadmap for a resilient, clean-energy economy that other Southern states can no longer afford to ignore.
Read more at the link in our bio.
