A federal judge in Lake Charles has permanently banned the EPA from using a civil rights rule to protect minority communities from high levels of pollution. “Disparate impact” regulations focus on whether pollution disproportionately affects people of a certain race. Verite News’ Tristan Baurick reports on the the misguided ruling:
“We’re not accusing pollution of discrimination,” [Executive director of the Concerned Citizens of St. John the Baptist Parish Robert Taylor], said. “We’re accusing the polluters of discrimination. And it’s obvious. They’re mostly dumping pollution in communities with Black people.” Several studies and reports have underscored the disproportionate burden of pollution faced by minority communities. One of the more recent reports, produced by National Minority Quality Forum and CEO Roundtable on Cancer, found that racial and ethnic minorities make up 56% of the people living within two miles of a carcinogenic waste-producing site.
Grow your own teachers
New Orleans, like the rest of the country, is facing a shortage of quality teachers. The Times Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Marie Fazio explains how Crescent City education leaders are turning to programs that create a student-to-teacher pipeline:
This year, nine New Orleans high schools have enrolled 135 students in “grow your own” teacher programs like KIPP’s, which give high schoolers teaching experience and a guaranteed job after college. … About 73% of teachers in New Orleans return year-to-year. Ross said the district aims for an 80% retention rate to “stabilize the system.” In an NSNO poll of departing educators, teachers cited low pay, increased workload since the pandemic and issues with direct supervisors or school leaders as top reasons for leaving the profession.
Should DCFS share medical records?
Years of budget cuts and staffing shortages has hindered the state Department of Children and Family Services from responding to the most serious cases of child abuse and neglect. A department policy to not share medical records and other information of children in state care could be derailing adoption efforts. The Times Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Andrea Gallo explains:
Sherry Watters, who spent decades as a DCFS attorney, said that while prospective adoptive parents do not have legal rights to medical information, the agency will sometimes share it to facilitate an adoption. She said it can be a double-edged sword: A foster child could sue over the information being shared, but they could also argue the agency botched their chance at adoption. … “It’s so rare that you find people that are willing to try to adopt teenagers, so you’d think they’d want to facilitate it as well as they could,” Watters said.
Solar energy misinformation
A legislative hearing on the development of solar energy was filled with false and misleading statements. The Louisiana Illuminator’s Wesley Muller fact checks some of the more notable claims, including that federal subsidies have created an unlevel playing field for renewable energy sources:
Louisiana has received $156 million in federal solar subsidies under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the major source of federal clean energy funding. This amount is small compared with the roughly $1.6 billion in state tax subsidies that Louisiana hands out to the oil and gas industry each year, according to Louisiana Department of Revenue data. That amount doesn’t include fossil fuel subsidies from the state’s most lucrative incentive, the Industrial Tax Exemption Program.
Number of the Day
1,086 – Number of applications for Louisiana’s fortified roofing program that will not receive funding. The state received 3,150 applications, but many go unfunded for various reasons, such as costs homeowners must incur that exceed grant amounts. (Source: Louisiana Department of Insurance via the Louisiana Illuminator)