In northeast Houston, residents are creating solar-powered “hub homes” to serve as community refuges during power outages, filling the gap left by the lack of formal resilience...
Mandatory Home Buyouts in Houston, Texas: Program Overview and Lessons Learned

Houston’s Harris County initiated the first large-scale mandatory home buyout program in the U.S. after Hurricane Harvey, targeting flood-prone neighborhoods. The program, part of "Project Recovery," aims to relocate 585 households and 390 business owners by 2026. While designed to mitigate future flood damage, the program disproportionately affects low-income, predominantly Latino communities. Challenges include inadequate financial compensation, confusing case management, and a lack of affordable replacement housing. Lessons emphasize the need for high-quality communication, support for vulnerable participants, and planning for relocation difficulties. These insights could guide future mandatory buyout efforts in flood-prone areas.
Houston’s air pollution, especially PM2.5, is rising again, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities near industry...
Internal documents and whistleblower accounts reveal that Trump appointees at HUD have gutted enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, slashing staff, blocking cases,
Houston leads major U.S. cities in poverty, with 21.2% of residents—over 500,000 people—living below the federal threshold...
After 26 years at EPA, environmental justice pioneer Charles Lee retires and joins Howard University’s Environmental and Climate Justice Center, arguing that despite Trump...
Two decades after Hurricane Katrina, overlooked survivors are reclaiming their narratives through TikTok, challenging long-standing portrayals from 2005.
The Sierra Club fired Executive Director Ben Jealous after no-confidence votes, budget cuts, layoffs, and misconduct concerns. Union leaders welcomed his departure...
U.S. clean hydrogen projects are collapsing amid shortened tax credit deadlines, rising energy costs, and policy shifts, leaving most proposals ineligible and investors...
A coalition of nonprofits, tribes, and local governments filed a class-action lawsuit against the EPA, demanding reinstatement of a $3bn climate justice grant program halted...
The Trump administration’s move to revoke the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases marks a major policy reversal, undermining decades of climate protections...
Ben Jealous was placed on leave by the Sierra Club amid widespread internal dissent over his leadership, with staff citing failed vision, contentious layoffs...
The UN's International Court of Justice declared climate change a human rights issue, advising that nations must act or risk reparations, influencing global litigation...
The Trump administration has targeted over 4,000 federal grants worth up to $8.2 billion for termination across 600+ U.S. colleges, disproportionately affecting public...
The USDA under the Trump administration has eliminated the term “socially disadvantaged” from its policies, ending race- and gender-based support programs for minority farmers...
President Trump's elimination of federal DEI programs has halted essential USDA funding to East Texas Black farmers, further endangering their livelihoods amid decades...















