Every spring, caterpillars return to New Orleans in full force, dropping from the city’s historic oak trees and surprising anyone walking beneath them. These aren’t just any caterpillars. One of the most common species spotted around this time is the oak leafroller caterpillar (Archips semiferana), which feeds on the fresh leaves of Southern live oaks. […]
In 2020, Big Easy Magazine reported that one in three children in New Orleans were expected to experience food insecurity. The COVID-19 pandemic had devastated the economy, shuttered businesses, and pushed more families to rely on food banks and school meal programs just to get by. That moment revealed how fragile the city’s food access […]
Louisiana is facing a long emergency. Storms are more frequent. Insurance costs are rising. Jobs are not keeping pace. Climate change and economy are deeply connected — and all of it is holding the state back. The Data Center’s 2024 report, Pathways to Prosperity: Louisiana, shows that while the rest of the country added jobs […]
Louisiana residents are accustomed to weathering storms, but in recent years, it’s not hurricanes that have posed the greatest threat—it’s insurance. The Louisiana insurance crisis has led to rapidly rising premiums for home and auto insurance, squeezing the middle class across the state and impacting housing security, financial stability, and economic resilience. The current crisis […]
Editor’s Note: This article is intended as an exploratory overview of the past, present, and future of New Orleans East amid the climate crisis. While it draws from a wide array of public sources and verified data, it is not a long-form investigative feature. Instead, it serves as a foundation for ongoing conversations and reporting […]
Community Members Brace for More Betrayal in a New Era of Environmental Justice At the Wednesday, April 2nd meeting of the St. James Parish Council, I was shocked and personally disappointed to see that our councilmember for the 5th District of St. James, AJ Jasmin, introduced a resolution that called for the Parish Council “to […]
In the heart of wetlands in Louisiana, an ancient creature still roams—unchanged for millions of years and critical to the region’s ecological balance. The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is more than just a symbol of the bayou; it’s a living dinosaur whose survival is deeply intertwined with the health of the state’s fragile wetlands. Alligators: […]
If you’ve been sneezing more than usual this spring in New Orleans, you’re not alone. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), the Crescent City was recently ranked the second-worst city in the U.S. for seasonal allergies. That’s right—only Wichita, Kansas fared worse. For locals, this might not come as a surprise, […]
In a lot of places, climate change still feels like a distant threat. But here in New Orleans, it’s already here — not as some abstract warning, but as a daily reality. It’s in our streets, our homes, our wallets, and our skies. This isn’t just about the next big storm. It’s about what life […]
Defend Our Health (Defend) has just released a new Plastic Production Database that offers a comprehensive overview of the production process for the six most common plastics. The web tool supports advocates and activists who are combating the rapid expansion of the plastic industry by (1) providing data-driven facts and figures for robust, evidence-based data […]
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