The Mississippi River is the nation’s most endangered river, a national conservation group says, because of federal plans to cut flood relief programs as severe weather threats grow.

A project in the Yazoo Backwater Area in western Mississippi is supposed to relieve flooding in the Mississippi Delt, but it could also damage thousands of acres of wetlands on a floodplain stretching into Louisiana.

In a surprise agenda change for Wednesday’s meeting, the Louisiana Public Service Commission will consider terminating a statewide energy efficiency program it just recently hired a contractor to run after spending 14 years to create it.

Residents of the mostly Black communities sandwiched between chemical plants along the lower Mississippi River have long said they get most of the pollution but few of the jobs produced by the region’s vast petrochemical industry.

While the science is clear – wetlands have lots of benefits and we know how to build more of them – the future is not. The growing Wax Lake Delta provided data for the now-stalled Mid-Barataria sediment diversion, which is designed to rebuild wetlands in nine parishes along the Louisiana Gulf Coast.

The most recent park planning meeting proposed reviving old structures and expanding trails.

Join the staff of WWNO 89.9 FM and the hosts of Sea Change on the evening of April 30 at the New Orleans Jazz Museum.

Experts say the drop in abundance is largely due to chemical use, habitat loss and a warming climate.

A leak – significant, yet small by Louisiana standards – has highlighted concerns about the state’s response to such leaks under the Trump administration and Gov. Jeff Landry.

A federal appellate court says a civil rights lawsuit alleging a south Louisiana parish engaged in racist land-use policies by placing polluting industries in majority-Black communities can move forward.