Black and indigenous organizers from across the Mississippi River basin called to grant the river legal standing at a summit in late May. It’s part of a nascent movement that has won meaningful success abroad and is picking up steam in the U.S., with far-reaching implications.
Author Archives: Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco / WNIJ-Northern Public Radio
Juanpablo covers environmental, substandard housing and police-community relations. He’s been a bilingual facilitator at the StoryCorps office in Chicago. As a civic reporting fellow at City Bureau, a non-profit news organization that focuses on Chicago’s South Side, Ramirez-Franco produced print and audio stories about the Pilsen neighborhood. Before that, he was a production intern at the Third Coast International Audio Festival and the rural America editorial intern at In These Times magazine. Ramirez-Franco grew up in northern Illinois. He is a graduate of Knox College.
Posted inEnvironment
Sackett v. EPA ruling could roll back wetland protections in much of the Mississippi basin
The outcome of Sackett v. EPA could roll back the federal government’s authority to regulate wetlands.
Posted inEnvironment
Invasive black carp now thriving in the Mississippi River basin
The black carp, one of four invasive species of carp in North America, has made it into the Mississippi River basin.
Posted inEnvironment, Health & Welfare
Midwest river towns seek answers after 3M factory taints water with PFAS
Local officials want to reassure residents about their drinking water, even amid questions about health risks and who will pay to clean up the contamination.
Posted inEnvironment
To stay or to go: Increased flooding forces choices along the Mississippi River
As increased rainfall strains aging infrastructure, residents along the Mississippi River ask the same question: Do we pack up and move out?
Posted inEnvironment
Millions spent to keep invasive fish out of the Great Lakes, but who is protecting the Mississippi River?
As silver carp draw most attention, more than two dozen other invasive species inch closer to the Mississippi River Basin.