LSU’s fossil-fuel partnerships
At Louisiana’s flagship university, oil companies can influence research and coursework for a price. One critic described the industry votes on research agendas, as described in the boilerplate document, as “an egregious violation of academic freedom.”
Recent Posts
Where Was Exxon Planning to Inject CO2 in Louisiana? It’s a Trade Secret.
Two dozen carbon capture projects are proposed in Louisiana — but where is a bit of a mystery. A 2021 state law regulating carbon capture includes a provision allowing companies to claim a wide range of project information — including location — as trade secrets.
Thousands of food-stamp recipients may face stricter work requirements
In Louisiana, one of the nation’s most impoverished states, recipients could easily lose food stamps through the work-requirement red tape, advocates say. The sponsoring legislator says that “work provides lasting value we can give back to our families, our community, and God.”
Greenfield wins in St. John, for the moment
After the parish council granted heavy-industrial zoning to Greenfield Louisiana for its grain terminal, Greenfield’s legal counsel thanked supporters for enduring a lengthy legal back-and-forth. But the Banner sisters, founders of The Descendants Project, pledged that the battle would continue.
Join us April 18 for a new event: Breaking Bread, Breaking News
New Orleans and South Louisiana have a rich tradition of gathering, and food plays a major part in bringing people together. When people gather and eat, they inevitably talk about the issues of the day. For many people that means what is happening in their own backyards. Local news as it were.
St. John the Baptist Council could sanction ‘dangerous formula’
While a judge ruled it was too early to block rezoning for the Greenfield Grain Terminal, neighbors fear that the parish council could sanction what one advocate called a “dangerous formula” used in the rezoning plan. That formula, she said, could expose Wallace, and the entire parish, to encroachment by industrial developers.
Let the bargaining begin
In a Tuesday letter to Tulane University president Michael A. Fitts, a group of non-tenured faculty asked him to recognize their new union, Tulane Workers United. An election is likely in early May.
opinion
Needed: a grid for the future
When the power goes out, it shuts down the economy and potentially costs lives. And while we can’t control the weather, better-planned transmission lines can help ensure that power outages happen less frequently and are less costly when they do occur. What we need is a buildout of regional transmission lines across our state and…
There’s healing to be done in New Orleans, say descendants of Homer Plessy and John H. Ferguson
At the top edge of the Bywater, where Royal Street crosses the railroad tracks, a plaque marks a moment that changed our nation’s history. A shoemaker named Homer Plessy was arrested here in 1892 for sitting in a passenger railcar designated for “whites.” The arrest was planned; Plessy’s friends, the Citizens Committee, called ahead to…
Paintbrush, iPad, or Glock?
Recently, I attended a showcase at the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center, where this city’s arrested youth are held pre-trial. I was invited by artist Journey Allen, who directs youth education for the Young Artists Movement (YAM), the citywide mural initiative that I helped to found eight years ago. To present the showcase, JJIC set up…
Let’s make plans together about the future of our beloved City Park
We both started working at Grow Dat Youth Farm because we needed jobs. We knew very little about gardening and didn’t know how we’d fit in. We found a crew of people who supported us and helped us to appreciate the natural setting within Grow Dat’s corner of City Park. Now, that magical place is…
PODCAST
Behind The Lens episode 234: ‘Rabble-rousing at the Big Green’
La’Shance Perry on St. John Parish’s vote on rezoning for Greenfield. Delaney Dryfoos on Gov. Landry’s Task Force for Sewerage and Water Board. And Katy Reckdahl on union organizing at Tulane University.
About the Lens
The Lens aims to engage and empower the residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We provide the information and analysis necessary to advocate for more accountable and just governance.