Instagram Story Save

From forced labor to forced exposure, Black communities still bear the burden of pollution and environmental injustices rooted in slavery and systemic racism. This multimedia storytelling series traces that unbroken line—revealing the past, exposing the present, and charting a path toward a brighter tomorrow.

Explore Plantations to Pollution: Black Communities, Legacy Pollution, and the Path Forward at our link in bio or go to PlantationsToPollution.SELC.org

Slide one photo: @cornwhizzle
Slide two, five photo: Steve Jones
Slide six video: @trlawwmedia

From forced labor to forced exposure, Black communities still bear the burden of pollution and environmental injustices rooted in slavery and systemic racism. This multimedia storytelling series traces that unbroken line—revealing the past, exposing the present, and charting a path toward a brighter tomorrow.

Explore Plantations to Pollution: Black Communities, Legacy Pollution, and the Path Forward at our link in bio or go to PlantationsToPollution.SELC.org

Slide one photo: @cornwhizzle
Slide two, five photo: Steve Jones
Slide six video: @trlawwmedia

From forced labor to forced exposure, Black communities still bear the burden of pollution and environmental injustices rooted in slavery and systemic racism. This multimedia storytelling series traces that unbroken line—revealing the past, exposing the present, and charting a path toward a brighter tomorrow.

Explore Plantations to Pollution: Black Communities, Legacy Pollution, and the Path Forward at our link in bio or go to PlantationsToPollution.SELC.org

Slide one photo: @cornwhizzle
Slide two, five photo: Steve Jones
Slide six video: @trlawwmedia

From forced labor to forced exposure, Black communities still bear the burden of pollution and environmental injustices rooted in slavery and systemic racism. This multimedia storytelling series traces that unbroken line—revealing the past, exposing the present, and charting a path toward a brighter tomorrow.

Explore Plantations to Pollution: Black Communities, Legacy Pollution, and the Path Forward at our link in bio or go to PlantationsToPollution.SELC.org

Slide one photo: @cornwhizzle
Slide two, five photo: Steve Jones
Slide six video: @trlawwmedia

From forced labor to forced exposure, Black communities still bear the burden of pollution and environmental injustices rooted in slavery and systemic racism. This multimedia storytelling series traces that unbroken line—revealing the past, exposing the present, and charting a path toward a brighter tomorrow.

Explore Plantations to Pollution: Black Communities, Legacy Pollution, and the Path Forward at our link in bio or go to PlantationsToPollution.SELC.org

Slide one photo: @cornwhizzle
Slide two, five photo: Steve Jones
Slide six video: @trlawwmedia

From forced labor to forced exposure, Black communities still bear the burden of pollution and environmental injustices rooted in slavery and systemic racism. This multimedia storytelling series traces that unbroken line—revealing the past, exposing the present, and charting a path toward a brighter tomorrow.

Explore Plantations to Pollution: Black Communities, Legacy Pollution, and the Path Forward at our link in bio or go to PlantationsToPollution.SELC.org

Slide one photo: @cornwhizzle
Slide two, five photo: Steve Jones
Slide six video: @trlawwmedia

BREAKING: After six years of pressure from local partners, advocates, and SELC, a major threat to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has been defeated.

Twin Pines Minerals LLC is selling its property on Trail Ridge — halting its push to mine on the doorstep of one of the world’s most important wetlands. This deal, made possible by the incredible work of The Conservation Fund, marks a major win for the Okefenokee.

Over 250,000 people raised their voices for the swamp. And together, we proved that when citizens, advocates, and conservationists unite, we can achieve the extraordinary.

Learn more about these permanent protections and the history of this incredible place at our link in bio.

Photo by @JoelwCaldwell

BREAKING: After six years of pressure from local partners, advocates, and SELC, a major threat to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has been defeated.

Twin Pines Minerals LLC is selling its property on Trail Ridge — halting its push to mine on the doorstep of one of the world’s most important wetlands. This deal, made possible by the incredible work of The Conservation Fund, marks a major win for the Okefenokee.

Over 250,000 people raised their voices for the swamp. And together, we proved that when citizens, advocates, and conservationists unite, we can achieve the extraordinary.

Learn more about these permanent protections and the history of this incredible place at our link in bio.

Photo by @JoelwCaldwell

TAKE ACTION: North Carolina is proposing a set of polluter-written rules that require no reduction of toxic PFAS and 1,4-dioxane dumped into our rivers, creeks, and drinking water supplies throughout the state. Under the rules, industry could even increase their harmful pollution without consequence, threatening millions of North Carolinians.

From the mountains to the coast, hundreds of advocates have shown up to push back against this reckless proposal that would leave our communities unprotected, and now we need YOUR voice.

**You have until May 31 to submit your comment at our link in bio.**

As the first Southern state to turn carbon auctions into hundreds of millions of dollars for flood-prone neighborhoods and energy-burdened families, Virginia isn’t just lowering its emissions — it is laying a roadmap for a resilient, clean-energy economy that other Southern states can no longer afford to ignore.

As the first Southern state to turn carbon auctions into hundreds of millions of dollars for flood-prone neighborhoods and energy-burdened families, Virginia isn’t just lowering its emissions — it is laying a roadmap for a resilient, clean-energy economy that other Southern states can no longer afford to ignore.

This is what collaboration in conservation looks like 🤝

The Okefenokee Swamp got time to shine at last week's Lowcountry Land Conservation Symposium in Charleston 🐊 Together, @theconservationfund, @defendersofwildlife, @southernenvironment, @sowingseedsoutsidethewalls, and @onehundredmiles shared about the multi-faceted effort to protect the Okefenokee from destructive mining—and how the work toward permanent protections for the whole swamp and long-term investment in swamp-adjacent communities continues even now.

There is always more to learn and we are stronger when we do this work together 💚 We're grateful for the opportunity to fight to #SavetheSwamp alongside such dedicated partners!

Thanks to the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation for inviting us and hosting these inspiring conservation conversations.

This is what collaboration in conservation looks like 🤝

The Okefenokee Swamp got time to shine at last week's Lowcountry Land Conservation Symposium in Charleston 🐊 Together, @theconservationfund, @defendersofwildlife, @southernenvironment, @sowingseedsoutsidethewalls, and @onehundredmiles shared about the multi-faceted effort to protect the Okefenokee from destructive mining—and how the work toward permanent protections for the whole swamp and long-term investment in swamp-adjacent communities continues even now.

There is always more to learn and we are stronger when we do this work together 💚 We're grateful for the opportunity to fight to #SavetheSwamp alongside such dedicated partners!

Thanks to the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation for inviting us and hosting these inspiring conservation conversations.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has revived Mobile Baykeeper’s lawsuit over the 21 million tons of toxic coal ash sitting in unlined pits next to the Mobile River.

For decades, this ash has polluted the waters of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta — one of the most biodiverse places in North America. This ruling means our fight to protect “North America’s Amazon” moves forward. We’re not backing down.

Image by @JulieDermansky

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has revived Mobile Baykeeper’s lawsuit over the 21 million tons of toxic coal ash sitting in unlined pits next to the Mobile River.

For decades, this ash has polluted the waters of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta — one of the most biodiverse places in North America. This ruling means our fight to protect “North America’s Amazon” moves forward. We’re not backing down.

Image by @JulieDermansky

The South Carolina Public Service Commission just voted unanimously to approve Santee Cooper and Dominion’s methane gas power plant on the banks of the Edisto River in Canadys. At 2,200 megawatts of power, this plant would be one of the largest in the country.

For years, residents and nonprofits including SELC have raised concerns about the project’s potential negative impact on nearby communities, the ACE Basin, and other natural resources. The residents of Canadys have already faced decades of pollution from the coal plant that once stood on the site.

The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of South Carolina Conservation League (@conservationleague) and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (@cleanenergyorg), intervened at the Public Service Commission to raise concerns about the environmental impacts and rising costs of the massive plant and the 71-mile greenfield pipeline needed to service it. Pipeline owner Kinder Morgan could use “eminent domain” to force landowners to sell their land to make way for the project.

"This massive, polluting plant has already doubled in cost from $2.5 to $5 billion in the last year, and the utilities admitted at the hearing that its final all-in costs will be even higher,” said Kate Mixson, SELC Senior Attorney. “We’re certainly worried that the plant and pipeline will negatively impact communities and raise customers’ bills. We will closely monitor the project’s next steps to ensure its impacts are as mitigated as possible.”

Image by Gavin McIntyre (@gavin_mci)

The South Carolina Public Service Commission just voted unanimously to approve Santee Cooper and Dominion’s methane gas power plant on the banks of the Edisto River in Canadys. At 2,200 megawatts of power, this plant would be one of the largest in the country.

For years, residents and nonprofits including SELC have raised concerns about the project’s potential negative impact on nearby communities, the ACE Basin, and other natural resources. The residents of Canadys have already faced decades of pollution from the coal plant that once stood on the site.

The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of South Carolina Conservation League (@conservationleague) and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (@cleanenergyorg), intervened at the Public Service Commission to raise concerns about the environmental impacts and rising costs of the massive plant and the 71-mile greenfield pipeline needed to service it. Pipeline owner Kinder Morgan could use “eminent domain” to force landowners to sell their land to make way for the project.

"This massive, polluting plant has already doubled in cost from $2.5 to $5 billion in the last year, and the utilities admitted at the hearing that its final all-in costs will be even higher,” said Kate Mixson, SELC Senior Attorney. “We’re certainly worried that the plant and pipeline will negatively impact communities and raise customers’ bills. We will closely monitor the project’s next steps to ensure its impacts are as mitigated as possible.”

Image by Gavin McIntyre (@gavin_mci)

Full statement about the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision weakening Section 2 from SELC President and Executive Director DJ Gerken:

"We cannot have a healthy environment without a healthy democracy. The root cause of environmental injustice is the denial of political power.

Polluting industries often target communities they believe are the path of least resistance: communities they think lack the representation, resources, or political power to fight back. Again and again, those communities prove them wrong. And when SELC has the privilege of standing beside them, we see their strength, determination, and courage.

But the long-term solution to environmental injustice cannot be one community fighting one polluter at a time. The real solution is a political system that values every community, listens to every citizen, and gives every person a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape their health, safety, and future.

For more than 60 years, the Voting Rights Act has been one of the great tools our nation used to move toward that promise, especially here in the South. The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision weakening Section 2 risks deepening the imbalance of power the Act was designed to correct.

That will have many consequences, including for environmental justice.

When communities are denied fair representation, polluters have more room to exploit them. Their concerns are easier to ignore. Their neighborhoods are more likely to be burdened with dirty air, unsafe water, toxic sites, and infrastructure no one else wants.

We should all work to uphold democracy.

And SELC will continue standing with communities denied a political voice, using the law to ensure that clean air and clean water are protected equally for everyone."

Photo of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act into law by Yoichi Okamoto.

Full statement about the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision weakening Section 2 from SELC President and Executive Director DJ Gerken:

"We cannot have a healthy environment without a healthy democracy. The root cause of environmental injustice is the denial of political power.

Polluting industries often target communities they believe are the path of least resistance: communities they think lack the representation, resources, or political power to fight back. Again and again, those communities prove them wrong. And when SELC has the privilege of standing beside them, we see their strength, determination, and courage.

But the long-term solution to environmental injustice cannot be one community fighting one polluter at a time. The real solution is a political system that values every community, listens to every citizen, and gives every person a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape their health, safety, and future.

For more than 60 years, the Voting Rights Act has been one of the great tools our nation used to move toward that promise, especially here in the South. The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision weakening Section 2 risks deepening the imbalance of power the Act was designed to correct.

That will have many consequences, including for environmental justice.

When communities are denied fair representation, polluters have more room to exploit them. Their concerns are easier to ignore. Their neighborhoods are more likely to be burdened with dirty air, unsafe water, toxic sites, and infrastructure no one else wants.

We should all work to uphold democracy.

And SELC will continue standing with communities denied a political voice, using the law to ensure that clean air and clean water are protected equally for everyone."

Photo of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act into law by Yoichi Okamoto.

With data center growth and skyrocketing fossil fuel prices, electricity bills for Virginians have gone up more than 23% over the past two years. This is an unprecedented time in Virginia and throughout the South where clean energy is under attack at the federal level.

Yesterday, Governor Abigail Spanberger made a stop in Charlottesville to sign eight energy affordability bills that were passed during the 2026 legislative session. SELC’s Virginia office was honored to host the signing.

These are the types of solutions that can help us combat rising bills while staying on track for our clean energy transition.

Senior Attorney Nate Benforado works alongside clean energy advocates across the state during the General Assembly. “The bills signed today continue to advance solar and other affordable clean energy options that we desperately need in the Commonwealth,” he said.

With data center growth and skyrocketing fossil fuel prices, electricity bills for Virginians have gone up more than 23% over the past two years. This is an unprecedented time in Virginia and throughout the South where clean energy is under attack at the federal level.

Yesterday, Governor Abigail Spanberger made a stop in Charlottesville to sign eight energy affordability bills that were passed during the 2026 legislative session. SELC’s Virginia office was honored to host the signing.

These are the types of solutions that can help us combat rising bills while staying on track for our clean energy transition.

Senior Attorney Nate Benforado works alongside clean energy advocates across the state during the General Assembly. “The bills signed today continue to advance solar and other affordable clean energy options that we desperately need in the Commonwealth,” he said.

After posting record profits in 2025, monopoly Utility Duke Energy is doubling down on expensive gas resources for its proposed Carbon Plan and Integrated Resource Plan. SELC filed expert testimony on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Vote Solar, and Sierra Club, urging the commission to see the missed opportunities in prior plans and many flaws in Duke’s current plan.

Instead of putting the needs of their customers first, Duke seems to be pursuing profit over affordability and failing to protect customers from its planned over reliance on volatile gas.

As our climate continues to change and we face new challenges, experts noted that relying more heavily on clean energy sources better positions North Carolina customers for a reliable, affordable energy system under an array of likely future conditions.

Learn more at our link in bio.

After posting record profits in 2025, monopoly Utility Duke Energy is doubling down on expensive gas resources for its proposed Carbon Plan and Integrated Resource Plan. SELC filed expert testimony on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Vote Solar, and Sierra Club, urging the commission to see the missed opportunities in prior plans and many flaws in Duke’s current plan.

Instead of putting the needs of their customers first, Duke seems to be pursuing profit over affordability and failing to protect customers from its planned over reliance on volatile gas.

As our climate continues to change and we face new challenges, experts noted that relying more heavily on clean energy sources better positions North Carolina customers for a reliable, affordable energy system under an array of likely future conditions.

Learn more at our link in bio.

After posting record profits in 2025, monopoly Utility Duke Energy is doubling down on expensive gas resources for its proposed Carbon Plan and Integrated Resource Plan. SELC filed expert testimony on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Vote Solar, and Sierra Club, urging the commission to see the missed opportunities in prior plans and many flaws in Duke’s current plan.

Instead of putting the needs of their customers first, Duke seems to be pursuing profit over affordability and failing to protect customers from its planned over reliance on volatile gas.

As our climate continues to change and we face new challenges, experts noted that relying more heavily on clean energy sources better positions North Carolina customers for a reliable, affordable energy system under an array of likely future conditions.

Learn more at our link in bio.

After posting record profits in 2025, monopoly Utility Duke Energy is doubling down on expensive gas resources for its proposed Carbon Plan and Integrated Resource Plan. SELC filed expert testimony on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Vote Solar, and Sierra Club, urging the commission to see the missed opportunities in prior plans and many flaws in Duke’s current plan.

Instead of putting the needs of their customers first, Duke seems to be pursuing profit over affordability and failing to protect customers from its planned over reliance on volatile gas.

As our climate continues to change and we face new challenges, experts noted that relying more heavily on clean energy sources better positions North Carolina customers for a reliable, affordable energy system under an array of likely future conditions.

Learn more at our link in bio.

After posting record profits in 2025, monopoly Utility Duke Energy is doubling down on expensive gas resources for its proposed Carbon Plan and Integrated Resource Plan. SELC filed expert testimony on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Vote Solar, and Sierra Club, urging the commission to see the missed opportunities in prior plans and many flaws in Duke’s current plan.

Instead of putting the needs of their customers first, Duke seems to be pursuing profit over affordability and failing to protect customers from its planned over reliance on volatile gas.

As our climate continues to change and we face new challenges, experts noted that relying more heavily on clean energy sources better positions North Carolina customers for a reliable, affordable energy system under an array of likely future conditions.

Learn more at our link in bio.

Alabama is in great hands with all these incredible folks talking about river and water protection at #RiverRally2026 in San Antonio! ARA’s Charles Miller will be presenting about data centers with @southernenvironment’s Ryan Anderson and @blackbeltwr’s Portia Shepherd will be presenting about infrastructure throughout the South. Collaborating, sharing and hearing others is such an important part of what we do at ARA!

Alabama is in great hands with all these incredible folks talking about river and water protection at #RiverRally2026 in San Antonio! ARA’s Charles Miller will be presenting about data centers with @southernenvironment’s Ryan Anderson and @blackbeltwr’s Portia Shepherd will be presenting about infrastructure throughout the South. Collaborating, sharing and hearing others is such an important part of what we do at ARA!

UPDATE: The North Carolina Department of Transportation's pause on the I-77 expansion until June is a step in the right direction. Now let’s make it count with a transparent process where community input drives real outcomes and viable alternatives are openly considered.

The State of North Carolina has a choice to make: It can repair the harms of the past or repeat them.