While environmentalists blast what they call the "cynical politics" behind the Obama administration's decision to end the ban early just in time for mid-term elections, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana uses the occasion to repeat disproved claims about the ban's effect on employment. More...
FACING SOUTH - Online Magazine of the Institute for Southern Studies
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EPA scolded for misleading promotion of coal ash reuse
The Inspector General issued a report last week that criticized the agency for promoting the so-called "beneficial reuse" of toxic coal ash while withholding information about the risks involved. More...
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Daily Blog
INSTITUTE INDEX: Taking on the mortgage banksters
FRI 10/15 | With attorneys general in all 50 states launching investigations in response to allegations that laws were broken to support home foreclosures, we look at the current state of the mortgage crisis by the numbers. More...
Gulf spill fund offers little information to claimants
THURS 10/14 | Acknowledging his operation should be doing a better job of providing information, the claims czar promises to deploy more agents in the Gulf to respond to desperate claimants. More...
Blessed to Have a Pope
THURS 10/14 | 90 cents out of every dollar received by North Carolina's leading conservative organizations come from one foundation, led by conservative donor Art Pope. But the benefactor's generosity may come with strings attached. More...
Tomato pickers secure path-breaking deal with Florida grower
THURS 10/14 | The farmworker group Coalition of Immokalee Workers has reached a landmark deal with Pacific Tomato Growers to improve conditions in the fields. More...
Is Big Business reluctant to invest in Tea Party candidates?
TUES 10/12 | The 13 Tea Party-favored Republican candidates running for office this November have benefited from a flood of small donations from the grassroots. But that doesn't mean corporate leaders are sitting idly by. More...
Investigations & Reports
SPECIAL REPORT: Industry wraps coal ash regulation fight in the mantle of civil rights
Industry interests are using 501(c)(4) "social welfare" lobbying groups to give their fight against coal ash regulation the appearance of being about economic and racial justice. More...
SPECIAL REPORT: Washington has yet to address key failures exposed by Katrina
AUGUST 2010 | On the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a new Institute report finds that while community action has flourished in the wake of the storm, the President and Congress have yet to fix key problems in disaster and recovery policy -- undermining Gulf rebuilding and putting lives at risk from future disasters. More...
Life in the Gulf Dead Zone
JULY 2010 | Scientists fear the BP oil disaster will accelerate the growth of the Gulf Dead Zone -- thousands of square miles of water that can no longer support shrimp and other seafood animals. But oil isn't the only energy source that threatens Gulf waters. More...
BP, BAYOUS AND BYWAYS: Dispatches from the Gulf Coast
JUNE 2010 | Facing South traveled hundreds of miles along the Gulf Coast, interviewing dozens of residents, community leaders, government officials and BP representatives for our week-long fact-finding mission. A glimpse at the news and lessons we discovered at the scene of the oil disaster. More...
COAL'S DIRTY SECRET
MAY/JUNE 2010 | Coal ash is the country's second-biggest source of industrial waste and full of arsenic, lead and other toxins -- yet it's routinely dumped near communities with little publicity and few rules. In a week-long investigation, Facing South looks at the growing problem of coal ash and the looming battle in Washington over regulation. More...
More Recent Coverage
The AFL-CIO and Working American have released a report and database showing that the corporate practice of shifting jobs to cheaper foreign locales is still a burning issue for U.S. workers and the economy. More...
Constellation Energy has canceled plans to build a new reactor at a Maryland plant despite getting $7.5 billion in taxpayer-backed loan guarantees. That means the only nuclear project moving ahead with federal loan guarantees is Southern Company's proposal for two new reactors at Plant Vogtle -- but Georgia forces residential ratepayers to offer extra aid that Maryland does not. More...
The presidential commission investigating BP's Deepwater Horizon oil disaster has criticized the administration for taking "an overly casual approach" to calculating the amount of oil involved, for being unprepared for dispersant use, and for overselling a report that incorrectly claimed most of the oil had disappeared. More...
Little-known outside North Carolina, Republican retail magnate Art Pope is silently rising as a national political player in the 2010 elections. But many say his strategy of funneling money for political attack ads through nonprofits pushes the limits of the law. More...
Environmental advocates are preparing to sue three mining operations in eastern Kentucky for more than 20,000 violations of the Clean Water Act -- including submitting false data to state regulators who appear to be failing to provide proper oversight. More...
Two reports released this week document the growing problem of criminal justice debt and the considerable costs it's imposing on communities, taxpayers and indigent people convicted of crimes. More...
The fast growth of Democratic-leaning Latino communities is a key reason that four Southern states are projected to add Congressional seats next year. But the politicians drawing the political lines will be Republicans. More...
