Living on the coast means living on the front lines of a rapidly changing planet. And as climate change transforms our coasts, that will transform our world.Every two weeks, we bring you stories that illuminate, inspire, and sometimes enrage, as we dive deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond. We have a lot to save, and we have a lot of solutions. It’s time to talk about a Sea Change.Sea Change is a new podcast hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Join us as we investigate and celebrate life on a changing coast.Based in New Orleans, Sea Change is a production of WWNO New Orleans Public Radio and WRKF Baton Rouge Public Radio. Sea Change is a part of the NPR Podcast Network and is distributed by PRX. Hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Our theme song is by Jon Batiste.Sea Change is made possible with major support provided by The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, and the Meraux Foundation.
Living on the coast means living on the front lines of a rapidly changing planet. And as climate change transforms our coasts, that will transform our world.Every two weeks, we bring you stories that illuminate, inspire, and sometimes enrage, as we dive deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond. We have a lot to save, and we have a lot of solutions. It’s time to talk about a Sea Change.Sea Change is a new podcast hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Join us as we investigate and celebrate life on a changing coast.Based in New Orleans, Sea Change is a production of WWNO New Orleans Public Radio and WRKF Baton Rouge Public Radio. Sea Change is a part of the NPR Podcast Network and is distributed by PRX. Hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Our theme song is by Jon Batiste.Sea Change is made possible with major support provided by The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, and the Meraux Foundation.
Louisiana is home to the country's largest hotspot for toxic air — an industrial corridor nicknamed “Cancer Alley.” More than 150 petrochemical plants line the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Amid the boom, many Black communities live with a disproportionate amount of pollution.
But years of protest have begun to bear fruit. We travel the Mississippi River to learn what has allowed the industry to flourish on its banks, see how the tide might turn in one neighborhood’s fight for clean air, and ask what’s next for a growing environmental justice movement as federal regulators take firmer action.
Find more information on local activists' tug of war with Denka Performance Elastomers and other environmental justice updates here.
To hear a reflection from Louisiana's former Department of Environmental Quality Secretary, Chuck Carr Brown, listen here.
Explore how the EPA is looking at environmental justice, their pending civil rights investigations and their updates on Denka and air monitoring at these links. Find a copy of the EPA's letter of concern to Louisiana's Department of Health and Department of Environmental Quality here.
You can find Denka Performance Elastomers website here.
A special thanks to members of the Concerned Citizens of St. John Robert Taylor, Mary Hampton, and Larry Soraporu for being so generous with their time. Find their group here.
Hosted by Halle Parker and Kezia Setyawan.
Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Editing help was provided by Carlyle Calhoun, Rosemary Westwood Priska Neely, Patrick Madden, and Eve Abrams. Our sound designer is Maddie Zampanti.
Sea Change is a production of WWNO and WRKF. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX.