In this ground, our ancestors were buried.
Our heritage is in this land. We can’t let a multinational corporation desecrate it.
Category: Environment
The Lens Carnival Edition 2025
Our reporters stayed on their beats, covering how Carnival affects the way New Orleans works - and doesn't work.
Floating an idea: a greener Carnival
Observers say that New Orleans may be seeing a culture shift, toward a more sustainable Carnival. This year, one parade – Krewe of Freret – even banned plastic beads. Key to these efforts is Grounds Krewe, a local nonprofit, which provides local krewes with tens of thousands of environmentally conscious parade-throws -- read below for the Top Five sustainable throws!
Great River Road dropped from consideration as a National Historic Landmark, for now
The head of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the president of St. John Parish said the West Bank is “now open for business.”
Thwarted from connecting the Lower 9 to its wetland roots
After Katrina, environmentalists built an overlook on Bayou Bienvenue to give the community access to the wetlands, which had been devastated by salt water from a now-closed canal called MR-GO. Recent construction threatens that key post-Katrina achievement, Arthur Johnson says.
Embracing Katrina narratives
After an insinuation made by a Super Bowl planning committee, reporters from The Lens asked Lower 9 residents what Super Bowl visitors should see, plotted the points on a map, and documented the Katrina narratives that go with each landmark.
St. John the Baptist Parish cleared in First Amendment lawsuit
A jury found that the defendants didn’t violate Joy Banner’s right to free speech or the Louisiana Open Meetings Law. But testimony revealed a hatred the Parish President harbors against the co-founders of The Descendants Project.
Trial begins in First Amendment suit against St. John the Baptist Parish
Joy Banner of The Descendants Project brought the lawsuit after the Parish Council chairman threatened her with prosecution and imprisonment for speaking during the public comment period of a 2023 meeting.
Pairing of Arctic air and moisture from the Gulf created record-breaking snowfall
The celebrated New Orleans snowfall is twice what Anchorage has recorded all winter long. Meteorologists attributed it to a perfect dance between weather systems.
Latest federal Water Resources Development Act addresses climate extremes and flooding along the Mississippi River
Louisiana secured the bill’s largest project authorization, for St. Tammany Flood Risk Management. New Orleans scored authorization for a study about salt water in the river.
