Air Date: Week of January 3, 2025

Former FHWA administrator Shailen Bhatt (left), Coffee County Commissioner Jimmy Jones (center left), Pastor Timothy Williams (center), Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (center right), and Robert Bullard (right). This photo was taken when Secretary Buttigieg visited Shiloh, Alabama to survey flooding damage caused by the widening of Highway 84. (Photo: Andrew Skerritt)

The African American residents of Shiloh, Alabama whose homes were flooded by a state highway expansion say they are still waiting for the full measure of environmental justice promised by the outgoing Biden Administration. EJ expert Dr. Robert Bullard of Texas Southern University joins Host Steve Curwood to tell the story.

Transcript

[MUSIC: Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band, “Ashokan Farewell,” comp. Jay Ungar, recorded at Folk Alley studio 2011, available on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kZASM8OX7s]

CURWOOD: Just ahead – We say goodbye and thank you to a great pioneering scientist and activist, George Woodwell.

ANNOUNCER: Support for Living on Earth comes from Friends of Smeagull the Seagull and Smeagull’s Guide to Wildlife. It’s all about the wildlife right next door to you! That’s Smeagull, S - M - E - A - G - U - L - L, SmeagullGuide.org.

[CUTAWAY MUSIC: Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band, “Ashokan Farewell,” comp. Jay Ungar, recorded at Folk Alley studio 2011, available on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kZASM8OX7s]

 

Links

Read Robert Bullard’s Open Letter

To read the Voluntary Resolution Agreement, visit the FHWA Office of Civil Rights webpage

Inside Climate News | “How Racism Flooded Alabama’s Historically Black Shiloh Community”

Secretary Buttigieg Statement on Shiloh residents’ request for full compensation