The Environmental Protection Agency said it has evidence that Black residents in an industrial section of Louisiana face an increased risk of cancer from a nearby chemical plant and that state officials have allowed air pollution to remain high and downplayed its threat.

A severely corroded pipeline ruptured and spilled more than 300,000 gallons (1.1 million liters) of diesel fuel just outside New Orleans after the operator delayed needed repairs, according to federal records.

Energy companies including Shell, BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil offered a combined $192 million for drilling rights on federal oil and gas reserves in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.

The reserves in the Gulf of Mexico are estimated to hold up to 1.1 billion barrels of crude.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said on Monday, November 8, 2021, that it is proposing threatened status for alligator snapping turtles -- huge, spike-shelled reptiles t that lurk at the bottom of lakes and slow waterways, luring prey to their mouths by sticking out a wormlike lure.

As storms grow more violent and Louisiana loses more of its coast, the family that makes Tabasco Sauce is fighting erosion in the marshland that buffers its factory from hurricanes and floods.