Roishetta Ozane and her children walk in a second line through the French Quarter during the “Power Up in the Gulf” event for climate justice on Nov. 3, 2023. (Minh Ha/Verite News)
When environmentalist Roishetta Ozane saw swing states begin to turn red on election night, she said she was heartbroken. Despite massive campaigning efforts in key states like Pennsylvania and Georgia, Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris was losing the race to former president and now president-elect Donald Trump.
“At first I felt sad and just kind of hopeless,” Ozane said. “Then I felt angry that so many people didn’t vote. I also felt like it was just like a punch in the gut. I feel like we had done everything, we had made sure people were educated on the issues.”
Ozane is the founder and director of the Vessel Project of Louisiana, an environmental mutual aid group based in Lake Charles. The group provides rebuilding assistance to those who have been affected by hurricanes and campaigns against the fossil fuel industry, which dominates large parts of the region and poses risks to residents through ongoing emissions and, periodically, catastrophic accidents. On the day after the election, Ozane even thought about quitting her work as an environmental advocate as she remembered Trump’s first term.
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Trump has undermined efforts to fight climate change, and in his first term rolled back more than 100 environmental rules, most of which regulated air pollution and emissions standards.
RISE St. James founder Sharon Lavigne. (Photo provided by Goldman Environmental Prize)
Sharon Lavigne, the founder of environmental justice group Rise St. James, said that the election was a setback. She said that clean air and water won’t be a priority for the administration, and is concerned about Trump’s pro-fossil fuel stance. Rise St. James is currently fighting to prevent Formosa Plastics from building a sprawling multi-million dollar complex in St. James Parish. The parish lies in what many call “Cancer Alley,” the industrial stretch along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge known for high cancer rates and heavy industrial pollution from facilities near residences.
“I’m worried about them giving more power to industry to poison us,” Lavigne said. “They’re more concerned about industry than the people.”
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Lavigne’s worries were echoed by other environmentalists, such as Arthur Johnson, the executive director of the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development. He is worried that environmental justice will not be a priority for the federal government after Trump takes office in January.
“You can’t depend on public entities and public leaders to make these decisions that will benefit us,” Johnson said.
Trump announced Lee Zeldin, a former U.S. representative from New York, as his pick for the head of the EPA. Like Trump, Zeldin has a pro-energy, anti-regulation stance. While in Congress, he voted against numerous environmental protection policies, as well as the Inflation Reduction Act, which has put billions of dollars into clean energy initiatives, from solar-powered housing to urban tree planting. Trump has promised to roll back the IRA and increase fossil fuel production.
Ozane said that the federal government should create protections for the environment and frontline communities while President Joe Biden is still in office in order to make it more difficult for policies to be undone once Trump is sworn in. She said Biden should make sure communities receive IRA funds before the inauguration, ban drilling on public land and declare a climate emergency to help move funds to frontline communities.
But in the next couple of days, Ozane no longer felt hopeless as she remembered her history.
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“We’ve always had to fight, especially as Black people, as people of color, as low-income people, we have always had to fight,” Ozane said. “We have always found a way to survive and thrive in our communities and the government is not who is going to save us. We are going to save ourselves.”
In the coming months, Ozane said she will organize and strategize to try to get the Biden administration to fulfill some of her environmental protection goals. Ozane and other Louisiana environmentalists are poised to increase community outreach and form networks that will help them protect themselves, with or without support from the federal government. Johnson said his organization will have more conversations about their work to broaden its impact.
“But we can’t just sit back and wait and say, ‘Let’s see what they’re going to do and then let’s act,’ because then we’re reacting,” Johnson said. “And my point is that we have to not react, but we have to act.”
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This article first appeared on Verite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
BATON ROUGE – Louisiana passed a state law allowing state park rangers to enforce state litter laws anywhere in Louisiana.
The increased enforcement comes alongside revamped reinforcement efforts with a hotline. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will field hotline calls and pass information to state park rangers, who if given proper information, can issue a citation.
Simple littering, such as trash flying out the back of a pickup truck, carries up to $175 in fines plus court costs. Intentional littering, such as deliberately throwing trash out of a window onto a roadway, brings up to a $250 fine. Gross littering, such as depositing large amounts of trash into a ditch or having an illegal dumpsite, carries $500 to $1,000 in fines.
Officials say crimes such as dumping violations have more in-depth processes; anyone interested can find more information at the Keep Louisiana Beautiful website.
This Week in Southeastern Athletics – September 15-21, 2025 Monday, September 15
Golf | at Grover Page Classic | Memphis, Tenn. | 8:15 a.m. Football | Inside Southeastern Football with Frank Scelfo | Brady’s | 7 p.m. | Kajun 107.1 FM | The Highway 104.7 FM | The Boss 97.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM – Community Spotlight Guest: Scott Henderson, The Salad Station/Tommy’s on Thomas
Tuesday, September 16
Golf | at Grover Page Classic | Memphis, Tenn. | 8:15 a.m.
Thursday, September 18
Volleyball | at Texas A&M (Texas A&M Invitational) | College Station, Texas | 6 p.m.
Friday, September 19
Volleyball | vs. LMU (Texas A&M Invitational) | College Station, Texas | 3 p.m.
Saturday, September 20
Football | at LSU | Baton Rouge | SEC Network | SEC Network | Kajun 107.1 FM | The Highway 104.7 FM | The Boss 97.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM
Volleyball | vs. New Hampshire (Texas A&M Invitational) | College Station, Texas | Noon
Sunday, September 21
Soccer | at UTRGV | Edinburg, Texas | 1 p.m. | ESPN+*
Southeastern home events in bold | All times Central | * – Southland Conference event
HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University football and two-time defending Southland Conference champion volleyball team hit the road for nonconference play, the SLU soccer team opens Southland Conference play, the Lion men’s golf team opens the fall portion of its 2025-26 schedule and Southeastern Athletics will compete in the university’s Giving Day during this week in Southeastern Athletics.
The SLU football team (2-1) will close out nonconference play at No. 3 LSU. Saturday’s game will kickoff at 6:45 p.m. in Tiger Stadium.
The Southeastern volleyball team (5-3) will close out an eight-match road swing this week, heading to College Station, Texas to compete in the Texas A&M Invitational. The Lady Lions will face host Texas A&M Thursday at 6 p.m., Loyola Marymount Friday at 3 p.m. and New Hampshire Saturday at noon during the tournament.
The SLU women’s soccer team (1-4-2) will open league play on the road this week. Southeastern will face new league member UTRGV Sunday at 1 p.m. in Edinburg, Texas.
The Lion golf team opens the 2025-26 season this week. Southeastern will head to Memphis, Tenn. to compete in the Grover Page Classic Monday and Tuesday.
Southeastern Giving Day is set for Wednesday and is an opportunity to give back to the university, including Southeastern Athletics. Visit www.southeasterngivingday.org for more information.
On the Air
This week’s football game will be televised on SEC Network, while Thursday’s volleyball match will air on SEC Network+. Sunday’s soccer match can be seen on ESPN+.
The 2025 season of Inside Southeastern Football with Frank Scelfo will continue Monday at 7 p.m. at Brady’s in downtown Hammond. Scelfo and host Allen Waddell will discuss all things Lion football on the hour-long show weekly during the season, which airs on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM and The Boss 97.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM).
Scott Henderson of The Salad Station and Tommy’s on Thomas will be Monday’s Community Spotlight Guest.
The same Southeastern Sports Radio Network stations will broadcast Saturday’s football game.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Athletics, follow @LionUpAthletics on X and Instagram or like /LionUpAthletics on Facebook.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics has instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.
OXFORD, Miss. – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Volleyball team had the momentum in its favor each of the first two sets before Ole Miss battled back and went on to post a 3-0 win (25-20, 25-22, 25-19) on Friday, September 12 at the Gillom Athletics Performance Center in Oxford, Mississippi.
The Rebels (4-3) leaned upon 16 kills each time to overcome the pressure from the Ragin’ Cajuns (6-2) and open a 2-0 match lead. Then in Set 3, Ole Miss hit .400 and sided out at 80 percent to end the contest early.
Louisiana put itself in position to be the ones ahead 2-0 in the match, tied 13-13 midway through Set 1 and laying hold to a 17-13 advantage late in Set 2. Ultimately the offensive edge for Ole Miss, which held a 45-29 edge in kills and .391 to .176 advantage in hitting percentage for the match, paid dividends.
Both sides had balanced scoring, the Ragin’ Cajuns led by nine kills from Cailin Demps and seven kills from Grace Sweeney. The Rebels, though, were able to have four players score more than five kills led by the trio of Shayla Meyer (10), Melia Johnson (9) and Gabi Placide (9) each reaching nine scores.
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The loss snapped Louisiana’s three-match win streak, the squad ending a five-match road swing with a 3-2 mark.
Ole Miss claimed victory in its 2025 season home opener and remained unbeaten in the 2000s against UL.
Jazmine Gaston scored a kill on each of her first two swings in Set 1 as the Cajuns remained ahead early 9-7 after taking the lead at 4-3 on a Kennedy Gustafson ace.
The teams were near even with five kills apiece and both hitting .300-plus through the 13-all tie. Meyer helped the Rebels make the decisive move, scoring the tiebreaking kill and serving up an ace to gain separation for good.
Sweeney asserted herself at the onset of Set 2, scoring two aces and a kill in a personal 3-0 run that pulled Louisiana ahead 4-1, then preserved the lead with yet another early kill to make it 9-7.
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Later on, Sweeney teamed up with Harley Krause on back-to-back winners as the Cajuns stretched the lead out to 17-13. The Rebels, though, reversed course as a kill, ace and block all in succession ignited a 12-5 set-ending run that prevented Louisiana from evening the match.
With a kill on each of its first three swings in Set 3 the Rebels quickly opened a 5-3 lead and led the rest of the way. Demps, who scored five kills in the frame, began to find her groove getting two kills over a span of five rallies keeping the Cajuns within striking distance at 15-11.
Ole Miss sided out after a UL service error then came up with another timely block to advance the lead to 17-11. The teams traded side outs through Demps’ final kill of the night which made it 21-16 before the Rebels scored three straight for the final separation.
LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS Sweeney in Set 2 and Demps in Set 3 both turned in a five-kill set performance. The duo combined for 16 of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 29 kills.
Demps’ output marked the eighth time in as many matches she’s scored at least nine kills.
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Freshman Lindsey Henry had a hand in both of the team’s blocks while Gustafson collected a team-leading eight digs.
Sweeney was a close second with six digs and setter Ryleigh Garis scooped five digs to go with her team-high tying 12 assists.
Chelsea Gilmore and Sweeney served up two aces apiece to pace the Ragin’ Cajuns to six aces.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA The Ragin’ Cajuns return home to E.K. Long Gym for the Ragin’ Cajuns Classic scheduled for Friday-Saturday, September 19-20.
Louisiana hosts Southern and Nicholls in the round robin event, meeting the Jaguars on Friday (Sept. 19) at 6:00 p.m. and then matching up with the Colonels on Saturday (Sept. 20) at Noon.
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The Ragin’ Cajuns Classic marks the final non-conference matches of the 2025 season. Louisiana opens Sun Belt play the following weekend, September 26-27, on the road at Texas State.
FOLLOW THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS Follow the Ragin’ Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsVB [twitter.com]), Facebook (/RaginCajunsVB [facebook.com]) or Instagram (@RaginCajunsVB [instagram.com]) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Volleyball.
Fans are also encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin’ Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here [apps.apple.com] for iOS/Apple platforms and here [play.google.com] for Android platforms.
