Articles by Staff Writer Jake Bittle
Jake Bittle is a staff writer at Grist, covering climate change, energy, and natural disasters. He is the author of The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration. He is writing a book about Kern County, California, and is currently a New America fellow.
All Articles
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![The Lake Borgne Surge Barrier straddles wetlands near New Orleans, Louisiana. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the barrier after Hurricane Katrina to protect the city from storm surge.]()
![The Lake Borgne Surge Barrier straddles wetlands near New Orleans, Louisiana. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the barrier after Hurricane Katrina to protect the city from storm surge.]()
20 years after Katrina, New Orleans’ levees are sinking and short on money
The city’s $14 billion flood system faces new threats from climate change, land subsidence, and Trump budget cuts.
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![A couple looks at the charred remains of their home burned in the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, January 9, 2025. Massive wildfires that engulfed whole neighborhoods and displaced thousands in Los Angeles remained totally uncontained January 9, 2025, authorities said, as US National Guard soldiers readied to hit the streets to help quell disorder. Swaths of the United States' second-largest city lay in ruins, with smoke blanketing the sky and an acrid smell pervading almost every building.]()
![A couple looks at the charred remains of their home burned in the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, January 9, 2025. Massive wildfires that engulfed whole neighborhoods and displaced thousands in Los Angeles remained totally uncontained January 9, 2025, authorities said, as US National Guard soldiers readied to hit the streets to help quell disorder. Swaths of the United States' second-largest city lay in ruins, with smoke blanketing the sky and an acrid smell pervading almost every building.]()
Illegal price-gouging is rampant after disasters. Can it be stopped?
Rents jumped 20 percent after this year’s Los Angeles wildfires, forcing displaced residents to scramble for housing in an already-tough market.
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Know your voting rights before, during, and after a disaster
If extreme weather disrupts local services or destroys your belongings around election day, here’s how to make sure you can still cast your ballot.
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![flooded South Fork New River after hurricane helene in north carolina]()
![flooded South Fork New River after hurricane helene in north carolina]()
FEMA moves to end one of its biggest disaster adaptation programs
In an internal FEMA memorandum obtained by Grist, the Trump administration announced its plans to dismantle the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.
