Want to learn more about how black people in the U.S. suffer environmental racism today? Read my @RollingStone article on the new wave of heavily polluting fossil fuel operations being located in "cancer-alley:" black & poor communities across Louisiana.
rollingstone.com/politics/polit…
rollingstone.com/politics/polit…
Spurred by the national oil and gas fracking boom, a new wave of industry expansions and mega facilities is pushing into Cancer Alley, an 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Much of the new infrastructure is dedicated to #plastics. /2
Already, with ExxonMobil, Koch, Shell & others operating 150 fossil fuel & petrochemical facilities here, 7 of the 10 census tracts with the highest cancer risk in the nation are in Cancer Alley, concentrated in areas with the highest % of black and poor residents. /3
Formosa's proposed Louisiana plant to convert natural gas into the feedstock for #plastics would be one of the world's largest, would double the amount of toxic air emissions there, & emit 13.6 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, the equivalent of 3 coal-fired power plants./4
There is resistance. Sharon Lavigne, age 67, is a retired special education teacher. Over gumbo in her garage, she and her friends formed RISE St. James to take on the industry. “They pollute us with these plants, like we’re not human beings. And that is why I am fighting.” /5
