Frequently asked questions

• Fossil fuel extraction: the actual process of extracting fossil fuels generates air and water pollution, and harms local communities.
• Chemical plants: petrochemical plants convert the components of oil and gas — such as ethane, propane, butane, and methane — into chemicals like ethylene, propylene, butadiene, and methanol. These chemicals are the building blocks for plastic.
• Waste incinerators: in many places, burning plastic is the only way to get rid of plastic waste. But when plastic is burned, it releases pollutants like microplastics, bisphenols, and phthalates. These toxins can disrupt neurodevelopment, endocrine, and reproductive functions.

Plastics are fossil fuels in another form. Think about plastic from the moment its ingredients are first extracted, all the way to when plastic waste is thrown away. Each of these steps can have a catastrophic and long-term impact on health and the environment:

• Extraction: And with an estimated 1.2 million oil and gas facilities across the United States, the impact of extraction is both devastating on local communities and on the environment.  When oil and gas is extracted it can cause lasting damage to the environment like disrupting the migratory pathways of animals, degrading their habitats and negatively impacting biodiversity. Oil drilling produces methane (a greenhouse gas worse than carbon dioxide) which is often flared (burned). It is estimated that the equivalent of 25 percent of total US consumption, is flared annually worldwide.

Then there is the human cost. In the U.S. around 12 million people live within a ½ mile of extraction and are exposed to pollutants on a daily basis. These pollutants are known to cause respiratory, cardiovascular disease, poor birth outcomes, developmental defects and other diseases.

• Transportation: When fossil fuels are transported from a mine or a well, it can cause air pollution and can lead to serious accidents and spills like the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill which released 130 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Although the spill happened in 2010, it continues to harm wildlife even today.  Thousands of oil spills occur each year in U.S. waters and even the smallest of these can have major environmental and economic harm. 

• Petrochemical Plants: People living near petrochemical refineries, where fossil fuel-derived products such as plastics and fertilizers are made, have an increased risk of respiratory illnesses such as childhood asthma, cardiovascular diseases, and blood cancers.

• Transportation of Petrochemicals: Petrochemicals are highly toxic, which makes transporting them extremely dangerous. In February of 2023, 50 rail cars transporting petrochemicals derailed near East Palestine, Ohio releasing vinyl chloride (known to cause cancer in humans) and other toxic chemicals into the surrounding air, water, and soil. Local residents have reported a number of health problems since the derailment including chemical-induced bronchitis.  More than 43,000 fish, amphibians and crustaceans are known to have died. 
• Use: We are constantly exposed to plastic every single day. We inhale it, ingest it and have direct skin contact with it. And this exposure comes with great risks. All sorts of scientifically-proven health effects result from plastic exposure from cancer to  changing hormone activity. Microplastics can also harm health by making it easier for pathogens to enter our system, which increases the spread of diseases.
• Incineration: Nearly half or our plastic waste gets burned. Since plastic is made from fossil fuel, burning plastic is burning fossil fuels.  When plastic is burned it releases all sorts of toxic gasses, heavy metals and particles into the air. Many of these emissions - like Dioxins - are highly toxic, cause cancer and damage our immune systems. 

You’ll also find us covering a wide range of stories that uplift environmental racism and community resilience.  We tell the stories that need to be told. This has included:

• Indigenous Activism against Oil & Gas - We look at the patterns of stolen wealth and land from Indigenous groups fighting to protect their homes and their way of life that depends on natural ecosystems.
• Redlining- We look at the historical restrictions on where Black and other minority groups were allowed to live (which were usually the most undesirable places in a jurisdiction, town or city) and how this plays out today. 
• Cop City and Abolitionist Organizing - We look at the fight against the proposed Atlanta police academy, which is illegally being built in a natural wildlife and watershed area. We look at its intersections with historical patterns of unfair Black and Latino incarceration.  
• Food Sovereignty - We examine how ancestral farmers are creating solutions to grow clean and resilient food systems, and tackle the chemical pollution of farm land. 

We are interested in stories where racial justice meets the environment.