Tag: sacrifice zones

News

All Eyes on the Gulf, Featured, Petrochemicals, Plastic Pollution

Systems of opression beget systems of opression

September 02, 2023 by Alexis Young

In Calcasieu Parish, a little over three hours away from New Orleans, sits the city of Sulphur, Louisiana. The over 85-mile stretch of oil and gas and petrochemical (plastic production)plants along the Mississippi River includes the Calcasieu and Cameron parishes surrounding Lake Charles. Founder of The Vessel Project of Louisiana and Gulf Fossil Finance Coordinator […]READ MORE

All Eyes on the Gulf, Petrochemicals, Plastic Pollution

You have to hit ‘em where it hurts

July 15, 2023 by People over Plastic staff with files from Alexis Young

Growing up, Shamyra Lavigne thought she lived in a paradise. Her home in St. James Parish, Louisiana was nestled between the Mississippi River and lush sugar cane fields. Her days were spent playing outdoors surrounded by tall grass, butterflies, and birds. When reflecting back on those times, Shamyra describes it as a life of privilege. […]READ MORE

All Eyes on the Gulf, Petrochemicals, Plastic Pollution

They just abandoned us.

July 13, 2023 by People over Plastic staff with files from Alexis Young

The EPA recently halted a civil rights investigation that might have addressed some of the major environmental racism concerns of predominantly Black communities in Louisiana's “Cancer Alley”. In 2022, Earthjustice and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a complaint with the EPA on behalf of Sierra Club AND Concerned Citizens of St. […]READ MORE

All Eyes on the Gulf, Climate, Petrochemicals, Plastic Pollution

In the afterlife of slavery

July 01, 2023 by People over Plastic Staff with files from Alexis Young | Photo and videography by Jay Marcano

Dr. Joy Banner is all too familiar with the uphill battle facing Black communities in Louisiana’s River Parishes. As Co-founder of the Descendants Project, an organization committed to the intergenerational healing and flourishing of the Black descendant community in the Louisiana river parishes she focuses her work on the intersecting histories of enslavement, settler colonialism, […]READ MORE

Climate, Oil and Gas, Petrochemicals, Plastic Pollution

Perseverance is absolutely critical

June 19, 2023 by People over Plastic

In Conversation: Patrice Simms of People over Plastic and Earthjustice In the last few years, the Biden administration has introduced a number of initiatives that would suggest it’s serious about environmental justice. For some observers, these initiatives were welcomed, if not long overdue. For years, community members, environmental groups and advocates have pushed the federal […]READ MORE

Climate, Cop City, Oil and Gas, Petrochemicals, Plastic Pollution, Prisons, Redlining

Juneteenth is a celebration of Black joy, but also a call-to-action

June 19, 2023 by Mary Black

Analysis: For me, Juneteenth is a celebration of Black joy. It’s also a call-to-action for climate and environmental justice for people of the African diaspora. Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day or Freedom Day, commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved Africans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom, more than two years after the […]READ MORE

Petrochemicals, All Eyes on the Gulf, Indigenous, Plastic Pollution

“We are the sacrifice zones”

June 01, 2023 by People over Plastic staff with files from Alexis Young

For residents living in the suburb of Deer Park, Texas, the chemical fire which broke out at the Shell Chemical Plant on May 5th was far from an isolated incident. The community, located just over 20 miles from Houston, is made up of mostly single-family homes lined with gardens and prides itself on being a […]READ MORE

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© People over Plastic 2023

© People over Plastic 2023