Smoke rises from a burning chemical plant after the passing of Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles, Louisiana on Aug. 27, 2020. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images
When Hurricane Laura struck the Gulf Coast early on Thursday with record-setting winds and storm surges that caused flooding, it was bearing down on an area full of chemical plants. The fears about having toxic chemicals in an area increasingly vulnerable to tropical storms are playing out as a chemical plant caught fire and sent toxic plumes into the air throughout the day, as The New York Times reported.
<p>A fire ripped through a chlorine factory, burning throughout the day and into the night Thursday. It released a toxic smoke into the air that forced Louisiana's Governor Jon Bel Edwards to warn residents to turn off their air conditioners, seal off their windows and doors, and stay inside, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/08/27/hurricane-laura-fire-biolab/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>The fire took place at a BioLab facility that manufacturers chlorine for swimming pools and disinfectants. According to Louisiana State Police Superintendent Kevin W. Reeves, the chlorine in the factory started to decompose, which generated enough heat to start the blaze. From there, a small crew of employees tried, in vain, to extinguish the blaze before calling fire officials, as The Washington Post reported.</p>
<p>Chlorine can be dangerous to the lungs and respiratory passages if inhaled. It also causes blisters and rashes on the skin. State officials quickly installed air quality monitors. During an afternoon press conference, State Fire Marshall Butch Browning said no airborne chlorine was detected, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/hurricane-laura-live-updates/2020/08/27/906704215/chemical-fire-burns-near-lake-charles-in-aftermath-of-hurricane-laura" target="_blank">NPR</a>.</p><p>"What they have found is no low-level detection of chlorine offsite, where people walk and where people gather â which is a good thing," Browning said. "The cloud, the plume, as it goes in the air and moves out there is chlorine. Those chemicals are falling in the lake, which is the right place for it because it dilutes the chlorine. So that, we don't believe, is endangering anyone."</p>
<p>The burning chemical factory illuminates the danger the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a> poses to the Gulf Coast, which is dotted with chemical factories and oil refineries, many of which are adjacent to poor and racial minority communities. BioLab, near the community of Mossville, is one of more than a dozen industrial facilities in the area. In Mossville, residents have long breathed air pollutants from the nearby industrial facilities, according to The New York Times.</p><p>"The Biolab facility that's burning out of control right now is part of the toxic soup that Mossville residents have been exposed to for decades," said Monique Harden, assistant director of law and policy at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice in New Orleans.</p>
<p>The exposure to toxic air is reminiscent of the plight of Reserve, Louisiana, a few miles up the Mississippi River, which is home to a chemical plant and was the focus of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/may/06/cancertown-louisana-reserve-special-report" target="_blank">The Guardian's Cancer Alley</a> series. Residents there are 50 times more likely than the general population to develop cancer.</p><p>While residents of Mossville have to deal with the air pollution from industry, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also warning people about creating their own air pollution. Now that power is knocked to out to hundreds of thousands of homes, the CDC issued a <a href="https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2020/han00435.asp" target="_blank">health advisory</a> warning about the dangers of carbon monoxide, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/health/cdc-hurricane-co-poisoning/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>The CDC is worried that people will use gasoline-powered generators or gas and charcoal grill in the wrong setting. "If used or placed improperly, these sources can lead to CO build up inside buildings, garages, or campers and poison the people and animals inside," the CDC said, as CNN reported.</p><p>The CDC is advising people in the area to look out for <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/features/copoisoning/index.html#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20symptoms%20of,CO%20poisoning%20is%20entirely%20preventable." target="_blank">symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning</a>, which are fairly non-descript, but may include nausea, vomiting and dizziness, especially if several people have the same complaint and do not have fever, according to CNN.</p><p>"Appropriate and prompt diagnostic testing and treatment are crucial to reduce morbidity and prevent mortality from CO poisoning," the CDC said. "Identifying and mitigating the CO source is critical in preventing other poisoning cases."</p>
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'Unsurvivable Storm Surge' Expected as Hurricane Laura Hits Gulf Coast With 150 mph Winds
27 August
Climate
A NOAA satellite image of the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 27, 2020 at 7:36 a.m. EST. NOAA
In the middle of the night, Hurricane Laura made landfall, hitting the Gulf Coast in Louisiana with record-setting 150 mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Center, which warned of an "unsurvivable" storm surge.
<blockquote>"Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes. This surge could penetrate up to 40 miles inland from the immediate coastline, and flood waters will not fully recede for several days after the storm."</blockquote>
<p>The storm weakened rapidly as it moved inland, losing strength as it was downgraded to a category 3 hurricane. Early Thursday morning, it was down to a category 2 and the National Hurricane Center expects it will weaken to a tropical storm as it turns northeast and moves over Arkansas Thursday.</p><p>"At the time of landfall, Laura was a ferocious looking hurricane with a clear circular eye, an intense eyewall, and tightly-coiled surrounding spiral bands," the <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT3+shtml/DDHHMM.shtml" target="_blank">National Weather Service said</a> in an update on the storm early Thursday, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/26/hurricane-laura-updates-texas-louisiana/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_lufbanner-6a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p>
<p>Cameron, Louisiana on the Gulf Coast, about 35 miles east of the Texas border, bore the brunt of Laura as it moved on shore with near record winds. In Lake Charles, a city of 78,000 people, buildings shook as the storm's winds ripped through the city's streets.</p><p>"There will be parts of Lake Charles underwater that no living human being has ever seen before," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told WWL Radio, as CNN reported. "We are marshaling all of our people and assets to go in ... and start a very robust search and rescue effort."</p>
<p>The National Hurricane Center warned that the storm surges would make a low-lying area, like Cameron, part of the Gulf of Mexico until the storm had passed and the floodwaters receded, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/us/hurricane-laura-update.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>In the run up to the storm, governors from both Louisiana and Texas urged people to evacuate. "I'm asking people right now to pay attention to this storm, to get out of harm's way," said Edwards during a briefing before the storm's arrival, as The New York Times reported. "Understand, our state has not seen a storm surge like this in many, many decades. We haven't seen wind speeds like we're going to experience in a very, very long time."</p>
<p>While the storm is weakening, its heavy winds are still ripping through Western Louisiana and grazing East Texas, causing widespread power outages. Furthermore, the hurricane is dropping five to 10 inches of rain over a wide swath of the Gulf Coast, and up to 18 inches in some areas, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/26/hurricane-laura-updates-texas-louisiana/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_lufbanner-6a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>. That intense rain is leading to flash flooding in some areas.</p><p>The National Hurricane Center warned that just because the storm is weakening does not mean it is safe. The effects will continue to be felt through the weekend for areas east of the Mississippi River.</p>
<p>In a statement Thursday morning, it said:</p><blockquote>"It should be noted that strong hurricanes like Laura are not just coastal events. Even though Laura's highest winds will decrease quickly as it treks inland, significant impacts from heavy rains and strong wind gusts are likely through at least tonight across portions of Louisiana and Arkansas. Some strengthening as an extratropical cyclone is expected when the storm moves over the Atlantic waters late this weekend and early next week."</blockquote>
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An aerial photo shows a flooded New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on September 11, 2005. NOAA / Wikimedia Commons
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph was severely damaged by flooding.
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<iframe style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/15458588/height/45/theme/standard/thumbnail/yes/direction/backward/" height="45" width="100%" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>The nuns moved elsewhere while repairs began. But the following year, lightning struck the roof and started a fire. The convent could not be saved.</p><p>"We began to pray for some kind of insight that would enable us to use the property in a way that would minister to the people of New Orleans," says Sister Pat Bergen.</p><p>She says an architect came to the nuns with an idea â converting the 25 acres into a wetland that helps prevent flooding in nearby areas.</p>
<p>They're calling the project the <a target="_blank" href="https://nola.gov/resilience-sustainability/areas-of-focus/green-infrastructure/hazard-mitigation-stormwater-projects/mirabeau-water-garden-phase-i/">Mirabeau Water Garden</a>. Plans for the site include recreational areas, meadows that absorb stormwater, and retention ponds.</p><p>When the city's drainage system is overwhelmed, water will be diverted to the property and held there until it can be safely released.</p><p>"Healing, strengthening, restoring Earth was a major part of our decision-making, and that's why this design resonated with our hearts right away," Bergen says.</p><p>So when the city breaks ground, it will turn what was once a major loss into a gain for the flood-prone city of New Orleans.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/08/nuns-agree-to-convert-damaged-convent-into-flood-prevention-project/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Police Condemned for Charging Peaceful Environmentalists With 'Terrorizing' in Louisiana
27 June
Climate
Two Louisiana Bucket Brigade activists are facing felony "terrorizing" charges for leaving a box of plastic pellets collected from Texas waters near a coastal Formosa Plastics facility on the doorstep of a fossil fuel lobbyist in December 2019. MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP / Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
At least 40 U.S. climate and environmental advocacy groups on Friday rallied behind two Louisiana Bucket Brigade activists who are facing felony "terrorizing" charges for leaving a box of plastic pellets collected from Texas waters near a coastal Formosa Plastics facility on the doorstep of a fossil fuel lobbyist in December 2019.
<p>Anne Rolfes and Kate McIntosh, respectively the director and a program assistant for Louisiana Bucket Brigade, "turned themselves into the Baton Rouge Police Department Thursday," <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_ebee9ed6-b586-11ea-8819-439269c90a96.html" target="_blank">according to</a> NOLA.com. "Rolfes was booked with terrorizing, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. McIntosh was booked with principal to terrorizing. Each was released Thursday afternoon after posting $5,000 bond."</p>
<p>The new wave of support for the activists and their nonviolent protest against plastic pollution came in a collection of comments <a href="https://earthworks.org/media-releases/intimidation-tactics-in-louisiana-wont-silence-opposition-to-formosa-plastics/" target="_blank">circulated</a> by the nonprofit Earthworks.</p><p>"These charges are mere retaliation in response to the critical work done by Louisiana Bucket Brigade," said Scott Eustis, community science director at HealthyGulf. "Formosa Plastics is a serial offender of the United States Clean Water Act, and discussing their criminal record with executives and government is essential work in this time of climate emergency, when Formosa Plastics seeks to derail all the good work for Coastal Restoration that Louisiana has accomplished."</p>
<p>"It is outrageous and chilling to see people criminalized simply for speaking out and advocating against toxic pollution in their neighborhoods," declared Liz Butler, vice president of organizing and strategic Alliances at Friends of the Earth (FOE). "Louisiana needs to hold Formosa accountable for poisoning St. James Parish, not punish people who are trying to protect their communities."</p><p>Rolfes and McIntosh deposited the box outside the home of lobbyist Tyler Gray on Dec. 11 with a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6956444-Letter-Included-in-Nurdles-Package-Sent.html" target="_blank">note</a> which said in part that the plastic pellets, also called nurdles, "are just some of the billions of nurdles that Formosa Plastics dumped into the coastal waters of the state of Texas, from their Point Comfort production facility."</p>
<p>The note also said the nurdles should not be removed from bags or left around children or pets, and explained that thousands of Louisiana residents are urging state officials to reject a key permit for a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/14/groups-challenge-louisiana-permits-formosa-plastics-giant-petrochemical-complex" target="_blank">controversial</a> $9.4 billion petrochemical complex that Formosa plans to build in a region nationally known as "<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/welcome-to-cancer-alley-where-toxic-air-is-about-to-get-worse" target="_blank">Cancer Alley.</a>"</p><p>Last year, Taiwan-based Formosa <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2019/10/15/formosa-plastics-pay-50-million-texas-clean-water-act-lawsuit/" target="_blank">agreed</a> to a $50 million settlement for dumping nurdles into Texas' Lavaca Bay. Activists in Louisiana continue to organize in opposition to Formosa's proposed complex in St. James Parish, warning that the facility will adversely impact public health and the environment in the predominantly Black community.</p><p>"Black and Indigenous communities in the Gulf South have long been treated as a sacrifice zone for the profits of the fossil fuel industry, and activists fighting for their health, safety, and future should be thanked, not penalized," Angela Anderson, climate and energy program director at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), said Friday.</p><p>Tamara Toles O'Laughlin, director of 350.org North America, noted specifically that "Black residents of St. James Parish have been subjected to infamous levels of pollution and outrageous neglect from the agencies that should prevent it."</p><p>"This is a clear instance of the law and law enforcement being used to protect corporations, profit, and property over people," she said of the charges against Rolfes and McIntosh. "Louisiana is criminalizing protesters for speaking out against environmental injustice that the state has done next to nothing to address."</p>
<div id="2d9b4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aba472beff2e0cc9e7fa9ded595ae9b1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1276202787915870210" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here's an incomplete tally of previous attempts to silence us:
đCharging Pastor Manning with "inciting a riot" for⊠https://t.co/bz1t3dvowP</div> — LA Bucket Brigade (@LA Bucket Brigade)<a href="https://twitter.com/labucketbrigade/statuses/1276202787915870210">1593105429.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The charges against the pair "come on the heels of a series of incidents where environmental activists have been dealt hefty charges for actions challenging the petrochemical, oil, and gas industries in Louisiana," The Intercept <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/06/25/environmental-activists-charged-terrorizing-louisiana-formosa/" target="_blank">reported</a> Thursday.</p><blockquote>In August 2018, Louisiana legislators passed a law <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/08/22/recent-arrests-under-new-anti-protest-law-spotlight-risks-that-off-duty-cops-pose-to-pipeline-opponents/" target="_blank">establishing a new felony charge</a> for anyone who trespasses on critical infrastructure facilities, including chemical manufacturing facilities and oil and gas pipeline construction sites. Over the following couple months, police used the new law to charge 15 people protesting the oil company Energy Transfer's Bayou Bridge pipeline. Local prosecutors have not yet acted on the charges.<br></blockquote><p>Local organizers have responded to the crackdown on Rolfes and McIntosh by forming the<a href="https://defenddemocracyalliance.org/" target="_blank"> Alliance to Defend Democracy</a>. RISE St. James founder Sharon Lavigne says in a statement on the coalition website that "we will not stand by as law enforcement and a toxic chemical company from Taiwan attempt to scare, silence, and intimidate us."</p><p>Representatives for national groups also reiterated their opposition to the proposed Louisiana complex. As Center for Biological Diversity attorney Julie Teel Simmonds put it Friday: "Black communities are being sickened by corporate polluters and these sham charges won't deter our opposition to this terrible project."</p><p>Other organizations that voiced support for the arrested Louisiana Bucket Brigade activists include Amazon Watch, Break Free From Plastic, the Center for International Environmental Law, Earthjustice, Greenpeace USA, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, and Women's Earth and Climate Action Network International.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/26/outrageous-and-chilling-police-condemned-charging-peaceful-environmentalists" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>. </em><em></em></p>
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The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana has been converted to a 1,000-bed field hospital for coronavirus patients to alleviate stress on local hospitals. Chris Graythen / Getty Images
An area in Louisiana whose predominantly black and brown residents are hard-hit by health problems from industry overdevelopment is experiencing one of the highest death rates from coronavirus of any county in the United States.
<p>St. John the Baptist parish, which sits along the Gulf Coast region known as Cancer Alley, has seen 30 of its 43,000 residents die of Covid-19 since the outbreak began â a death rate of 68.7 per 100,000 people, compared to New York City's rate of 29. </p>
<p> "We were getting calls almost every hour," parish coroner Christy Montegut told The Guardian. "...They all died in the same way. They got to a hospital, were on a ventilator, but the body just couldn't keep going. They died in spite of full treatment. The virus is overwhelming." </p>
<h4>For a deeper dive:</h4><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/07/cancer-alley-coronavirus-reserve-louisiana?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86009723&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9O7CzxMNMlqWquKhJ3PgJMlwB6PdLVXggkKDAgxnwo57ue5pi11mY50_pt26T2aCtPsvxVnJFQ1mtgOSLAO-HZYZOZrUFb9MPvWOad7tp2ei4FELk&_hsmi=86009723" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pke94n/cancer-alley-has-some-of-the-highest-coronavirus-death-rates-in-the-country?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86009723&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9O7CzxMNMlqWquKhJ3PgJMlwB6PdLVXggkKDAgxnwo57ue5pi11mY50_pt26T2aCtPsvxVnJFQ1mtgOSLAO-HZYZOZrUFb9MPvWOad7tp2ei4FELk&_hsmi=86009723" target="_blank">Vice</a>, <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/coronavirus/article_ad6caecc-7905-11ea-b8ad-7ff3f62ac403.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86009723&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9O7CzxMNMlqWquKhJ3PgJMlwB6PdLVXggkKDAgxnwo57ue5pi11mY50_pt26T2aCtPsvxVnJFQ1mtgOSLAO-HZYZOZrUFb9MPvWOad7tp2ei4FELk&_hsmi=86009723" target="_blank">Times-Picayune</a>, <a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/a-look-inside-a-rural-louisiana-hospital-on-the-front-lines-of-a-pandemic/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86009723&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9O7CzxMNMlqWquKhJ3PgJMlwB6PdLVXggkKDAgxnwo57ue5pi11mY50_pt26T2aCtPsvxVnJFQ1mtgOSLAO-HZYZOZrUFb9MPvWOad7tp2ei4FELk&_hsmi=86009723" target="_blank">CA Healthline</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Lawsuit Appeals Permit for Formosa Plastics to Build in Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley'
17 February
Business
Earthjustice says Louisiana has violated the Clean Water Act and given Formosa Plastics Group the "greenlight to double toxic air pollution in St. James" (seen above). Louisiana Bucket Brigade
A coalition of local and national groups on Friday launched a legal challenge to a Louisiana state agency's decision to approve air permits for a $9.4 billion petrochemical complex that Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Group plans to build in the region nationally known as "Cancer Alley."
<p>Louisiana residents and environmental justice advocates have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/23/louisiana-officials-urged-rescind-permission-petrochemical-plant-over-cancer-dangers" target="_blank">pressured</a> local, state, and federal officials to reject permits for the proposed project in St. James Parish. Critics have raised concerns that the complex would adversely affect <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health">public health</a> and the environment by emitting cancer-causing chemicals and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/08/climate-watchdog-warns-us-fracking-boom-leading-30-rise-greenhouse-gas-emissions" target="_blank">producing</a> an estimated 13.6 million tons of planet-heating emissions annually.</p>
<p>Earthjustice filed the new <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/plastic-production/pdfs/Formosa-Petition_2020Feb13.pdf" target="_blank">lawsuit</a> (pdf) in the Louisiana 19th Judicial District Court on behalf of RISE St. James, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Center for Biological Diversity, Healthy Gulf, No Waste Louisiana, Earthworks, and the Sierra Club. The suit appeals the air permits issued by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ).</p><p>"Louisiana violated the Clean Air Act when it gave Formosa the greenlight to double toxic air pollution in St. James," Earthjustice attorney Corinne Van Dalen <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/appeal-challenges-formosa-plastics-air-permits-in-louisiana-2020-02-14/" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement. "It's time for LDEQ to put Louisianans first and reject more pollution that puts their health, safety, and environment at risk."</p>
<div id="1a965" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="PHFLV31581958360"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1228400407405383680" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: Weâre challenging Louisianaâs decision to approve air permits for a massive proposed petrochemical comple⊠https://t.co/DzByCNCLGF</div> — Earthjustice (@Earthjustice)<a href="https://twitter.com/Earthjustice/statuses/1228400407405383680">1581708454.0</a></blockquote></div><p>As the lawsuit explains:</p><blockquote>LDEQ granted Formosa Plastics permits to construct 14 separate major facilities, including 10 chemical plants. The planned chemical complex would manufacture ethylene and propylene, primarily to produce plastics. The other four facilities would support these operations. Formosa Plastics would build this complex a mile from an elementary school in Welcome, and less than one mile from the community of Union in Convent. Its massive air pollution emissions would vastly add to the significant environmental and health burden that African American communities in and near St. James must sufferâincluding from two new recently permitted methanol petrochemical plants, and Nucor Steel's major expansion project.<br><br> Formosa Plastics' air emissions will also spread to communities across St. James Parish, contributing to the region's air pollution problems. The permits would allow Formosa Plastics to release fine particulates and nitrogen dioxide in quantities that exacerbate ongoing violations of EPA's mandatory national standards in St. James Parish. And they would allow Formosa Plastics to be one of the largest industrial sources in the state for some of the most dangerous carcinogenic air pollutants, such as benzene and formaldehyde, and one of the largest in the nation for others, such as ethylene oxide.<br></blockquote>
<p>In an email to the Associated Press on Friday, LDEQ spokesperson Gregory Langley <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/groups-challenge-louisiana-permits-for-plastics-plant/2020/02/14/f08a4046-4f63-11ea-967b-e074d302c7d4_story.html" target="_blank">said</a> that "we don't comment on ongoing litigation."</p><p>Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, called the permit approval "a new low" for LDEQ, pointing out that the department received over 15,500 comments from residents opposing the complex.</p><p>"Formosa Plastics would be one of the largest plants in the world, but our state used the same old rubber stamp to approve the project," said Rolfes. "We will act to protect the people of Louisiana since the state has clearly failed to do so."</p>
<div id="6665b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5WQJ8N1581958361"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1223373307707318283" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The proposed Formosa Plastics Plant would increase the cancer risk in the 7th District, according to @Earthjustice.⊠https://t.co/ikvsokUMG5</div> — LA Bucket Brigade (@LA Bucket Brigade)<a href="https://twitter.com/labucketbrigade/statuses/1223373307707318283">1580509900.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Sharon Lavigne, founder and president of the local organization RISE St. James, declared that "LDEQ doesn't care about people's lives."</p><p>"They should have consulted the citizens of St. James, not the public officials, before approving these permits. It just tells me that people in higher office can do what they want and poison an entire African American community," she said. "RISE is going to fight to save the lives of the people in our community. This approval is making our fight harder, but it's making us stronger, and we will fight until the end to stop Formosa."</p>
<div id="57949" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="YPWS531581958361"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1228374860469915648" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Great profile of Sharon Lavigne, a leader in the fight to #StopFormosa and its massive plastic-making plant in Loui⊠https://t.co/Ot5eUS9esc</div> — Ctr4BioDiv Ocean (@Ctr4BioDiv Ocean)<a href="https://twitter.com/EndangeredOcean/statuses/1228374860469915648">1581702363.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Representatives from national organizations signed on to the suit expressed support for the community members battling against the project but also put the fight into a broader context.</p><p>"This plant would poison the people of St. James Parish and worsen the climate crisis just so Formosa can churn out more throwaway plastic," said Lauren Packard, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Using our oversupply of fracked gas to create products that add to the plastic pollution crisis is appalling. We stand with the local community in opposing this dangerous project."</p><p>As Common Dreams <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/08/climate-watchdog-warns-us-fracking-boom-leading-30-rise-greenhouse-gas-emissions" target="_blank">reported</a> last month, Environmental Integrity Project found that greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. oil, gas, and petrochemical industries could jump about 30% by 2025 compared with 2018 because of additional drilling and 157 new or expanded projects "fueled by the fracking boom." The Formosa complex would have the highest potential yearly emissions among all the future and petrochemical and plastics projects included in the analysis.</p><p>"The fight against Formosa's polluting and unjust petrochemical complex is part of a growing national movement to address the triple threat of climate chaos, plastics pollution, and environmental racism," Earthworks energy campaigner Ethan Buckner said Friday. "By issuing these permits to Formosa, LDEQ yet again acquiesced to the fossil fuel industry's reckless plans to rapidly expand in the face of our worsening climate crisis."</p><p><span></span>"As investors sour on oil and gas companies, plastics are Big Oil's lifeline. And LDEQ threw them the rope," Buckner added. "Yet the voices of Cancer Alley's leaders are stronger than ever, and we will defend their right to clean water, air, and a stable climate."<em></em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/14/groups-challenge-louisiana-permits-formosa-plastics-giant-petrochemical-complex">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>
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The coast of Grand Isle, Louisiana, is seen. Matthew D White / Photolibrary / Getty Images
The land in the Mississippi River Delta is sinking and eroding. Louisiana has lost about 2,000 square miles since the 1930s. And as seas rise, the loss of land will only accelerate.
<p>If nothing is done to slow this loss, Louisiana could lose an area more than twice the size of the state of Rhode Island in the next 50 years.<em></em></p>
<p>Pat Forbes, director of the Louisiana Office of Community Development, says his state's coastal land is going underwater faster than anywhere else in the U.S.</p><p>He says the state's coastline is a precious cultural and economic resource.</p><p>Louisiana is home to a huge <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fishing">fishing</a> industry. It's among the top <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil-and-gas/" rel="noopener noreferrer">oil and gas</a> producing states. And 500 million tons of cargo pass through its ports and channels each year.</p>
<p>"We have a lot a people working in our coast and living in our coast," Forbes says. "We have to figure out ways to adapt to this changing reality."</p><p>The state has approved a $50 billion plan to rebuild land, build flood barriers, and implement other projects, such as elevating homes.</p><p>But Forbes says even if the plan is implemented in full, some places cannot be saved.</p><p>"Some communities are going to disappear," he says.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/02/louisiana-has-a-50-billion-dollar-plan-to-protect-its-coast/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Communities in the Deep South are still recovering after a series of devastating tornadoes tore through the region earlier this week. They were the first killer tornadoes since May of this year.
<p><br/></p>
<p>Though tornado activity in the U.S. this time of year is not abnormal, the extent of damage is. According to <a href="https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/monthly/newm.html" target="_blank">The Storm Prediction Center</a>, there were more fatalities this week than from the last three Decembers combined.</p><p>The <a href="https://apnews.com/4f6fa7472f1da6dded97b9185c13e592" target="_blank">Associated Press</a> reported that at least four people have died as a result of the storms, including a husband and wife whose 7-year-old son was fighting for his life but has started to recover, according to <a href="https://www.wvtm13.com/article/husband-wife-killed-in-severe-northern-alabama-storms-monday-evening/30250643#" target="_blank">WVTM</a>. At least two dozen suspected tornadoes were reported across the South, destroying or damaging 150 homes in their midst. Additionally, the National Weather Service <a href="https://twitter.com/gdimeweather/status/1206936072011296774" target="_blank">issued</a> 85 tornado warnings and <a href="https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/191216_rpts.html" target="_blank">logged</a> at least 140 reports of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">severe weather</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/12/17/deadly-tornado-outbreak-strikes-deep-south/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Know someone that lives in these parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama?<br><br>They are at risk to experience strong winds or tornadoes today. Give them a call or text to make sure they know what could be headed their way. You could help save a life! <a href="https://t.co/FxKEhTJ60A">pic.twitter.com/FxKEhTJ60A</a></p>— National Weather Service (@NWS) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWS/status/1206618823366983685?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Injuries have been reported in several states with the majority of damage being recorded in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tornadoes/tornadoes-sweep-across-southeastern-u-s-killing-at-least-three-officials-idUSKBN1YL0I6" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p><p>"Initial reports suggest [the] first tornado was reported in Louisiana around 10:35 (a.m.) CST and first tornado fatality was somewhere around 11:18 a.m. CST," National Weather Service meteorologist Jared Guyer told the publication.</p><p><a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/breaking-tornado-emergency-issued-for-alexandria-louisiana/646377" target="_blank">AccuWeather</a> reported that it started with a "violent outbreak of severe weather" that "ignited across the region" characterized by winds reaching up to 160 mph that brought with them an <a href="https://emilms.fema.gov/IS0277A/groups/1932.html" target="_blank">EF3 tornado</a>.</p><p>"The tornado activity across the Lower Mississippi Valley on Monday was not out of the ordinary for December, but the storms were particularly strong and long-lived for this time of year," <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/breaking-tornado-emergency-issued-for-alexandria-louisiana/646377" target="_blank">said</a> Rich Putnam, AccuWeather senior storm warning meteorologist.</p><p>"Typically, that region experiences a minimum in tornadoes during the summer months, and sees the majority of their late summer and early fall tornadoes occur during tropical events. However, as we get into the late fall, the jet stream begins to swing far enough south to supply the upper atmospheric ingredients necessary for organized severe weather."</p><p>One tornado traveled more than 60 miles across central Louisiana, leaving behind it a scar visible from space, reported the <a href="https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=LCH&issuedby=LCH&product=PNS" target="_blank">NWS Weather Forecast Office</a>.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The public information statement is out:<a href="https://t.co/cOcMLccnUn">https://t.co/cOcMLccnUn</a> <a href="https://t.co/5Ud1cBrqio">pic.twitter.com/5Ud1cBrqio</a></p>— NWS Lake Charles (@NWSLakeCharles) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSLakeCharles/status/1207356731845574656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Formosa Plastics has plans to bulldoze over a sacred slave burial ground in St. James Parish, Louisiana, pictured above for a new manufacturing complex that will cover the size of 80 football fields. Louisiana Bucket Brigade
A major plastics manufacturing complex planned for construction in a highly-polluted region of Louisiana may disrupt a historic slave burial site, The Intercept reports.
<p>Human remains and evidence of grave shafts were discovered earlier this year on land being developed by Formosa Plastics Group in St. James Parish in Louisiana. The plant could double the amount of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" rel="noopener noreferrer">air pollution</a> in the region and emit 13 million tons of carbon pollution each year. Many of the residents of St. James Parish, located in a stretch of the state known as "Cancer Alley," one of the most polluted stretches in America, say they are descended from slaves who worked on various plantations in the area. "That's sacred ground," activist and St. James Parish resident Sharon Lavigne told The Intercept. "They're saying they don't care about your ancestors. They're slapping us in the face." </p><h4>For a deeper dive:</h4><p><a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=aef93e97a4&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">The Intercept</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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Environmental Justice Activists Arrested Amid Growing Concerns Over Louisianaâs Cancer Alley Pollution
04 November 2019
Popular
Pastor Gregory Manning, with Justice and Beyond, a New Orleans based civil rights advocacy group, pinned to the ground while being handcuffed. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
Mounting concerns over pollution, public health and the expansion of the petrochemical industry came to a head when two activists were detained in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Oct. 30, the last day of a two-week protest against environmental racism in Louisiana's Cancer Alley.
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQ3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzEzODMxMn0.cBppXnCySGzy00b238jj4yoa8OkA2teKuOmtUirUp6w/img.jpg?width=980" id="2b035" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0a027e86f0a00ef3b59ae1d9fdb7c572" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Police officer telling protesters that they need to clear the hallway outside of LABI's office in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Oct. 30. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<p>Pastor Gregory Manning, who is legally blind, and Sakura Kone were singled out by police for refusing to leave the hallway outside of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (<span style="background-color: initial;">LABI</span>) office where about 40 activists continued with an impromptu rally after being asked to leave. The group had hoped to confront <span style="background-color: initial;">LABI</span>'s head over the association's influence in state politics and regulations.</p><p>Kone was given a citation and released outside, while Manning was taken to jail. According to a release from Manning's group Justice and Beyond, Pastor Manning, who is being charged with a felony count of inciting a riot and Kone will be arraigned on Nov. 5 in Baton Rouge City Court.</p><p>The police officers' actions infuriated members of the Coalition Against Death Alley (CADA), a group of Louisiana residents and members of various local and state organizations behind the protest. The coalition focuses on fighting against and bringing attention to the petrochemical industry's expansion that is underway in Louisiana.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0f557ce64f0a61ee345bf470371fb8b6"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PaS8p52_U2E?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><em>Robert Taylor and Pastor Manning speaking before Manning was detained.<em> Julie Dermansky / DeSmog</em></em></p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5e6ead46a69ac3526d5aec80e4c5c906"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R3CGzGAfgEI?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><em>Pastor Manning and Sakura Kone being detained. <em>Julie Dermansky / DeSmog</em></em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/louisiana-cancer-alley-communities-gulf-petrochemical-pollution" target="_blank">Louisiana's Cancer Alley</a>, also known as the "Petrochemical Corridor," is an 80-mile stretch along the Mississippi River with over 100 petrochemical plants and refineries between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The Louisiana government is welcoming an increasing number of industrial facilities to this corridor in primarily African-American communities.</p>
Seeking Environmental Justice for Cancer Alley
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQxNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MDk4NTU1Nn0.uYLg_tLkYzKbfBF05wp5kj6z8C_Gx3i1WfqlLxNYqak/img.jpg?width=980" id="fcb8d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ba18007e6d7a72834134711ae188868d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Sharon Lavigne, a lifelong resident of St. James Parish, marching with CADA in downtown Baton Rouge on Oct. 30. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<p>CADA's protest focused in large part on the struggles of the communities in St. James and St. John the Baptist Parish, both on the Mississippi River's banks and both frontline battlegrounds for environmental justice in the shadow of heavy industry.</p><p>Sharon Lavigne, <span style="background-color: initial;">CADA</span> member and founder of <span style="background-color: initial;">RISE</span> St. James, a community organization opposing the Taiwanese-owned Formosa plastic manufacturing complex proposed in St. James, was shaken after police violently took down Pastor Manning a few feet away from her. "Why are they arresting Rev. Manning, who is trying to protect us, instead of the polluters who are poisoning us?" asked Lavigne later that day on a call announcing Manning's release from jail.</p><p>CADA member Robert Taylor, director of the Concerned Citizens of St. John, is fighting for an existing polluter in his community to lower its emissions or close. His group is pushing the Denka Performance Elastomer plant to lower its emissions of the toxic chemical chloroprene to the level deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjYwMDM3OH0.QelzQIaU69GXAoWvJIzoeoEww_sVuE-kwCR1RX4YHyo/img.jpg?width=980" id="619fe" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b3539a672411787c067c201a83706e7d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Robert Taylor on a street in downtown Baton Rouge marching with CADA after Pastor Manning was detained. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQyMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDEzODI1MH0.g5PIqRGMKsFMuwPvvE0vZy1LzzD35uwKoKp3c5DtLeY/img.jpg?width=980" id="4ac24" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5402e2f93dc156557201273e3653bd17" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
CADA members on the street outside of the LABI office after Pastor Gregory Manning was taken away in a police car. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<p>Taylor was furious at the way the police handled Pastor Manning while detaining him. "They did their classical take down of that stubborn negro, with their knees in this man's back with him down on his face, helpless, handcuffed behind him, with their knees in his back, twisting his arms, and he's screaming," Taylor said to me, while the protesters regrouped at a park a few blocks away from the <span style="background-color: initial;">LABI</span> office.</p><p>Over the last two weeks, CADA marched and held protests at numerous locations in New Orleans and the river parishes, addressing diverse social issues plaguing Louisiana, from voter suppression to environmental justice. </p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQ0MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzY2NjYxNn0.C-wPZMdEIxBkjrSVmXr3rQiRRNpegEfgHCauUWqN3v4/img.jpg?width=980" id="29a8d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a4145e1b7f6a8df906b87c83681ff893" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Daryl Malek-Wiley, New Orleans Sierra Club representative, with CADA in Baton Rouge on the last day of its two week protest in front of the building where the Louisiana Chemical Association (LCA) has its office. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQ0My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTIzNjgwOH0.rI09eUAIvLRactq8n6bBu8Vw-0E4V5V9cU6Brp-ElOU/img.jpg?width=980" id="c1460" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d86c30284bc4df905a565b005293a9f0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Cindy Russo, an environmental activist with CADA in Baton Rouge protesting in front of the building where the Louisiana Chemical Association (LCA) has its office near the state capitol. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
A New Plastics Complex in St. James
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQ0Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMTU5NDQyM30.z2W9oGrqPZe7bNW0Y5aaeWMtp00nbDSPvGVMdGRM3lE/img.jpg?width=980" id="416e1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="54591efa2350ef9e2a9fab8e0f996f04" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Sharon Lavigne with members of RISE St. James at the July 9 LDEQ permit hearing. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<p>While Lavigne and Taylor support the coalition's broader work, each remains focused on protecting their own communities. </p><p>If <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/12/13/formosa-plastics-plant-st-james-parish-louisiana-environmental-racism" target="_blank">the Formosa plastics complex</a> is built in St. James, Lavigne fears the already degraded air quality at her home, near several petrochemical plants and oil storage tanks, will become a death trap. Many of her neighbors have died of cancer and respiratory illnesses associated with the types of emissions released from the existing facilities.</p><p>This summer, Lavigne's activism helped turn out a large crowd opposed to Formosa's proposed $9.4 billion industrial complex, which is called the "Sunshine Project" due to its proximity to the nearby Sunshine Bridge.</p><p>At a July 9 Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (<span style="background-color: initial;">LDEQ</span>) public hearing, dozens spoke out against granting five air quality permits to Formosa. In addition, the agency received 15,000 comments against the project.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQ1MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDk3MTQ1M30.2sOqLbXgs0pVXXbwKRQIR-wDGR-rzS9SRyKYQsNSbHU/img.jpg?width=980" id="54666" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3d96651d39c7b0b5a3d33a4e2c526874" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Gail Leboeuf, a St. James resident and member of both RISE St. James and CADA, protesting in front of Denka's synthetic rubber plant on Oct. 19. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<p>LDEQ's decision on the permits could come any day, but many do not expect a decision to be made public until after the upcoming runoff election for governor on Nov. 16. </p><p>Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards, who has disappointed environmentalists with his <a href="https://youtu.be/4lHFzAEzU_E" target="_blank">ongoing climate science denial stance</a> and his readiness to <a href="http://gov.louisiana.gov/news/sunshine-project" target="_blank">welcome even more polluting industrial projects</a> to the state, is facing off with Republican businessman Eddie Rispone. </p><p>Though <span style="background-color: initial;">CADA</span> members expressed displeasure with Edwards <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/06/05/march-pollution-coalition-death-alley-louisiana-cancer-alley-governor" target="_blank">during a five day-long protest in June</a>, the group voiced support for him for governor over Rispone, a self-proclaimed Trump loyalist, over fears the latter would roll back already weak state environmental protections.</p>Air Pollution Concerns for Students in St. John the Baptist Parish
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQ1NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMDIwMjc5N30.mwXolTWFlv0oHJTRjrhRV5ZUxalbtgo4IanvHsOToBY/img.jpg?width=980" id="c911a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="533e800df916927b270463709c746bdf" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Robert Taylor's daughter Tish, a member of the Concerned Citizens of St. John and CADA, on the fourth day of the coalition's two-week protest outside of the Fifth Ward Elementary School near Denka's plant. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<p>For years, Taylor's group has pleaded for regulators to require the Denka neoprene manufacturing plant in St. John the Baptist Parish to lower its emissions of chloroprene, a likely human carcinogen, to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter, the level the Environmental Protection Agency (<span style="background-color: initial;">EPA</span>) suggested as safe.</p><p>While the factory has greatly reduced chloroprene emissions, which previously registered over 700 times the EPA's suggested level, the levels remain higher than recommended.</p><p>As a result, the citizens group is now focused on protecting the community's children who attend school near the synthetic rubber plant. The group is demanding that the 400 students at the Fifth Ward Elementary School, about a quarter mile from the plant, be moved in the meantime.</p><p>This summer, the St. John the Baptist School Board discussed possibly relocating the students, but no concrete actions have materialized. </p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQ1OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1ODgyMTQ0M30.0fZjCopFl3O77546CuhOe02RLKRWR67_7Th-9PoELBg/img.jpg?width=980" id="a6539" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3a576d983e152a2acd80c1dd6c8ddc2f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Lydia Gerard, a member of the Concerned Citizens of St. John, giving Fifth Ward Elementary School students information for their parents during CADA's protest, with an invitation join the group for dinner. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<p>"The School Board has started the process of putting together a redistricting plan that could include moving students from Fifth Ward Elementary," Jennifer Bouquet told me on behalf of Patrick Sanders, the school board's president.</p><p>Taylor is frustrated the school board president hasn't committed to moving the children out in a timely fashion. Talk of developing a redistricting plan is not acceptable to him. He believes that such a plan could take years to finalize and the children should have already been moved out of harm's way. </p><p>A recent reading from the EPA's ongoing air monitoring outside the school showed a level over 20 times above the EPA's suggested level, which is not legally binding. "Anything higher than 0.2 is too high," said Wilma Subra, with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, who has been working with the Concerned Citizens group since its inception in 2016.</p><p>In 2016 the community became aware of the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/national-air-toxics-assessment" target="_blank">EPA's National Air Toxics Assessment</a>, which evaluates air contaminants and estimates health risks and found that residents near Denka's plant have a lifetime risk of cancer from air pollution 800 times above the national average. </p><p>Since that time the LDEQ and the state's health department have downplayed the health risks of chloroprene emissions. <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/07/18/epa-health-risks-chloroprene-denka-chemical-plant-st-john-the-baptist-parish-louisiana" target="_blank">Louisiana's state health officer Dr. Jimmy Guidry has stated</a> that the emissions do not present a health emergency and that the children at the Fifth Ward Elementary School are not in harm's way.</p><p>However, in July, the <a href="https://www.humanrightsnetwork.org/waiting-to-die" target="_blank">University Network for Human Rights </a>released a health survey with findings that suggest cancer and illness levels are unusually high for those living close to the plant.</p><p>Though Denka disputed the report's findings, the governor's administration promised to conduct a "comprehensive study" to determine if people living near the plant have elevated rates of cancer.</p>Overcoming Obstacles
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQ1OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTIwNzA4NH0.pRp82TbBFfKq_eILZZcpsawUwBRZsGgflkZ0iwEYlqA/img.jpg?width=980" id="189d0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="35aeab2c04d9a933c16af4d7cd1fedef" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Members of the Concerned Citizens of St. John march with CADA from the Fifth Ward Elementary School to the Denka Performance Elastomer plant on Oct. 19. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<p>Lavigne and Taylor have expressed gratitude to CADA members who have joined their communities' fight as well as disappointment that more river parish residents have not joined them. They told me that many community members won't speak out in public because they or someone in their family works in the petrochemical industry.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQ2Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzAzNDczMn0.QNxFNtuDfXAss9WDjOaeIeCHFQbNkvAj8OaP2Xhnu6A/img.jpg?width=980" id="90e4d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="26bd74f61a03406f30a6bb92f68cf404" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Members of the Concerned Citizens of St. John join CADA for a rally in front of Denka's plant on Oct. 19. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<p>Taylor's ongoing activism caught up to him on the sixth day of the sustained CADA protest. During a rally in front of the Denka Plant, he was overcome by the heat and taken by ambulance to a hospital for heat exhaustion. While recovering, Taylor, who recently turned 79, told me that he plans to fight as long as it takes until his community's children are safe. </p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQ2My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDYwOTY2N30.ypVh7R5SAOeOT6RHmWGHZc1pTZ3OTKhGzoabr-XrOv4/img.jpg?width=980" id="0c391" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2ee0864efcbbb5f52e96a40bab51f436" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Robert Taylor, who suffered from heat exhaustion during a protest on Oct. 26, is helped off CADA's bus after receiving medical attention. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1ODQ2NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTAyNDczOX0.QN4XhE3KB8U3lANjpCfnVXCOZIWp9FMEVyJ7-xtY41E/img.jpg?width=980" id="ae5fa" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2756be7502ac999dd707a0f0af588eb2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Robert Taylor, who suffered from heat exhaustion during a protest on Oct. 26, is helped off CADA's bus after receiving medical attention. Julie Dermansky / DeSmog
<p><span style="background-color: initial;">"</span>It is bad enough that we have breathed in this poison for decades without knowing it was a carcinogen," he told me from the hospital where he spent a night recovering, "but knowing how bad the air is and letting the children go to school so close to the plant is unacceptable."</p><p>"I will fight to move the children out of harm's way no matter the cost to me, because they are worth it," he said. </p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="77ee577742db984e4a7b35bb9723ce38"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ujpqQXTI-bo?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><em>Robert Taylor speaking at a CADA rally in front of Denka's plant. <em>Julie Dermansky / DeSmog</em></em></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/11/01/environmental-justice-arrests-louisiana-cancer-alley-pollution" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DeSmogBlog</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Hurricane Expected to Hit Louisiana This Weekend, and New Orleans Is Already Flooding
11 July 2019
Climate
Heavy rain from a tropical storm system flooded South Telemachus Street in New Orleans Wednesday morning. SETH HERALD / AFP / Getty Images
The first Atlantic hurricane of the season is expected to hit Louisiana Saturday, and New Orleans is already flooding.
<p>The developing storm system dumped eight inches of rain on the city in around two hours Wednesday morning, National Weather Service New Orleans Meteorologist Phil Grigsby told <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/10/weather/gulf-tropical-storm-outlook-wednesday-wxc-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>, inundating roads and homes.</p><p>Valerie R. Burton described waking up to the deluge.</p><p>"There was about three to four feet of water in the street, pouring onto the sidewalks and at my door," Burton told <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/10/new-orleans-already-flooded-hurricane-on-way/1699836001/" target="_blank">USA Today</a>. "So, I went to my neighbors to alert them and tell them to move their cars."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dude Literally On Canal Street Swimming đđŸââïž . <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NewOrleans?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NewOrleans</a> <a href="https://t.co/SEvIUqyCTH">pic.twitter.com/SEvIUqyCTH</a></p>— đĄđČđ đąđżđčđČđźđ»đ (@HollygroveShawn) <a href="https://twitter.com/HollygroveShawn/status/1148967538606432257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>But the fear is that things could get much worse over the weekend. The storm is expected to move slowly at 8 miles per hour, giving it more time to dump rain in some places. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said around 10 to 15 inches of rain could fall between Friday and Saturday, as CNN reported.<br></p><p>While New Orleans itself is not in the projected path of the hurricane, meteorologists are still concerned the city could be flooded if the Mississippi crests at 20 feet, as is now predicted. New Orleans is only protected up to 20 feet.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">UPDATE: The NHC and Corps of Engineers now expect <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Barry?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Barry</a>'s rains and storm surge to flood the Mississippi River at New Orleans to a crest of 20 ft.<br><br>That's exactly the height of the river levees. It would be the river's highest level in New Orleans since the flood of 1927. <a href="https://t.co/iKn0CWKfmy">pic.twitter.com/iKn0CWKfmy</a></p>— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/1148972952395878402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Dr. Jeff Masters of <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/New-Orleans-Achilles-Heel-Hurricane-Storm-Surge-During-Mississippi-River-Flood?cm_ven=cat6-widget" target="_blank">Weather Underground</a> explained how that might happen:</p><blockquote>Developing Potential Tropical Cyclone 2 (PTC 2) in the Gulf of Mexico is predicted to bring a storm surge of 3 - 6 feet to Southeast Louisiana, which New Orleans' improved levee system would ordinarily be able to handle with ease. However, these are not ordinary times. The Mississippi River is near flood stage, with the waters of the river lapping just four feet below the lowest point in the levee system protecting the city. If PTC 2 intensifies into Hurricane Barry as forecast, the storm surge from Barry has the potential to move up the Mississippi River and come close to overtopping the lowest points in New Orleans' levee system. If Barry grows stronger than forecast and takes a track closer to New Orleans than currently forecast, the potential for serious storm surge flooding of New Orleans exists.</blockquote><p>New Orleans resident Angela Catalano told CNN she already had two feet of water in her basement.</p><p>"I'm very concerned about the impending storm, with the Mississippi River near flood stage. I'm very worried about more flooding," she said.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/hurricane/article_f31f5436-a347-11e9-beaa-67f2b43123a7.html" target="_blank">Nola.com article</a> pinpointed levees along New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, as well as along St. Bernard Parish and Algiers, that were only between 18 and 19.99 feet, according to Army Corps of Engineers levee data. These levees would be overtopped by a 20 foot flood.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"A 20-foot river height could cause overtopping at those locations, something that has never happened in New Orleans' modern history." Those locations in this case are largely poor neighborhoods <a href="https://t.co/OFsUvVMq3L">https://t.co/OFsUvVMq3L</a> <a href="https://t.co/yVmw5LoALz">pic.twitter.com/yVmw5LoALz</a></p>— Brian L Kahn (@blkahn) <a href="https://twitter.com/blkahn/status/1149071275282915328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>However, corps spokesperson Ricky Boyett told Nola.com that the levees for the Lower 9th Ward were really between 20 and 21 feet.<br></p><p>"Our modeling does not show overtopping of the levees in the 9th," he said.</p><p>He said there was one levee segment in St. Bernard that might be at risk, and that officials would fight flooding there as needed.</p><p>Whether or not the river does overtop the levees, the risk was made more likely by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, meteorologist Eric Holthaus explained in <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/154449/new-orleans-barry-storm-one-two-weather-punch" target="_blank">The New Republic</a>.</p><p>Louisiana has only seen a July hurricane three times, and all of them were in the last 40 years, Holthaus said. Research suggests climate change might make this more likely as the Gulf of Mexico warms earlier; the Gulf waters are currently closer to August temperatures.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Gulf of Mexico has been running a temperature all season. Thermodynamically it looks more like early August than it does early July. Important not just for potential intensity but also moisture tap for heavy rainfall. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/92L?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#92L</a> <a href="https://t.co/AG71cbpBNK">pic.twitter.com/AG71cbpBNK</a></p>— Michael Lowry (@MichaelRLowry) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelRLowry/status/1148626956562378767?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><br>Meanwhile, the Mississippi has been at flood stage in southern Louisiana since Jan. 6, the longest period on record. In general, spring floods are happening earlier as the atmosphere heats up.<br></p><p>"Even if Barry steers away from Louisiana, this won't be the last time the region has to deal with the dual threat of extreme late-season flooding and extreme early-season hurricanes," Holthaus wrote. "As the climate continues to warm, the atmosphere will continue to be able to hold more moisture, increasing the likelihood of intense rainfall in already-wet areas."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Louisiana?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Louisiana</a> Faces Faster Levels of Sea-Level Rise Than Any Other Land on Earth <a href="https://t.co/zCuAWpcH7U">https://t.co/zCuAWpcH7U</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NRDC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NRDC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RobertKennedyJr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Waterkeeper?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Waterkeeper</a></p>— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) <a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/816731185917345792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Fossil Fuels and Climate Denial Still Reign in Louisiana Despite Scientistsâ Dire Warnings
24 December 2018
Climate
A flare from the Shell Refinery in Norco, Louisiana shines along with Christmas lights on residents homes on Dec. 19, 2013. Julie Dermansky / Corbis via Getty Images
By Julie Dermansky
Louisiana is ground zero for the devastating impacts of climate change. Even though the state is already feeling the costly impacts to life and property due to extreme weather and an eroding coastline linked to a warming planet, its government continues to ignore the primary causeâhuman use of fossil fuels.
The impacts to the region, such as worsening floods, heat waves and sea level rise, will only be intensified as the globe continues warming, warn federal scientists in the latest National Climate Assessment report.
<p>But instead of heeding scientists' warnings, Louisiana's government continues to welcome the prospects of new billion-dollar <a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/our_views/article_2d9ec46c-f401-11e8-a5ec-cb526d534750.html" target="_blank">petrochemical plants</a>, <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/12/20/louisiana-calcasieu-driftwood-lng-export-tellurian-tax-break" target="_blank">liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities</a> and <a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/business/article_35de301e-ab94-11e8-a639-0f1280be888b.html" target="_blank">an oil export hub</a>, all without a mention of their climate change impacts. </p><p>Leading the pack, Gov. John Bel Edwards continues to gush over turning Louisiana into a world leader in <a href="http://gov.louisiana.gov/news/gov-edwards-and-venture-global-executives-announce-85-billion-lng-complex" target="_blank">natural gas</a> and <a href="https://www.opportunitylouisiana.com/led-news/news-releases/news/2018/08/29/plaquemines-port-pursues-crude-oil-export-terminal" target="_blank">oil</a> exports. </p><p>Louisiana politicians continue to <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/02/24/louisiana-senator-bill-cassidy-pushes-natural-gas-climate-solution-contentious-town-hall-meetings" target="_blank">claim natural gas is a "clean" source of energy</a>, and usher in not only LNG facilities, but also <a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/our_views/article_2d9ec46c-f401-11e8-a5ec-cb526d534750.html" target="_blank">petrochemical plants fueled by natural gas production</a>. </p><p>In Plaquemines Parish, a peninsula south of New Orleans that, like all of southern Louisiana, is plagued by coastal erosion, the governor has hailed a <a href="https://www.opportunitylouisiana.com/led-news/news-releases/news/2018/08/29/plaquemines-port-pursues-crude-oil-export-terminal" target="_blank">new crude oil export terminal</a> and a massive <a href="http://venturegloballng.com/plaquemines-project/#.XBssEy2ZMc0" target="_blank">LNG facility</a> that don't yet have permits. </p><h3>Embracing Fossil Fuels But Ignoring Climate Warnings</h3><p>I asked the governor's press secretary what he thought about the <a href="https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/" target="_blank">Fourth National Climate Assessment,</a> an exhaustive review of environmental data by a team of hundreds of scientists that puts Louisiana square in <a href="https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/19/" target="_blank">the eye of physical and financial hardship</a> due to climate changeâand got no reply.<br></p><p>I also checked to see if the governor wanted to update his stance on climate change since his remarks during a <a href="http://www.louisianaradionetwork.com/?pid=9131679" target="_blank">2016 radio show</a> when he stated that he believes the climate is changing, but is less certain how much humans play a role in it. "The degree to which human conduct is impacting that change, I think, is somewhat debatable," he said in an <a href="http://www.louisianaradionetwork.com/?pid=9131679" target="_blank">episode of Louisiana Radio Network's Ask The Governor show.</a></p><p>"That's like saying, 'yes there is gravity, but I'm not sure what Earth's role is,'" climate scientist Michael Mann told me, commenting on those people who dismiss climate science with reasoning like Gov. Edwards'. </p><p>"The reality is that natural factors (volcanoes and fluctuations in solar output) were most likely a cooling influence over the past half century. So not only can natural factors not explain the warmingâthey were actually working in the opposite direction," Mann told me via email, adding: "Only the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations from fossil fuel burning can explain the warming we have seen." </p><h3>Climate Denial on Both Sides of the Aisle in the Louisiana</h3><p>Gov. Edwards, a Democrat, isn't alone in ignoring the latest National Climate Assessment and its warnings for the Pelican State. There is nothing about the landmark climate report on the websites of Louisiana Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, Republican Representatives Garret Graves, Steve Scalise and Clay Higgins, or Democrat Rep. Cedric Richmond.</p><p>For any Louisiana politician to ignore the National Climate Assessment is a "crying damn shame," former General Russell HonorĂ©, founder of the <a href="https://gogreenarmy.com/" target="_blank">GreenARMY</a>, a coalition of Louisiana environmental groups and concerned citizens fighting against pollution, said over the phone.</p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">"</span>The promise that welcoming these plants will save the economy is a false promise," HonorĂ© said. "The money doesn't trickle down to poor folks who live near polluting facilitiesâthey stay poor and services for them don't improve."</p><p>"I'm not against jobs and growing the economy," HonorĂ© added, but he said he is against embracing polluting facilities in the state while ignoring the harm they do to the people and environment. "If the oil and gas industry is so good for the state, why are the schools and infrastructure failing?" he asked. And he expressed frustration that as more polluting plants are permitted, there isn't an increase in regulators being hired to monitor the new facilities.<br></p><p>Furthermore, HonorĂ© believes that politicians aren't doing their job if they are fawning over major new projects that bring in pollution before the permitting process has assessed them. By doing so, "they ignore the state's constitution, which compels them to protect the people and the environment," HonorĂ© said.</p><p>He pointed me to <a href="http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Constitution/Article9.htm" target="_blank">Article IX in the Louisiana State Constitution</a>, which states:</p><blockquote>"The natural resources of the state, including air and water, and the healthful, scenic, historic, and esthetic quality of the environment shall be protected, conserved, and replenished insofar as possible and consistent with the health, safety, and welfare of the people. The legislature shall enact laws to implement this policy." </blockquote><p>HonorĂ© is concerned about the slew of newly proposed foreign-owned petrochemical plants being built between New Orleans and Baton Rouge along the Mississippi River, a petrochemical corridor known to locals as <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/louisiana-cancer-alley-communities-gulf-petrochemical-pollution" target="_blank">Cancer Alley</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/fracking-plastics" target="_blank">The petrochemical</a> industry is tied to natural gas production, which can lead to air and water <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution">pollution</a>. "Saying natural gas is clean is stupid," HonorĂ© said, pointing out that the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/methane">methane</a> which leaks from the natural gas supply chain is a huge driver of global warming.<br><br>In just St. James Parish, in the middle of Cancer Alley, new and proposed projects include <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/12/13/formosa-plastics-plant-st-james-parish-louisiana-environmental-racism" target="_blank">Formosa's $9.4 billion plastics complex</a>, the $1.3 billion <a href="https://www.southlouisianamethanol.com/" target="_blank">South Louisiana Methanol</a> plant, <a href="http://yci-us.com/2017/04/work-begins-on-1-85b-methanol-plant-in-st-james-parish/" target="_blank">Yuhuang Chemical's $1.85 billion methanol facility</a>; and a $1.25 billion chemical complex proposed by the <a href="https://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2017/04/chinas_wanhua_chemical_to_buil.html" target="_blank">Chinese firm Wanhua</a>. </p><h3>Rising Temperatures, Rising Risks</h3><p>The exceptional risks from rising temperatures in Louisiana are outlined in the Fourth National Climate Assessment's <a href="https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/19/" target="_blank">chapter on southeastern states</a>. </p><p>From the report:</p><blockquote>"Many southeastern cities are particularly vulnerable to climate change compared to cities in other regions, with expected impacts to infrastructure and human health. The vibrancy and viability of these metropolitan areas, including the people and critical regional resources located in them, are increasingly at risk due to heat, flooding, and vector-borne disease brought about by a changing climate. Many of these urban areas are rapidly growing and offer opportunities to adopt effective adaptation efforts to prevent future negative impacts of climate change."</blockquote><p>The 2016 flooding in South Louisiana was cited as an example of the destructive potentialâand already present realityâof climate change. Scientists have connected extreme rain events to the planet's rising temperatures, and severe flooding is expected to happen more frequently as the globe continues to warm. The report lists the cost of the thousand-year flood that devastated the <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2016/09/17/environmental-concerns-and-anger-grow-month-after-thousand-year-flood-strikes-louisiana" target="_blank">Baton Rouge area</a> in August 2016 <a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/environment/article_62d3d3aa-f4c1-11e8-b922-1b3817b06f0d.html" target="_blank">at a staggering $10.1 billion</a>.</p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">"</span>We have got to have a solution to pollution," HonorĂ© said. "And we have to do it now." GreenARMY plans to continue addressing pollution and its many injustices in Louisiana, and is working on a slew of bills to introduce next year. HonorĂ© thinks that <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-denier">doubting climate science</a> is irresponsible, and hopes to get others in the state to face climate change head on while there is still a chance to lessen its worst impacts.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/12/21/fossil-fuels-climate-denial-reign-louisiana-scientists-dire-warnings" target="_blank">DeSmogBlog</a>.</em><br></p>
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A dusky gopher frog. USFWS
The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a unanimous setback Tuesday to efforts to protect an extremely endangered species of frog in Louisiana, The New York Times reported.
In Weyerhaeuser v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), landowners had sued to stop the federal government from designating private land in Louisiana as "critical habitat" for the dusky gopher frog, which currently only lives in the De Soto National Forest in Mississippi. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans had upheld the FWS decision to protect the land, but the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to send the case back to the appeals court, asking the lower court to reconsider some key issues.
<p>"While we're disappointed, the ruling doesn't weaken the mandate to protect habitat for endangered <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_blank">wildlife</a>," <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> (CBD) attorney Collette Adkins, who argued for the frogs before the Supreme Court, said in a <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2018/dusky-gopher-frog-11-27-2018.php" target="_blank">press release</a>. "The dusky gopher frog's habitat protections remain in place for now, and we're hopeful the 5th Circuit will recognize the importance of protecting and restoring habitats for endangered wildlife."<br></p><p>Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the opinion, asked the appeals court to address two points.</p><ol class="ee-ol"><li><strong>The Meaning of Habitat:</strong> The FWS designated the 1,544 acres in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana as "critical habitat" because they housed "ephemeral" ponds that dry up during part of the year, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-deals-a-setback-to-the-endangered-dusky-gopher-frog/2018/11/27/5c1d5880-f25d-11e8-aeea-b85fd44449f5_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c1b1dd273f33" target="_blank">The Washington Post explained</a>. These ponds are essential for the frogs' survival because their disappearance means the fish who would eat the frogs' eggs in regular ponds can't settle in them. However, the land lacked another important frog support: an open forest canopy. Roberts therefore asked the appeals court to reconsider whether the land really counted as "habitat."</li><li><span></span><strong>Disproportionate Burden</strong>: Roberts also said the lower court could consider whether designating the land as "critical habitat" placed a "disproportionate burden" on the landowners, according to The New York Times. The land is mostly owned by the Poitevent family, but the timber company Weyerhaeuser also owns a parcel and has a lease to harvest pine trees on the rest. Estimates for how much protecting the land could cost its owners range from nothing to $33 million, The Washington Post reported.</li></ol><p>"While we're frustrated that this case has been sent back to the court of appeals, we're still hopeful and we'll keep fighting for the frog," <a href="https://healthygulf.org/" target="_blank">Gulf Restoration Network</a> Executive Director Cynthia Sarthou, whose organization was also involved with the frogs' legal defense, said in the CBD press release. "I hope the owners of the St. Tammany lands will come to realize the value of recovering these little animals and their wetland home, and work with the Service to get the frogs back to the small part of those lands that's needed to support them."</p><p>The dusky gopher frog hasn't been seen in Louisiana since the 1960s. It was believed extinct until a colony of 100 were discovered in Mississippi, leading it to be listed as endangered in 2001.</p><p>The ruling opened with Roberts' description of the frog:</p><blockquote>"The amphibian Rana sevosa is popularly known as the "dusky gopher frog"â"dusky" because of its dark coloring and "gopher" because it lives underground. The dusky gopher frog is about three inches long, with a large head, plump body, and short legs. Warts dot its back, and dark spots cover its entire body. It is noted for covering its eyes with its front legs when it feels threatened, peeking out periodically until danger passes. Less endearingly, it also secretes a bitter, milky substance to deter would-be diners."</blockquote>The decision to send the case back to the appeals court was likely the reason all eight deciding justices were behind it, <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/11/27/endangered-frog-finds-no-friends-supreme-court/2124206002/" target="_blank">USA Today reported</a>. During arguments in October, the four liberal justices had appeared to support protections for the frog. Those waiting to see how newly-appointed Justice <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/kavanaugh-supreme-court-environment-epa-2585783500.html" target="_self">Brett Kavanaugh</a> will rule on environmental cases will have to wait a little longer. He did not weigh in on the ruling since he was not yet confirmed when arguments were heard.<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="23872" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="Y8MIEH1576663070"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="946039274872467456" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Analysis: Congress Attacked Endangered Species Every 6 Days in 2017 https://t.co/HhxUw8Jf9M #wildlife @NWF @WWF⊠https://t.co/fgVTXH6QPK</div> â EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/946039274872467456">1514388314.0</a></blockquote></div>
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