In this issue:
The Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, or Cancer Alley, produces one-fifth of the United States’ petrochemicals. In the early 1990s, Louisiana transformed this corridor, one of the poorest, slowest-growing sections of the state, into working-class communities. Once called a “massive human experiment,” the air, soil, and water in the Corridor absorb more toxic substances annually than do most entire states. To this day, Louisiana is consistently ranked among the states with the highest rates of cancer as a cause of death, with heart attack as the only one above it in 2019 and 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
This report is about how we live in New Orleans and the steps we can take to achieve equity through citywide action on climate change. In our city, African Americans, other people of color, low income families and individuals, the elderly and youth face various forms of inequity and are also vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
The Mississippi River Chemical Corridor produces one-fifth of the United States’ petrochemicals and transformed one of the poorest, slowest-growing sections of Louisiana into working class communities. Yet this growth has not come without a cost: the narrow corridor absorb more toxic substances annually than do most entire states.