Jun 7, 2023 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, Research and Policy News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 7, 2023
June 1 – 4, 2023
We, the undersigned, attended the National Symposium on Climate Justice and Carbon Management at the Wingspread Center in Wisconsin hosted by GreenLatinos, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, American University’s Institute for Carbon Removal, and the New York Community Trust Foundation. We came as diverse groups representing environmental justice organizations to engage in a productive dialogue on the climate and environmental justice implications, questions, and concerns related to carbon management strategies currently being funded and promoted by the federal government and industries. Much of the conversation and questions focused on concerns related to industrial carbon removal in the form of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), Carbon Capture Storage and Utilization (CCUS), hydrogen fuels, and Direct Air Capture (DAC), among others. We write to express the deep concerns and reflections that came out of these discussions which included:
- There is a lack of a holistic consideration of carbon management that ignores the possibilities for a complete transition away from fossil-fueled industries and economies.
- There is no regulatory regime at any level of government – local, state or federal – that can protect environmental justice communities from the cumulative risks and dangers associated with industrial carbon management like CCS. Within the weak regulatory frameworks many of us fight to change, bad actors that fail to enforce environmental regulations are in the process of being approved to hold primary permitting authority over CCS projects.
- These weak regulatory frameworks are further weakened with the recent permitting reforms that strip down the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and could fast-track CCS/CCUS and hydrogen projects.
- Huge financial incentives for CCS/CCUS and hydrogen projects that are in the 45Q and 45V federal tax credits, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are inappropriately investing public tax dollars in risky ventures that could prove harmful to environmental justice communities and worsen climate change without much oversight.
- A discussion of so-called “guardrails” is imprudent and premature when proponents of CCS/CCUS, DAC, and hydrogen fail to acknowledge the known and potential hazards for communities as well as operation failures that increase climate risks. The hazards, risks, and uncertainties of large-scale deployment of industrial carbon removal strategies should not be hidden, ignored or dismissed, but should be clearly identified, defined, and made known as public information.
- What is being proposed at the federal level is undermining wins achieved at the local and state levels to transition away from fossil fuels and harmful co-pollutants like particulate matter to a just and equitable energy economy. Some good examples of state and local gains include the New Jersey Environmental Justice Law, New York Cumulative Impacts Law, and the City of New Orleans Renewable and Clean Energy Portfolio. New Orleans also passed the first prohibition on CCS/CCUS.
- Often overlooked in climate mitigation and resiliency policies and funding opportunities is the consideration of natural, biological carbon sinks, such as the restoration of mangroves, soil improvements, and forest restoration. These approaches also need careful assessment of potential social and equity impacts in their application.
- The overarching purpose of carbon removal should be the complete and rapid transition away from harmful fossil fuels and other sources of industrial pollution, with an absolute priority on reducing chronic disparities of pollution exposure and industrial harm experienced by environmental justice communities.
It’s not lost on us that we convened this weekend at the same location where the Precautionary Principle was developed in 1998. To this end, we affirm that any activity or technology with demonstrated and/or reasonably foreseeable threats to public health and the environment must undertake precautionary measures, even if some causes and effects are not yet scientifically determined. For reasons listed above and more, this absolutely applies to the entire premise of carbon management and associated technologies.
In solidarity,
Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director, and Monique Harden, Director of Law and Public Policy, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Peggy Shepard, Co-Founder and Executive Director, and Dana Johnson, Senior Director of Strategy and Federal Policy, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Dr. Ana Isabel Baptista, Tishman Environment & Design Center, The New School
Maria Lopez-Nunez, Deputy Director, Ironbound Community Corp.
Jennifer M. Hadayia, MPA, Executive Director, Air Alliance Houston
Beto Lugo Martinez, Executive Director, Clean Air Now EJ
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright, Director of Environmental Justice, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
Sharon Lewis, Executive Director, Connecticut Coalition for Economic and Environmental Justice
Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq., Center for the Urban Environment, John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University
Huda Alkaff, Founder and Director, Wisconsin Green Muslims
Nayyirah Shariff, Director, Flint Rising
Mark Magaña, Founding President and CEO, and Irene Burga Márquez, Climate Justice and Clean Air Program Director, GreenLatinos
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Hip Hop Caucus
May 12, 2023 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, Research and Policy News
May 12, 2023
NEW ORLEANS, LA – Following yesterday’s news of the EPA’s newly proposed pollution limits, Dr. Beverly Wright, Founding Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, released the following statement:
“The steps the EPA is taking to limit deadly pollution from power plants are bold and necessary. The communities on the fence line of these plants, in most cases communities of color, have been suffering for decades as the fossil fuel power industry has been able to legally poison the water they drink and the air they breathe. The fight for stronger regulation of these polluting industries has been our mission for more than 30 years and we’ve worked with countless community advocates whose work on the ground has led us to this moment.
“In recent months, Administrator Michael Regan and the EPA have announced a string of new policies including proposed rules to strengthen standards on cancerous pollution and air quality standards. With each announcement, we are even more encouraged by the Biden Administration’s commitment to climate justice and protecting our fence-line communities. This is the type of action required to meet this moment in the crisis we are facing now.”
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About the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Families in the Gulf Coast deserve to live in communities that are free from deadly air and are more resilient to climate change and extreme weather. The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) works to empower and engage communities to put environmental justice and equity at the center of all climate action. Led by environmental justice scholar and advocate, author, civic leader and professor of Sociology Dr. Beverly L. Wright, the DSCEJ uses research, education, and community and student engagement to advocate for policy change, lead health and safety training for environmental careers, develop social and emotional community wellness programs, and create new and environmentally healthy opportunities for the residents of communities disproportionately impacted by historic environmental injustice.
May 8, 2023 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, Research and Policy News
New Report Illustrates Proximity of Petrochemical Facilities to Black Communities in the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8, 2023
Contact: Ginger LeBlanc | gingerl@dscej.org
NEW ORLEANS, LA – Today, the Deep South Center For Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) released a new report titled “The More Things Change, the More They Remain The Same: Living and Dying in Cancer Alley” updating the organization’s’ 1990 mapping project that illustrates toxic pollution in relation to poverty and minority populations in the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, also known as Cancer Alley.
The corridor produces one-fifth of the United States’ petrochemicals and has transformed the region’s working-class communities into some of the poorest and sickest communities in Louisiana. The new maps show that, while the area has technically seen a decrease in greenhouse gases and total air emissions, the risk has grown exponentially for Black communities. The region’s polluting facilities are concentrated almost exclusively in their backyards and environmental justice experts are now calling the region a “massive human experiment.”
“The data we’ve gathered to update our 1990 maps illustrates what we’ve known to be true anecdotally – Cancer Alley is one of the deadliest regions in the country for Black people,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director of DSCEJ. “We’ve found that the more things have changed in the last 30 years for so many, the more things stay the same for Black communities, and in many cases have gotten worse. We have to stop the construction of new petrochemical facilities and reduce the concentration of them in minority communities. It’s the only way to protect people going forward and make sure that the suffering we’ve had to endure for decades does not continue.”
DSCEJ’S updated maps show Cancer Alley has 170 petrochemical facilities reporting toxic chemical emissions and 149 reporting greenhouse gas emissions.The number of facilities is only growing, with 29 in the proposal stage or currently under construction, all in majority Black communities. DSCEJ also factored in the growing cancer risk in the region with the exposure to these chemicals putting the area in the 80 to 90th and 95 to 100th percentile of cancer risk in the nation.
In September 2022, DSCEJ joined forces with local groups as part of the Beyond Petrochemicals campaign, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ $85 million effort to stop the expansion of more than 120 petrochemical plants in Louisiana, Texas and the Ohio River Valley.
“Fossil fuel pollution has degraded the lands and lives of Black and brown people for far too long – the time for accountability is now, ” said Heather McTeer Toney, Executive Director of the Beyond Petrochemicals Campaign. “Communities of color deserve the same access to clean air, water, and soil afforded to wealthier, white communities. The maps provided by Deep South Center for Environmental Justice showcase that there is much work to be done to achieve equity. With the decades-long, historical patterns of racial injustice in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ exposed, we are inspired to put our resources to work to safeguard local communities and finally put an end to the expansion of the toxic petrochemicals industry.”
The new report is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Beyond Petrochemicals campaign. Click here to view the report and here to view the executive summary.
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About the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Families in the Gulf Coast deserve to live in communities that are free from deadly air and are more resilient to climate change and extreme weather. The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) works to empower and engage communities to put environmental justice and equity at the center of all climate action. Led by environmental justice scholar and advocate, author, civic leader and professor of Sociology Dr. Beverly L. Wright, the DSCEJ uses research, education, and community and student engagement to advocate for policy change, lead health and safety training for environmental careers, develop social and emotional community wellness programs, and create new and environmentally healthy opportunities for the residents of communities disproportionately impacted by historic environmental injustice.
Mar 25, 2023 | Community Engagement News, Dr. Beverly Wright News, Research and Policy News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 25, 2023
Contact: Ginger LeBlanc | gingerl@dscej.org
New Orleans, LA – In response to today’s Supreme Court’s decision weakening the EPA’s ability to enforce wetland protections, Dr. Beverly Wright, Founding Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, released the following statement:
“Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court has removed an important protection in our nation. This time the target is wetlands that filter out pollutants from waterways and provide important defenses against major storms and flood events, now supercharged by climate change. In Louisiana and other coastal states, Black and other communities of color are working to preserve and protect their wetlands from projects that entail draining and cementing over them. The Supreme Court has gutted Clean Water Act protections for these wetlands and sets developers loose to destroy them. This decision is an injustice to communities across America where flood risks have been mitigated by wetlands.”
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About the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Families in the Gulf Coast deserve to live in communities that are free from deadly air and are more resilient to climate change and extreme weather. The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) works to empower and engage communities to put environmental justice and equity at the center of all climate action. Led by environmental justice scholar and advocate, author, civic leader and professor of Sociology Dr. Beverly L. Wright, the DSCEJ uses research, education, and community and student engagement to advocate for policy change, lead health and safety training for environmental careers, develop social and emotional community wellness programs, and create new and environmentally healthy opportunities for the residents of communities disproportionately impacted by historic environmental injustice.
Nov 28, 2022 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, International Connection News, The Latest News
Dr. Wright, Executive Director, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Talks Climate Justice Pavilion at COP27
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 28, 2022
New Orleans, LA – Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) penned an op-ed in Ms. Magazine bringing attention to the first-ever Climate Justice Pavilion inside the Blue Zone at COP27, the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The Climate Justice Pavilion was created in collaboration with DSCEJ, WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT), and the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University (BCECJ).
In her piece, COP27’s Newest Headliner: Environmental Justice, Dr. Wright discussed how the environmental movement pushed for more equitable solutions to tackle the world’s biggest problems. The Climate Justice Pavilion was successful in its efforts to address the risk of carbon capture and storage technology to front-line communities and the need for just solutions to reduce carbon, assess the damage to underserved communities due to years of colonialism and environmental racism, and rethink climate reparations for poor communities burdened by the world’s richest people.
The COP27 Climate Justice Pavilion is a collaboration effort from Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice; Peggy Shepard, Executive Director of WE ACT For Environmental Justice; Dr. Robert Bullard, Director of Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, Texas Southern University; Fred Krupp, President of Environmental Defense Fund, Abigail Dillen, President of Earthjustice; Dr. Deb L. Morrison, CLEAR Environmental; Marina Macal, Instituto Clima e Sociedade; Cathy Eatock, Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform; and Mithika Mwenda, PACJA, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance.
See below for excerpts from the op-ed, or read it in Ms. Magazine here.
COP27’s Newest Headliner: Environmental Justice
Dr. Beverly Wright, November 18, 2022
“This year, as I traveled to COP for the 13th time, my organization, the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice in partnership with WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT), and the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University (BCECJ) hosted a Climate Justice Pavilion designed to foster environmental justice conversations between diplomats, policymakers, businesses and professional advocates.
This first-of-its-kind pavilion brought together people from the Global South, the U.S. environmental justice movement and Indigenous peoples to highlight the voices of communities disproportionately impacted by our climate crisis. The pavilion focused on historically overlooked sectors of climate policy, including the risk of carbon capture and storage technology to front-line communities and the need for just solutions to reduce carbon.”
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“Environmental justice must be at the forefront of every conversation about climate change and what our country and others will do to reverse the dangerous path we are on. From the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States to the significance of hosting a climate conference on the content of Africa, we welcome the opportunity to make bolder strides toward environmental and climate justice.”
Click here to read the full op-ed.
May 25, 2022 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, Research and Policy News, The Latest News
Energy Secretary Encourages Community Participation in Equitable Energy Investments
May 25, 2022
NEW ORLEANS – The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and the Alliance for Affordable Energy sent a letter urging Governor Edwards to establish an energy plan to make Louisiana competitive for the billions of dollars available from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law administered by the Department of Energy. Their letter follows a historic meeting in New Orleans in which the US Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm met with community, environmental justice, and energy consumer advocates yesterday. She encouraged them to participate in decisions on equitable energy investments. Currently, the DOE reports that $62 billion in funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are now available for energy projects.
Inaction on an energy plan for Louisiana limits opportunities to fund projects that can save lives during power outages by innovating the electric grid, as well as support the transition to an equitable renewable energy economy.
In their letter, the groups urge Governor Edwards to develop a state energy plan with public participation and focus on communities who are harmed by oil and gas industries, have yet to recover from past hurricanes, struggle to pay electric and gas bills, and are disconnected from efficient and renewable energy.
The text of the letter follows.
Dear Governor Edwards:
We respectfully urge you to take action on establishing an energy plan for Louisiana. As you know, without this plan, Louisiana is less competitive for the billions of dollars from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that are awarded by the US Department of Energy. We recommend a plan that prioritizes investments in Louisiana communities harmed by oil and gas industries and a transition to an equitable and renewable energy economy that creates opportunities for workers.
Louisiana residents have been failed by a poorly maintained energy grid with extended power outages that have resulted in deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning and excessive heat. Fenceline communities are exposed to toxic air from oil refineries, gas production facilities, abandoned wells, and oil waste disposal. Families struggle to pay electric and gas bills with soaring fuel charges. Many homes in Louisiana are in need of weatherization to use energy efficiently. The climate crisis we face is fueled by energy we must transition away from in order to sustain our future. After decades of denying climate change, the oil and gas industry is seeking to expand in the state with unproven and highly risky technology called carbon capture and storage. We need an energy plan for Louisiana that provides real solutions.
Solar power with battery storage, wind energy, and energy efficiency can clean our air, keep the power on, create new jobs for Louisiana, and help us to meet the climate goal. A plan focused on strategies for achieving these solutions is urgently needed to improve our environment and economy.
We offer our support to assist your office in developing an energy plan that is centered on equity. We strongly recommend meaningful and effective engagement with communities across the state to provide input in developing this plan.
We would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and your staff to get to work on an equitable energy plan for Louisiana.
Sincerely,
Beverly Wright, Executive Director
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
www.dscej.org
Logan Burke, Executive Director
Alliance for Affordable Energy
www.all4energy.org
Contact:
Logan Burke
Alliance for Affordable Energy
logan@all4energy.org
646-942-7149
Ginger LeBlanc
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
gingerl@dscej.org
(504) 298-9878
