Feb 16, 2023 | Justice40 News, Press Releases, The Latest News
Justice40 Initiative Gaining Momentum as 21 Environmental Justice Hub Leaders from 10 States Convene for Training Institute
Dr. Beverly Wright of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and Dr. Robert D. Bullard of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University Continue Collaboration to Implement the Justice40 Initiative
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 16, 2023
Contact:
Ginger LeBlanc | gingerl@dscej.org
Briana Augustus | briana.augustus@tsu.edu
NEW ORLEANS, LA – In the coming weeks, Louisiana and Texas are where environmental justice communities will converge to participate in education and research skills training provided by the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ), led by Dr. Beverly Wright and the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University, led by Dr. Robert D. Bullard.
Recently, DSCEJ and the Bullard Center organized 21 Regional Hubs in 10 U.S. states that will be managed by leaders of community-based organizations. Both organizations will continue their collaborative work on the equitable implementation of Justice40 as they convene leaders of the Justice40 Regional Hubs in New Orleans and Houston for education and research skills training.
The first 2-day Communiversity training for Regional Hub Leaders will take place February 22 – 24, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana at the NOPSI Hotel. The convening will help bolster the capacity of community-based organizations to secure funding for environmental justice projects in their communities. The Communiversity model can help to create a collaborative learning environment that brings together academic researchers, community-based organizations, and residents to address environmental issues in a holistic and equitable way,
“The goal of this training is to empower our hub leaders to pursue and advocate for federal dollars that can improve environmental conditions and address climate risks in their communities. For over 30 years, we’ve witnessed projects and funding intended to benefit our communities never reach them. Our Justice40 work has been designed with that history in mind so that our community-based organizations can advocate with authority, equipped with the tools necessary to successfully secure Justice40-mandated funding and resources that will have a lasting impact on their communities.” said Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder & Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.
On March 20-22 on the campus of Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, leaders will be the first to test the new HBCU Climate and Environmental Justice Screening Tool (HCEJST) that was created to show the disparities in neighborhoods after the Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) created by the federal government left out race. Leaders will learn how to use the tool and will be responsible for teaching other organizations in their respective communities how to use the tool as well.
The Justice40 Initiative, announced 2 years ago, is a part of President Biden’s Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, creating a government-wide initiative with the goal of delivering 40 percent of the overall benefits of relevant federal investments to disadvantaged communities and tracks performance toward that goal through the establishment of an Environmental Justice Scorecard.
“To reverse years of environmental racism in our communities, we must make sure that those hit hardest by environmental and economic neglect worsened by the climate crisis have the resources and infrastructure investments necessary to address years of pollution and sickness for its residents,” said Dr. Robert Bullard, founding director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice. “Our supplemental screening tools will address systemic environmental racism head on and ensure communities of color are not left out once again. By working together, we can empower communities to hold government officials and policy makers accountable to the people they serve.”
The growing list of Justice40 Hub Leaders are:
- Susanna Almanza of People Organized in Defense of Earth and Her Resources (PODER) in Austin, TX;
- Rev. Calvin Avant of Unity in the Family Ministry (UFM) in Pensacola, FL;
- William Barber, III of Rural Beacon Initiative, LLC of Durham, North Carolina;
- Rev. James Caldwell of Coalition of Community Organizations (COCO) in Houston, TX;
- Katherine Egland of Education, Economics, Environmental, Climate and Health Organization (EEECHO) in Gulfport, MS;
- Rashida Ferdinand of Sankofa in New Orleans, LA;
- Dawn Hebert of the East New Orleans Neighborhood Advisory Commission in New Orleans, LA;
- Dr. Nataki Jelks of West Atlanta Watershed Association (WAWA) in Atlanta, GA;
- Darren Leach of Genesis Church in Columbus, MS;
- Paulina Lopez of Duwamish River Community Coalition (DRCC) in Seattle, WA;
- Carolyn Moseley of Eastwick United CDC in Philadelphia, PA;
- Bridgette Murray of Achieving Community Tasks Successfully (ACTS) in Houston, TX;
- Għanja O’Flaherty of North Carolina Environmental Justice Network in Rocky Mount, NC;
- Juan Parras of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS) in Houston, TX;
- Robert Taylor of Concerned Citizens of St. John (CCSJ) in St. John the Baptist Parish, LA;
- Angel Torres of Organization for Human Rights and Democracy (OHRD) in Atlanta, GA;
- Darilyn Turner of Zion Travelers’ Cooperative Center in New Orleans, LA;
- Debra Walker of Sunnyside Community Redevelopment Organization (SCRO) in Houston, TX;
- Donele Wilkins of Detroit Green Door Initiative in Detroit, MI;
- Huey Wilson of Northeast Houston Redevelopment Council (NEHRC) in Houston, Texas; and
- Joe Womack of Clean, Healthy, Educated, Safe & Sustainable Community (CHESS) in Mobile, AL.
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.
About the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice
The Robert D. Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University was launched to address longstanding issues of systemic inequality and structural racism that cause disproportionate pain, suffering and death in Black and other people of color communities. Texas Southern University is a student-centered comprehensive doctoral university committed to ensuring equality, offering innovative programs that are responsive to its urban setting, and transforming diverse students into lifelong learners, engaged citizens, and creative leaders in their local, national, and global communities.
Jan 9, 2023 | Press Releases, The Latest News
NEW ORLEANS: Following the EPA’s announcement on a proposal to strengthen a key national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for fine particle pollution also known as PM2.5, to better protect communities, Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ), released the following statement:
Black people are exposed to PM2.5 air pollution at a rate that is 1.54 times higher than the population at large. The recent announcement by the EPA on a proposed standard for PM2.5 does not address this racially disproportionate pollution burden, which causes premature deaths and damages the heart and lungs. We need the EPA to follow the science showing public health benefits can be achieved by reducing the annual level of PM2.5 to 8 micrograms per cubic meter.
As we near the second anniversary of the Biden Administration’s policy to “deliver environmental justice,” we are encouraged by EPA Administrator Regan’s efforts to ensure that communities whose everyday lives are impacted by pollution are heard. We urge the EPA to hold public hearings on its draft PM2.5 regulation in communities overburdened with pollution, in particular the fine soot particles emitted from smokestacks and tailpipes.
The time for debating whether or not to reduce PM2.5 is over. Now is the time for action that sets and enforces a standard protective of environmental justice communities.
Dec 2, 2022 | DSCEJ General News, Press Releases, The Latest News
From the Nile to the Mississippi, petrochemicals are the next big climate fight around the world
Commentary by Dr. Beverly Wright – December 2, 2022
Recently I returned from the United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties, known as COP27, in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, where I joined global leaders, advocates and NGOs who are charting the global path forward on climate. As I met with people from around the world to highlight the importance of environmental justice on a global scale, my thoughts never left the climate fights back at home.
Born and raised in New Orleans, I have witnessed the polluting effects of Cancer Alley – an 85-mile stretch of land between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that is home to over 150 petrochemical plants and refineries. For decades, since the 1950s, it’s been part of our landscape and our shared reality and the effects have been devastating – from corrosive air, and dead birds, to sick relatives and neighbors.
Attending COP27 reminded me that if we are going to meet the goals outlined by the Paris agreement and chart a sustainable future for all communities, we need to take action locally. World leaders can work together to raise global climate ambition, but petrochemical hubs in local communities such as Louisiana are where the fight starts.
Today, petrochemical expansion continues to be rubber-stamped in Louisiana, and many of these companies are making plans for a massive buildout of new and existing plants in Louisiana, Texas and Ohio. By 2050, petrochemical applications will account for nearly half of the growth in oil demand. If unchecked, this rapid expansion of petrochemical production will be devastating to climate progress and public health.
Today, petrochemicals account for 10% of global emissions, which will increase by 20% by 2030 as production increases, making it nearly impossible for the U.S. to meet its Paris Agreement climate goals.
This would also be devastating to Black, brown and poor communities living near petrochemical facilities in Louisiana.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently made headlines after reporting the harmful effects of the Mississippi River chemical corridor on Black and brown communities. The EPA found an increased risk of cancer when you live near a chemical plant. Eighty-percent of Black people in Louisiana live within 3 miles of a petrochemical facility.
Even more concerning, negligence from Louisiana state officials allowed air pollution to remain high leading to decades of filthy air and water and high rates of cancer amongst its residents, nearly all of whom are Black.
Earlier this year, Shell admitted to moving high-emitting facilities to regions such as Louisiana with poor environmental regulations. The well-being of these communities continues to be neglected due to a history of policies rooted in systemic racism and an unwillingness from policymakers to stand up to the industry.
It is critical for climate and environmental justice advocates to stand united in pushing for policies that cut carbon emissions and address the historical and ongoing legacy of pollution in our most vulnerable communities.
That’s why we have joined forces with other 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. This partnership is working to foster a prosperous future full of climate progress. Now more than ever we need legislation to prioritize the safety of our people, our planet, and our future.
As the environmental justice movement has grown, fence line communities, such as the ones in Louisiana, have become more active in using our voice to speak out about the impact these plants have in our communities. With the help of community partners, we can ramp up efforts to organize and end petrochemical pollution and build a cleaner, safer and more prosperous future.
We have the historical evidence of wrongdoing by the petrochemical industry, the data showing how harmful their operations are to our health, and now there are resources to do something about it. It is time to break the cycle of continuing to put dirty, nasty, polluting facilities in our neighborhoods.
We need solution-based policies that address climate change and environmental justice from a racial equity lens. It’s time to transition to an equitable and renewable energy economy, including workforce training for the clean energy jobs of the future. Some effects of climate change cannot be reversed, but we have a responsibility to take actions now that will improve the quality of living for those who are disproportionately affected.
Dec 2, 2022 | Community Engagement News, DSCEJ General News, The Latest News
Four New Orleans high school students participating in the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice’s (DSCEJ) Environmental and Climate Justice Storyteller (ECJS) internship program completed a tour of Cancer Alley, an 85-mile stretch of land along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that is home to over 150 petrochemical plants and refineries. ECJS Interns, Langston Bishop, St. Augustine High School, Lael Tolbert, Mount Carmel High School, Re’Kal Hooker, The Living School, and Victoria Cager, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts met with community leaders throughout the corridor to learn more about the environmental injustices that have been occurring for decades in their own backyard.
Concerned Citizens of Gordon Plaza
New Orleans, LA
The students kicked off the Cancer Alley Tour in in the Gordon Plaza Community of New Orleans, LA, which sits on top of a municipal landfill. For forty years, residents in Gordon Plaza have complained of exposure to toxic waste in their yards, pipes corroding underneath their homes, and high rates of cancer in their community. Re’Kal Hooker interviewed community leader Shannon Rainey about her experience living in Gordon Plaza. Ms. Rainey spoke about the challenges she has experienced living in her community, such as seeing friends and neighbors succumb to cancer due to exposure to toxins in the soil. Although residents in this community have spent years in court fighting for relocation, many are hopeful that things may be different this time. Ms. Rainey said that “they are currently negotiating with the City of New Orleans for a fully funded relocation of residents living in Gordon Plaza.” She is hopeful and looks forward to a victory for the Gordon Plaza Community soon.
The next stop on the Cancer Alley Tour was St. John The Baptist Parish in Reserve, LA, where the students met with community leader and President of Concerned Citizens of St. John the Baptist Parish Robert Taylor. During his interview conducted by Langston Bishop, we learned that Mr. Taylor started Concerned Citizens of St. John the Baptist Parish in 2016 after his wife became ill from exposure to toxic chemicals coming from the nearby Denka/Dupont Plant.
“The odors from the plant caused my wife to become extremely ill,” said Mr. Taylor. “After this incident, I reached out to the Environmental Protection Agency, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and St. John Parish Homeland Security. I also reached out to local representatives from St. John the Baptist Parish and the local school board for help. The Fifth Ward Elementary School is only 1500 feet from Denka/Dupont.”
Mr. Taylor shared with Bishop that “Denka emits chloroprene levels over 400 times the Environmental Protection Agency safety standard for long term exposure,” which is why “it’s hard to find a family in Reserve, LA who hasn’t been touched by cancer.”
As a senior in his 80’s, Mr. Taylor’s advice to the next generation is to continue the fight for environmental justice with great allies.
“Unity is the key to fighting industry,” he said.
Rise St. James
St. James Parish
The final stop was in St. James Parish, where Victoria Cager had the distinct honor of interviewing Sharon Lavigne, the 2021 Goldman Environmental Award recipient and President of Rise St. James. In 2018, Ms. Sharon Lavigne smelled odors in the air and began work with the Help Association. Over the last four years, Rise St. James has prevented plants from coming to St. James Parish.
Ms. Lavigne said, “the local officials don’t represent the community, they represent the industries. They have let us down.” Rise St. James has hosted town hall meetings and distributed flyers to raise awareness about plants coming into their community. Unfortunately, residential homes, the sugar mill, and St. James High School were sold to industry.
There are twelve plants on the West Bank and seven plants on the East Bank of St. James Parish. Additionally, Lavigne built storage plants next to homes in the community. As a result of the long-term exposure to toxic chemicals and high cancer rate in her community, Ms. Lavigne encourages the next generation to get their education and do their research so that they can come back to St. James Parish with ways to help their community. She would also like the federal government to declare a public health emergency in St. James Parish.
ECJS Interns look forward to continuing their work with these communities as they develop creative ways to chronicle their story as they demand the right to clean air, water, and soil for all.
About the Environmental and Climate Justice Storyteller Internship program
ECJS is a program funded by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM). The $1.25 million, five-year grant awarded to the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) is dedicated to equipping the next generation of environmental and climate justice leaders with the technical skills to chronical the stories of marginalized communities along the Gulf Coast Region in LA, FL, MS, AL, and TX.
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.”
***
“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.
Nov 15, 2022 | DSCEJ General News, Press Releases, The Latest News
Deep South Center of Environmental Justice, Sierra Club, and Healthy Gulf hope to prevent further construction of a fracked gas export facility that will further harm Black and Indigenous communities in Southern Louisiana without the proper environmental precautions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 15, 2022
(New Orleans, LA) – PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LA – Last week, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Sierra Club, and Healthy Gulf filed a petition for judicial review against the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR). This petition follows the LDNR’s decision in a one-page letter to illegally exempt Venture Global Plaquemines LNG, LLC from obtaining a Coastal Use Permit for further development of a fracked gas export facility under construction in Southern Louisiana. The LDNR’s decision provides no analysis, finding of facts, or any showing that it considered the data and scientific reports showing the immense damage that can result from the Venture Global Plaquemines LNG facility.
Located 35 miles south of New Orleans in the Plaquemines Parish coastal zone, the Venture Global LNG facility will contribute to the climate crisis and cause irrevocable damage to surrounding communities of color. Construction of the site will destroy nearly 400 acres of vulnerable wetlands that serve as a storm buffer for nearby communities including New Orleans.
An affidavit by Dr. Ivor Van Heerden concludes that the existing and proposed levees around the LNG site are inadequate, risking surge flooding and levee failure for major hurricanes and other severe storms. “Substantial design flaws in the proposed storm wall and construction process pose substantial risk of a levee failure. Failure of any levee and especially the I-wall ring dike will result in catastrophic release of chemical contaminants towards Barataria Bay impacting wetlands as well as the waters of the Bay. The impact to wetland fauna and flora would be immense,” according to Dr. Van Heerden’s affidavit.
Just last year, Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 storm, flooded the site for over a month. With an operational LNG facility at the location, a similar storm would release pollution into homes, businesses, farmland, and coastal waters. Further disruption to these coastal lands continues an unjust pattern of people of color bearing the brunt of the climate crisis despite contributing to it the least.
By not requiring Venture Global to obtain a Coastal Use Permit, the LDNR has put the priorities of a large corporation ahead of the safety of families in Plaquemines Parish. Despite input from the scientific community and lessons from previous natural disasters, the LDNR unlawfully ignored the damaging effects of the facility. When presented with facts and data necessitating Venture Global Plaquemines LNG apply for a Coastal Use Permit, Thomas Harris, Secretary of the LDNR, said, “. . . I do not find that conditions have changed sufficiently for me to reopen this matter.”
“The LDNR continues its track record of failure to execute its duty as a public trustee under the Louisiana Constitution which harms Black and Indigenous communities and damages our coast,” said Monique Harden, Assistant Director of Law and Public Policy at Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. “Venture Global is not above the law that requires companies to minimize harm in a coastal zone.”
“The LDNR’s refusal to require a Coastal Use Permit for Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG facility puts frontline communities and precious Louisiana coastal waters at severe risk, and we look forward to the court’s review,” said Lisa Diaz, attorney for Sierra Club.
“The people of Louisiana have to endure enough with natural disasters threatening our coast and way of life. We absolutely do not need the compounded risk of environmental damage caused by facilities in the aftermath of detrimental storms, yet we see this happen time and time again,” said Jessi Parfait, a citizen of the United Houma Nation and Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign Representative. “In the face of evidence, LDNR is refusing to do what is right and are instead choosing to risk the lives and health of communities who are already vulnerable because as a resident of coastal Louisiana, we know it isn’t a matter of if we will get another big storm but when.”
“The LDNR’s decision that a Coastal Use Permit isn’t required runs contrary to what we know about this Environmental Justice community in Plaquemines Parish that already had a backlog of wetlands restoration needs before the impacts of Hurricane Ida,” said Scott Eustis, Community Science Director for Healthy Gulf.
Contact:
Ginger LeBlanc | gingerl@dscej.org
Valerie Keys | vkeys@skdknick.com
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.
