note: prepared for CHUMS3201, “Why Nature” at Lesley University

When we think about the environmental movement, we rarely think about environmental justice. Environmentalism and sustainability have become predominantly white movements, often ignoring the struggles and issues of minority communities with a lower-economic background, and the majority of black and brown communities. To get a better grasp on the term “environmental justice,” it goes something like this: “No community should be saddled with more environmental burdens and less environmental benefits than any other” (Carter, 2:42). Recognizing that today, environmental racism haunts our country more than ever before, we must take a step back, look at places where we see examples of environmental racism, pinpoint why these areas are affected the most, and take action to alter the narrative. 

Cancer Alley in Louisiana is just one of millions of examples of environmental racism within our country and around the world. An 85-mile stretch of land along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Cancer Alley is lined with oil refineries and petrochemical plants. The location adopted its ominous name "Cancer Alley" because residents of the area are 50 times more likely to develop cancer than the average American—and those who live there are predominantly black and brown. “An African American child is three times more likely to go into the emergency room for an asthma attack than a white child, and twice as likely to die from asthma attacks as a white child. African Americans are more likely to die from lung disease, but less likely to smoke,” says Jacqueline Patterson, Environmental and Climate Justice Director for the NAACP (Goldman Environmental Foundation, 2019). These statistics are shocking—but unfortunately a crude reality for individuals living in and around Cancer Alley. Because of where they live, they feel the harshest effects of anthropogenic climate change and heavy industry, even though studies show these communities contribute the least to the crisis at hand. A frontline of environmental racism, Cancer Alley depicts that shrewd reality we live in: minority communities are dying—what for?

Located along the lower Mississippi River, Cancer Alley was originally named “Plantation Country.” A place where enslaved Africans were forced to labor, the area now serves as an industrial hub: home to nearly 150 oil refineries, plastics plants and chemical facilities (States News Service, 2021). Many argue that the living conditions in Cancer Alley present “slavery of a different kind” (SNS, 2021). Michael Jerrett, a professor at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health and an expert in the health effects of air pollution, talks of studies that have shown that “chronic exposure to air pollution—particularly microscopic airborne particles called PM2.5—can lead to a number of serious health issues including heart disease, respiratory illnesses and diabetes” (Denne & Jerrett, 2020). PM2.5 are emitted from vehicles, power plants, and other heavy industries, and are composed of hundreds of different chemicals. Once they’ve entered the bloodstream, these chemicals make their way through the lungs, leading to intense inflammation. If exposure to this type of pollution is prolonged in any sense, the inflammation can unfurl and proliferate to other parts of the body: the cardiovascular system. The strength of the cardiovascular system and the lungs are "key determinants of whether you go into very serious states of COVID-19” (Denne & Jerret, 2020). PM2.5 exposure is likely to cause conditions “that dramatically increase the risk of death in COVID-19 patients.” This means that we can strongly correlate geographical location, economic status, and race to death caused by COVID-19. Exacerbating longstanding issues and inequities in our country today, the pandemic has shed light on how much work there is to be done. Until we recognize that environmental, racial and social justice must be tackled simultaneously, we cannot save or even aid these communities. 

So, where do we begin? Cancer Alley exists as a strong example of how we can begin to understand how inequitably environmental risk is distributed in the United States. In today’s world, but also in the past, “it seems that almost anywhere researchers look, there is more evidence of deep racial disparities in exposure to environmental hazards” (Newkirk, 2018).  The environmental justice movement works to raise awareness of the plights of vulnerable populations through academic studies, media campaigns and public activism. Using social media as a place to garner mass attention, grassroots organizations fight to make their views heard (Beech, 2020). Environmental laws have been and will continue to be tightened in developed nations - but this leaves many underdeveloped nations in the global south as “dumping grounds” for heavy pollutants, leading to numerous environmental risk hazards. Thankfully, a new presidential administration could mean drastic change for communities bearing disproportionate pollution. The Biden administration recently pledged an “aggressive, broad-based approach to achieve environmental justice” including a “White House council on environmental justice and a pledge that 40% of the benefits from federal investments in clean energy and clean water would go to communities that bear disproportionate pollution” (Hersher, 2021). However, these communities are getting far too accustomed to broken promises from the government and presidential administrations. Addressing that these communities are disproportionately affected, and creating laws and legislation to protect them — like the Biden administration suggests — lies at the forefront of creating societal change and breaking down barriers to deeply-rooted systemic injustices in our country. 

In order to address environmental racism as a whole, our country needs to take a long hard look at places where we see examples of environmental injustice, pinpoint why black and brown communities are affected the most, and take actual, active action to alter the narrative. What we need to be asking ourselves is, “how do you give a voice to the voiceless? Who are you going to listen to, and for how long?” (Hersher & Hall, 2021). Cancer Alley is just one of endless examples of environmental racism in America. In order to actually find solutions to these problems, racism and social inequity need to be tackled simultaneously. We are running out of time. 

References:

Beech, Peter. “What Is Environmental Racism and How Can We Fight It?” World Economic Forum, 2020, www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/what-is-environmental-racism-pollution-covid-systemic/. 

Carter, Majora. “Greening the Ghetto.” TED, 2007, www.ted.com/talks/majora_carter_greening_the_ghetto. 

Hersher, Rebecca. “Hope And Skepticism As Biden Promises To Address Environmental Racism” NPR, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/01/29/956012329/hope-and-skepticism-as-biden-promises-to-address-environmental-racism. 

Newkirk, Vann R. Environmental Racism Is Real, According to Trump's EPA. 28 Feb. 2018.

“Environmental Racism in America: An Overview of the Environmental Justice Movement and the Role of Race in Environmental Policies.” Goldman Environmental Foundation, 27 June 2019, www.goldmanprize.org/blog/environmental-racism-in-america-an-overview-of-the-environmental-justice-movement-and-the-role-of-race-in-environmental-policies/.

“Environmental Racism in Lousiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ Must End,” Say UN Human Rights Experts.” States News Service, 2 Mar. 2021, p. NA. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A653576850/AONE? u=les_main&sid=AONE&xid=89de0edf. Accessed 14 Apr. 2021.