The Environmental Journal of Southern Appalachia
Monday, 19 June 2023 21:34

Juneteenth: An Urgent Call for Climate Solutions

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Exxon Mobil refinery Baton Rouge, LA ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge, LA refinery, Feb. 11, 2016. Later that day, shortly before midnight, a massive fire broke out, bathing the night sky in an orange glow visible for miles around.  Creative Commons Mark BY 2.0 Jim Brown/Flickr 

Generations of Black Americans have faced racism, redlining and environmental injustices, such as breathing 40 percent dirtier air and being twice as likely as white Americans to be hospitalized or die from climate-related health problems.

AMERICA TODAY — This week, NPR’s Living on Earth podcast and illustrated transcript elucidates how relevant the broader meaning and historic context of Juneteenth is for all American citizens and residents.

Host Steve Curwood discusses with Heather McTeer Toney her new book, ‘Before the Streetlights Come On: Black America’s Urgent Call for Climate Solution.’

McTeer served as the Southeast Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the Obama administration and is now Executive Director of Beyond Petrochemicals. She argues that the quest for racial justice must include addressing the climate emergency and that the insights of people who experienced the negative health and socio-economic impacts of the petrochemical industry must be tapped to develop solutions that will work on the ground.

Curwood and McTeer highlight how the area known as Cancer Alley along the 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans — that today encompasses over 200 petrochemical plants — was once filled with lucrative sugar plantations that laid the groundwork for environmental racism. Yellow fever consumed one third of all the slaves that were sold from further north to work the cane.

Similarly the areas in Texas — where slaves did not learn about their emancipation for more than two years — is getting crowded by petrochemical companies and like in Louisiana, corporate investors and politicians who do their bidding are praised for job creation with scant regard to its impacts on public health and the environment.

Finding Climate Hope in the Black Vote: Yale study shows black and brown people are more likely than any other demographic to vote on environmental issues

In the second segment of the podcast, Curwood and McTeer reflect on the similarities between the social and environmental justice movements. They note how important religious leadership has been for civil rights; that 75 percent of African Americans say their religion is important to them, compared to about half of whites; and that most faiths discern spiritual aspects in the natural environment. They also discern a moderation of political disagreement in environmental deliberations and point to Interfaith Power and Light’s progress and the emergence of evangelicals for the environment on the right.

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