On this edition of Your Call's One Planet Series, we discuss a new report by Human Rights Watch about Louisiana's Cancer Alley.
"We’re Dying Here": The Fight for Life in a Louisiana Fossil Fuel Sacrifice Zone documents how residents of Cancer Alley suffer the effects of extreme pollution from the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry, facing elevated rates and risks of maternal, reproductive, and newborn health harms, cancer, and respiratory ailments.
The report says state and federal authorities have failed to properly regulate the industry, and they have not made information about risks to human health readily available. To uphold their human rights obligations, all governments should rapidly phase out fossil fuels.
Guests:
Antonia Juhasz, award-winning investigative journalist and senior researcher on fossil fuels at Human Rights Watch
Shamell Lavigne, activist with environmental justice organization Rise St. James
Kaitlyn Joshua, Louisiana Gulf Coast Campaigner at Earthworks
Resources:
The Guardian: Babies born in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ weigh less at birth, more likely to be preterm – report
Grist: A Louisiana court just revived plans for the country’s biggest plastics plant
KFF Health News: Bleeding and in Pain, a Pregnant Woman in Louisiana Couldn’t Get Answers
