Tell Governor John Bel Edwards that we won't allow him to sacrifice
Black people's lives for profit

[ [link removed] ]Sharon Lavinge founder of RISE St. James in front of the Mt. Triumph
Baptist Church with a flyer about the proposed Formosa plant[ [link removed] ][IMG]

Stop Formosa Plastics from poisoning the Black community before it's too
late.

[ [link removed] ]Take action

John,

Once again, Governor John Bel Edwards is allowing corporate greed to
endanger Black people’s lives in Louisiana. Formosa Plastics has applied
to Louisiana’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to build a 9.4
billion dollar petrochemical plant in the predominantly Black community of
St. James Parish, Louisiana.^1 And with several permits already moving
through the department successfully, it looks like they are going to be
approved. The problem? Formosa Plastic’s plant proposes to emit a chemical
that a 2016 EPA study has proven causes cancer, “even with limited
exposure.”^2 There is no other way to say it. If this chemical plant is
built, Black people will die. This is why we must speak up now, before
it’s too late.

[ [link removed] ]Let Governor John Bel Edwards know we won’t sit by while corporations
poison our people. The time to protect our communities is now.

This isn’t the first chemical plant that has been approved in the region.
The stretch of the Mississippi river where the company intends to build
has long been referred to as “Cancer Alley” after the parish adopted a
land-use plan that designated large swaths of agricultural land for
industrial use in 2014.^3 Since then, several multi-billion dollar
companies have built major manufacturing plants that emit some of the
highest levels of waste and pollution in the country in a region where
Black people make up just under 50% of the population. This is
unacceptable. 

[ [link removed] ]Another Black community poisioned by corporate greed and abandoned by
the government. We cannot allow this to happen. Sign now.

Time and time again, the state of Louisiana has demonstrated that it
values profit more than it values Black people’s lives. According to a
ProPublica analysis, the air around Formosa’s plants is more toxic with
cancer-causing chemicals than 99.6% of industrialized areas of the
country^4. Just last month, Formosa Plastics was required to pay residents
of Texas $50 million dollars for the impact of illegally dumping billions
of plastic pellets and other pollutants into Lavaca Bay and other
waterways. Still, despite the devastation the company has caused across
the country, DEQ seems poised to grant them more land, resources and
space. And despite the fact that Formosa’s currently-operating PVC site in
Baton Rouge has been out of compliance with the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act for the past three years, Governor John Bel Edwards recently
announced a 332 million dollar investment of taxpayer dollars into the
company’s expansion in Louisiana.^5 This isn’t right.

[ [link removed] ]Formosa Plastics is counting on us to turn a blind eye to the disaster
it is creating. Tell Governor John Bel Edwards that it’s his duty to stop
them.

We’ve long known that pollution takes its greatest toll on the health of
Black communities, who are often left with few resources or recourse.
Environmental racism continues to place Black people in close proximity to
pollution and other environmental hazards.^6 Black children suffer
disproportionately from asthma, and are seven to eight times more likely
to die of asthma than white children.^7 Communities of color face nearly
40% more exposure to toxic air pollution than white communities.^8 Formosa
Plastics is counting on environmental racism and to get away with their
crimes and Governor John Bel Edwards is giving them the free pass they
need to do it. We can’t let that happen.

[ [link removed] ]Sign now to demand that Governor John Bel Edwards does his job and
protects his constituents. Take action to stop Formosa Plastics from
poisoning Louisiana’s Black communities.

Until justice is real,
—Jade, Rashad, Arisha, Johnny, Future, Amanda, Evan, Imani, Samantha,
Eesha, Marcus, FolaSade, and the rest of the Color Of Change team

References:

 1. "A Community In America’s ‘Cancer Alley’ Fights For Its Life Against A
Plastics Plant,” Huffington Post, July 9, 2019,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 2. “Report on Ethylene Oxide,” United States Environmental Protection
Agency, December 16, 2016,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 3. “Welcome to “Cancer Alley,” Where Toxic Air Is About to Get Worse,”
ProPublica, October 30, 2019,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 4. “What Could Happen if a $9.4 Billion Chemical Plant Comes to “Cancer
Alley,” ProPublica, November 18, 2019,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 5. “Gov. Edwards And Formosa Plastics Announce $332 Million Expansion,”
Louisiana Economic Development News, August 28, 2019,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 6. “Environmental Injustice': Minorities Face Nearly 40% More Exposure to
Toxic Air Pollution,” Common Dreams, April 16, 2014,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 7. “Clinton accurately says black children with asthma have 500% higher
mortality rate,” Polifact, August 11th, 2015,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 8. “Pollution is segregated, too,” The Washington Post, August 11th,
2015,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]


--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. [ [link removed] ]Help
keep our movement strong.

<style type="text/css">

blockquote .original-only,
.WordSection1 .original-only
{
display: none !important;
}

</style>

<div class=".original-only">

You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]
</div>