This month, environmental justice advocate Sharon Lavigne won the world's largest prize for environmental advocacy for blocking a chemical giant from building a roughly $1.3 billion plastic manufacturing plant in St. James Parish, Louisiana, a majority-Black community. Funded by the late Richard and Rhoda Goldman, the annual Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded to six people around the world who protect and enhance the environment in their communities
At the outset, Wanhua Chemical, the company behind the proposed facility, seemed likely to prevail. Wanhua is the world's largest producer of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), showing its dominance in the global market.
But Lavigne did not falter. Through courage and persuasion, she defeated the petrochemical titan, which wielded power over local and state governments to the detriment of community members. For far too long, the petrochemical industry has targeted low-income communities and communities of color, believing it can get away with building facilities that dump toxic pollutants in the air and water. Community members pay the price of this pollution through serious health problems like cancer and asthma, while polluters enjoy massive profits and treat the occasional fine or lawsuit settlement as just another cost of doing business.
Instead of retreating in the face of these challenges, Lavigne, a retired special education teacher, mobilized.
Coming together
When news broke that the facility would be constructed in her neighborhood, Lavigne founded Rise St. James, an environmental justice organization, and members joined forces against Wanhua.
Amid opposition, Lavigne took the lead, organizing marches, petitioning local and state officials to stop construction of new industrial facilities, testifying at parish council meetings, holding media campaigns, knocking on doors, and forming partnerships with organizations such as Tulane University’s Environmental Law Clinic.
Before long, the company withdrew its land-use permit application. Had it not been for Lavigne’s leadership, the plant would have released huge amounts of toxic chemicals in St. James Parish, a region at the heart of “Cancer Alley” that is already overburdened by environmental health hazards.
The cancer rate in the corridor, which runs between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, is 50 times higher than the national average, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Federal environmental regulations have failed to adequately protect people who live in the region, according to a recent statement by human rights officials at the United Nations.
Leading the charge
In the absence of federal protections, Lavigne managed to effectuate change in her hometown and improve public health.
Now, she’s leading the charge to stop Formosa Plastics, a Taiwanese company, from building yet another petrochemical complex near her home. With a $12 billion price tag, it would be one of the largest plastic plants in the world if constructed — and likely double the amount of air pollution and contribute to higher health risks in the area.
For Lavigne, the fight is not over. As James Baldwin put it, “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
Banner image courtesy of Goldman Environmental Prize.
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Alina Gonzalez | June 28, 2021
Environmental justice advocate Sharon Lavigne has won the world's largest prize for environmental advocacy for blocking a chemical giant from building a roughly $1.3 billion plastic manufacturing plant in St. James Parish, Louisiana, a majority-Black community.
Daniel Farber | June 25, 2021
Even most lawyers, let alone the rest of the population, are a bit fuzzy on how the regulatory system works. As the Biden administration is gearing up to start a slew of regulatory proceedings, here's what you need to know about the process.
Allison Stevens, Laurie Ristino, Maggie Dewane, Steph Tai, Victor Flatt | June 24, 2021
The Center for Progressive Reform stands with all who are working to advance equity and equality for LGBTQ Americans. To commemorate Pride Month, we asked three CPR leaders to weigh in on progress in this area.
Robin Kundis Craig | June 16, 2021
Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that the regulations defining “waters of the United States” under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (better known as the Clean Water Act) are once again going to change. The importance of that announcement is best demonstrated through a quick recap of the chaos that has dominated this element of Clean Water Act jurisdiction.
Robin Kundis Craig | June 16, 2021
In the first part of this post, I briefly touched on the chaotic history of the EPA and Army Corps' definition and regulation of "waters of the United States" under the Clean Water Act. I also pointed out that this definition and its varying interpretations across courts and administrations can have significant impacts on water pollution prevention and the protection of our nation's waterways. With the Biden administration tackling a redo of the "waters of the United States" rule, court challenges are sure to follow. In this post, I'll explore three approaches to the rule that might help it survive judicial review.
Alina Gonzalez | June 15, 2021
Not long ago, the prospects of offshore wind energy seemed lofty, but the industry is finally taking off. As part of his efforts to combat climate change, President Biden has pledged to double offshore wind production by 2030. This commitment stems from the enormous benefits and potential that wind energy can provide as we transition to clean, sustainable energy.
James Goodwin | June 10, 2021
The Labor Department’s emergency COVID standard, released June 10, is too limited and weak to effectively protect all workers from the ongoing pandemic. Workers justifiably expected an enforceable general industry standard to protect them from COVID-19, and the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) has been calling for such a standard since June 2020. But what emerged after more than six weeks of closed-door White House review was a largely unenforceable voluntary guidance document, with only health care workers receiving the benefit of an enforceable standard.
James Goodwin | June 9, 2021
In addition to cleaning up our environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must also clean up the mess the Trump administration left behind. The Biden EPA recently took an important step in this direction by finalizing its plan to rescind a Trump-era rule that would drastically overhaul how it analyzes the rules it develops to implement the Clean Air Act. If implemented, Trump's "benefits-busting" rule would have sabotaged the effective and timely implementation of this popular and essential law, which protects the public from dangerous pollution that worsens asthma and causes other diseases. On June 9, the EPA held a public hearing to gather feedback on rescinding the rule. CPR Member Scholars Rebecca Bratspies and Amy Sinden joined me in testifying in support.
Daniel Farber | June 9, 2021
Hurricanes Harvey and Maria. California wildfires. Superstorm Sandy. The great Texas blackout. The list goes on. These mega-events dramatize the need to improve our disaster response system. The trends are striking: escalating disaster impacts, more disaster clustering, more disaster cascades, and less predictability. We need to up our game. Lisa Grow Sun and I discuss the implications in a new paper, but here are a few of the key takeaways.