Oil spill, environmental disasters go beyond race

 

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Editor - Green Heritage News  wrote a story following an interview with a young African American man on his way to work as an oil spill response worker, underlining environmental worries go beyond race, something underlined by the NAACP. 

On its website the NAACP, one of the nation's oldest organizations representing African Americans, has made it clear that the environmental issues are concerns for all Americans.  There are no divisions on racial lines, as expressed by this organization. 

Here is their statement in its entirety, because the organization wants the country to know that it takes a stand on environmental concerns and wants folks to understand that these issues are not a part of any racial divide. 

 "When some of us think about climate change, they think ice caps and polar bears. And while we may care about the impact of man-made climate change, we don't always see the direct impact on our own lives and families. The reality, however, is not quite so simple.

Climate Change is about Katrina, Rita, and Ike devastating communities in Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, and Texas, Climate Change is about our sisters and brothers in the Bahamas who will be losing their homes to rising sea levels in the coming few years. Climate Change is about people in Detroit, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere who have died and are dying of exposure to toxins from coal fired power plants.

Climate Change is about sisters and brothers in West Virginia who are breathing toxic ash from blasting for mountain top removal. Climate Change is about our folks in Thibodeaux, Louisiana who are being forced to move within the next 10 years because rising sea levels will result in the submersion of the coastal land that is their home currently.

It's about the fact that race--over class--is the number one indicator for the placement of toxic facilities in this country. Climate change is about the fact that in our communities it is far easier to find a bag of Cheetos than a carton of strawberries.

Climate Change is about us."