Oakland, CA – Defensores de los derechos en una comunidad de color, cerca del Puerto de Oakland, presentaron una queja federal de derechos civiles en un esfuerzo por conseguir que el puerto y la ciudad implementen un programa exhaustivo de reducción de emisiones.
Millones de californianos viven cerca de un puerto grande, y esta semana los líderes comunitarios de “West Oakland” presentaron su queja alegando que la constante contaminación en su comunidad de color es una violación a la Ley de Derechos Civiles (“Civil Rights Act”).
Margaret Gordon, co-fundadora del Proyecto de Indicadores Ambientales de West Oakland (“West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project”), dice que durante años su grupo ha tratado de lograr que el puerto y la ciudad de Oakland hagan algo sobre el aire sucio.
Agrega que un estudio del Instituto Pacífico mostró que en West Oakland los niveles de humo de diesel son 90 veces más altos que el promedio estatal.
“Nuestra queja es que desde 2010 la ciudad de Oakland y el puerto de Oakland no hacen un plan exhaustivo para reducir las emisiones en esta propiedad, la cual están ampliando para traer nuevas materias primas.”
El grupo quiere que el gobierno federal investigue sus argumentos de discriminación ambiental. Pide que la ciudad y el puerto implementen estrategias similares a las de otros puertos de California, los cuales promueven vehículos y equipo con cero emisiones.
En una declaración, Mike Zampa, del Puerto de Oakland, afirma que el puerto es uno de los más limpios del país, al reducir las emisiones de diesel en 98 por ciento y las emisiones de los barcos en tres cuartos desde 2005.
La abogada Yana García, del despacho Earthjustice, ayudó a integrar la queja. Afirma que en el área los impactos a la salud siguen siendo graves.
“Las tasas de hospitalización son mucho más altas en ‘West Oakland’ que en otros lugares de la ciudad. Las hospitalizaciones son concretamente por asma, muchas veces en niños de unos cinco años de edad.”
El Departamento de Salud del Condado Alameda (“Alameda County Department of Health”) reporta que la esperanza de vida es nueve años menos en West Oakland que en otras partes del condado.
La queja (en inglés) está en: http://bit.ly/2oeO94K
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Dana Nessel, Michigan's Attorney General, joined Indigenous and conservation groups at a demonstration Thursday in Cincinnati, highlighting what they said are the risks to their region from the Line 5 oil pipeline.
In the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Nessel's office delivered oral arguments in a lawsuit asking to decommission the aging pipeline owned by Canadian company Enbridge.
Nessel argued the company puts its own profits above the state's natural resources. She told the crowd the case has been in limbo while Enbridge has requested it be moved from court to court.
"This is a Michigan case, brought under Michigan law, by Michigan's Chief Law Enforcement Officer on behalf of the people of the State of Michigan -- on behalf of our Great Lakes -- and it belongs in a Michigan court," Nessel asserted.
More than 60 tribal nations support the motion to bring the case back to Michigan. They contend the pipeline operates "illegally" through the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa's reservation in northern Wisconsin. Enbridge acknowledged Line 5 was built in the 1950s but said it is monitored 24/7.
The dual pipeline continues under the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan.
David Holtz, a member of the board of directors of the Sierra Club, said the prospect of an oil pipeline rupturing in the Great Lakes would be catastrophic to Michigan, the region and the entire country.
"This over 70-year-old pipeline that has deteriorated and is being held up by anchor supports in currents in the Strait lakes that have the power of the Niagara Falls," Holtz pointed out. "It's a really, really risky proposition."
He added President Joe Biden has the power today to step in and revoke a permit, which would shut the pipeline down.
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Advocates are asking Maryland lawmakers to establish a superfund to help hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the costs of climate change.
Both houses of the General Assembly are debating the "Responding to Emergency Needs from Extreme Weather Act." It would establish a Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Fund, targeting the 40 largest companies extracting or refining gas and oil with a fee totaling $9 billion over 10 years.
Sen. Katie Fry Hester, D-Howard, citing the expense of infrastructure upgrades, said the state needs help paying these costs.
"Unfortunately, it has become the responsibility of the Maryland taxpayer to foot the bill for the costs of climate mitigation, adaptation and recovery measures," Hester pointed out. "Not anymore. It's time to ensure that the polluters pay."
The bill would enable the Department of the Environment to use the fund for stormwater and sewer system improvements, bridges and rail infrastructure, flood recovery, clean energy projects and more. In a recent Senate committee hearing, some lawmakers expressed concern about the targeted businesses passing the cost on to consumers.
The Center for Climate Integrity estimated by 2040, Maryland will have to spend more than $27 billion to protect against the possibility of moderate sea-level rise.
Jamie DeMarco, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said climate change mitigation is already costing the state hundreds of millions.
"Howard County is spending $228 million to bore an 18-foot diameter drainage tunnel through granite bedrock to prevent flooding," DeMarco noted. "It's the biggest capital expenditure in the history of the county. Annapolis is spending $50 million renovating their dock from nuisance flooding. The same thing is happening everywhere across the state."
Recent polling by Data for Progress found 73% of likely voters support assessing a fee on big oil and gas companies to pay part of the cost of climate change mitigation. Either version of the measure needs to pass one chamber by March 18 in order to have a future in the current session.
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The founder of the Baltimore Compost Collective wants Baltimore to ditch trash incineration, fight climate change and grow healthier food.
Marvin Hayes began composting in Baltimore more than a decade ago and has grown the operation into a collection service picking up around 1,500 pounds of food waste each week. Hayes operates a composting facility at the nonprofit Filbert Street Garden, where the organic material is turned into rich soil for use at the urban garden.
Hayes sees a revolution, a better way of life for Baltimore's Black community to help fight what he calls "food apartheid" and end the city's reliance on a giant, polluting waste-to-energy incinerator and fight climate change.
"People didn't know that the incinerator was causing $55 million in health damages, or they didn't know what the incinerator was," Hayes recounted. "People didn't know that Baltimore County trash gets brought here and burned. Howard County's trash gets brought here and burned."
In September the Environmental Protection Agency announced a $4 million grant as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill to build a solar-powered composting facility in south Baltimore to accept food scraps and other organic material. The agency estimates the facility will keep 12,000 tons of waste out of the city's incinerator.
Incinerators release large quantities of lead, mercury and other harmful pollutants into the air. In late 2020 Baltimore signed a 10-year contract to continue incineration, much to the chagrin of environmental advocates such as Hayes, who have long advocated for composting as a viable alternative to toxic trash incineration.
A 2018 study by the Baltimore Office of Sustainability noted compost-amended soil can reduce contamination of urban pollutants by 60% to 95%, and protects against the danger associated with lead in urban soils.
Hayes' composting facility has a limited capacity. When it is full, he transports the rest of his food scraps to a bigger organic compost facility in Upper Marlboro in Prince George's County.
"If PG County is doing it, why shouldn't Baltimore be following the same practices?" Hayes asked. "Make a large scale composting facility, so when the residents put their recycling out, they'll put their composting out, it'll go to a large-scale composting facility, create four times more jobs than incinerators, two times more jobs than the landfill."
This story was produced based on original reporting by Aman Azhar for Inside Climate News.
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