Reference News Network September 2 report - According to the German news television channel website on August 31, smokestacks rise on the horizon, and cars speed by on the nearby highway. Robert Taylor, 84, moved his hand from his wife's tombstone, took a few steps, and looked into the distance through his sunglasses. He whispered, "I still don't understand it." Could the chloroprene rubber plant just hundreds of meters away have caused her breast cancer? Did it lead to her heart failure, long-term hospitalization, and ultimately her death?

Taylor said, "I don't know, but it's possible." This is not surprising. His mother died of cancer, as did his brother. His 38-year-old grandson also had cancer. Among his four children, one daughter has an autoimmune disease, and one son has chronic kidney failure. He and his eldest daughter Tish blame the local chemical industry and the U.S. government for failing to enforce emission standards.

Since the 1950s, chemical companies have begun building oil refineries and chemical plants between New Orleans and Baton Rouge in Louisiana. In the late 1980s, when Taylor told people in distant California that he came from Reseda west of New Orleans, he first heard the term "Cancer Alley," which people in other parts of the United States used to refer to his hometown. The petrochemical industry transformed this area; whites moved out, while blacks remained and suffered from serious illnesses. To activists, "Cancer Alley" is a so-called sacrifice zone: politicians choose to sacrifice the environment and residents to protect local industries.

Louisiana is one of the three U.S. states with the highest cancer incidence rates. Disputes over causes have intensified over the past decade. In 2016, during the Obama administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency informed residents near the chloroprene rubber plant that their cancer risk was among the highest in the entire country.

In 2023, the Biden administration sued the operator of the factory, demanding it reduce emissions. After Trump took office, the Department of Justice dropped the lawsuit. This is just one of many actions by the U.S. government to abandon legal enforcement of environmental regulations. Federal prosecutors rarely prosecute polluters, dismiss a series of lawsuits, repeal some regulations, and freeze aid funds for affected individuals.

Taylor and other activists say that local residents are poisoned by emissions and also struggle to find jobs. Therefore, they hope to move the factories away. Industry representatives, however, claim that the jobs created by them have boosted the community. They deny the increased cancer risk and cite data from other areas of the state as a comparison.

David Crescen, CEO of the Louisiana Chemical Association, said, "Cancer Alley is fabricated. The health of residents in the industrial corridor is even better than those in other parts of Louisiana." He listed a series of data to show that the local life expectancy, employment rate, and wage levels are higher than in other areas, while the poverty rate is lower. The Louisiana Chemical Association claims that the petroleum and chemical industry contributes a quarter of the state's economy, pays one-fifth of corporate taxes, and provides high-paying jobs for 300,000 people.

Kimberly Terrell, who studied the diseases caused by harmful substance emissions in "Cancer Alley" at Tulane University in Louisiana for a long time, said that people living near chemical plants are more likely to be polluted by chloroprene rubber. She said, "The industry cannot deny that these chemicals are carcinogenic or that they emitted these carcinogens, which they themselves reported. Therefore, when they claim pollutants are not important, this logic confuses me."

Terrell released several research results. One study proved that the higher the air pollution in riverside communities, the higher the cancer incidence. Another study showed that women in these areas tend to give birth prematurely, and babies have a lower average weight.

As for Taylor's family and their neighbors, Terrell estimates their cancer risk is ten times that of other regions in the United States.

Taylor's conclusions about the links between poverty, employment, race, environmental pollution, and disease have stirred up a hornet's nest. A few months ago, she demonstrated that the white employment rate in the chemical industry was too high, while the black population, who were more affected by emissions, had a lower employment rate. As a result, companies threatened to stop funding Tulane University, and Louisiana politicians claimed they would no longer approve funding. The governor also pressured the university's administration. Terrell said she was treated coldly by Tulane University within a few weeks and eventually left. (Translated by Zhong Sirui)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7545316232650195466/

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