Yellow-gray smoke billows out of the factory in the small town of Taft in the south of the state of Louisiana. The air is damp and intrusive. As if it wants something bad for you. – It is extra bad today because it is so hot in the air, says Suzanna Alexander. news, with Thomas Seltzer at the front, she meets a stone’s throw away from the big gray mastodons brooding in the background. They are here in connection with the last season of UXA. Suzanna Alexander has lived in the neighborhood all her life. In the same city. In the same heavy air. A town which in recent years has been given a sensational nickname: “Cancer Alley”. – It is not until now that we begin to understand the consequences of living here, Alexander says with seriousness and sadness in his eyes. AFRAID: Suzanna Alexander is afraid of what will happen to her and the others in “Cancer Alley”. Photo: Thomas Søbstad / news Invisible climate disaster When you hear about Louisiana, you often think of jazz, Cajun cuisine and swamps with alligators. But it is also easy to think of the major natural disasters that have hit the state. Which has arrived quickly. And unexpected. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina killed a total of 1,392 people. Several thousand lost their homes, and the devastation was so extensive that it is ranked as the costliest natural disaster in US history. In 2021, another deadly and destructive hurricane came, Hurricane Ida. Now Hurricane Milton hit the neighboring state of Florida, and came dangerously close. KATRINA: Hurricane Katrina caused great destruction in 2005. IDA: Hurricane Ida is the second most destructive hurricane in Louisiana’s history after Katrina. MILTON: Hurricane Milton caused great destruction in the state of Florida, and several million people had to evacuate their homes. But what many do not know is that there is also an equally dangerous environmental threat, but which is almost invisible. Which moves slowly, but surely, and eats away at the human body from the inside. An environmental threat that comes from the pursuit of money. And which primarily affects marginalized groups. “Cancer Alley” is one of those areas. An area that has become an important part of the election campaign in the United States. But why? Toxic chemicals Yes, “Cancer Alley” is the name of a 13-mile stretch along the Mississippi River – from the city of Baton Rouge all the way to New Orleans. If you drive this stretch, you will see huge plants operating in the petrochemical industry. Or oil industry, if you like. A series of facilities that create death and decay. But who also make products we all need: Plastic, synthetic rubber, measurement, antifreeze and detergent. And the market thanks and bows. The state of Louisiana spends a lot of money on this. But to achieve that, you have to have factories. Many factories. And in “Cancer Alley” there are 200 of these. They spew out toxic waste. Around the clock. And when it rains, it can come in the form of large, yellow drops. Destroyed life and health Earlier this year, a report from Human Rights Watch stated that “the factories have destroyed the health, life and environment” of those who live there. Studies have also shown that if you live in “Cancer Alley”, you have up to 40 times higher risk of getting cancer than in the rest of the US. Suzanna Alexander has experienced that up close. Because when news meets her, it is at the Holy Rosary Cemetery churchyard. Suzanna Alexander is coming straight from a funeral for a good friend. He died of cancer. – It feels very scary to live here after reading about everything that has been written about “Cancer Alley”, says Suzanna Alexander. Children’s graves In addition to the risk of cancer, the extent of women who give birth prematurely, have babies who are underweight or who miscarry is greater here than in other places. In the churchyard we glimpse several children’s graves. AN ANGEL IN HEAVEN: Wren Anthony Lewis. 15 August 2002. HOLY ROSARY CEMETERY: The factories have been installed right next to the cemetery. Like many others, Suzanna Alexander is frustrated with the owners of the factories. She wants the politicians to take action. – Even when they know how much it hurts us, they will not take responsibility for what they have done. The discharge is completely beyond, she says. But how concerned are Kamala Harris and Donald Trump about the invisible natural disasters? Who is willing to do something for Suzanna Alexander and her fellow citizens? Trump vs. Harris – There is a big difference between the climate policy of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Eirik Løkke says so. He is an adviser at Civita, and has a great interest and knowledge of American politics. When a natural disaster occurs, Donald Trump has proven to be among the first to come to “the rescue”. On the other hand, he is not as willing to talk about the cause of these disasters. That is, climate change. – The most important difference is that Harris believes that climate change is a serious threat, while Trump believes in climate change to a limited extent, he says. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump during a campaign meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada on 13 September. Photo: Piroschka Van De Wouw / Reuters Will remove climate measures This was also the reason why Trump chose to withdraw the USA from the Paris Agreement (international climate agreement), while the Biden-Harris administration took the USA back into the agreement. Trump has again announced the removal of several climate measures, and that he will withdraw the US from international climate cooperation if he is elected president. Harris, on the other hand, is concerned with protecting the climate through specific regulations and financial incentives. Last autumn, among other things, she took up the challenges in “Cancer Alley”: “The children who grow up in these communities, who breathe toxic air, who drink toxic water… I think, above all, that all children and all people should have right to drink clean water and breathe clean air,” she said to applause from the audience at the time. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala Harris during a campaign rally earlier this year. Photo: AFP New toxic plant But despite political talk, recent studies and a lot of attention around “Cancer Alley”, it was proposed to build a new plant as late as 2018. The facility is called Formosa and will consist of 14 factories. Overall, it will release such large amounts of greenhouse gases that it will become one of the most toxic facilities on the planet. The proposal has been hotly debated in recent years, and met with immediate opposition from environmental organizations and residents who claimed that the federal state had given permission without sufficiently assessing the health damage it would cause. On the other side, there was an argument about a better economic future for Louisiana, 8,000 new jobs and a way for the state to earn billions of kroner. FIGHTING THE FORCES: The grassroots movement RISE, which fights for environmental justice, is standing on the land that the Formosa complex has bought. They demonstrated against the new facility. From left: Myrtle Felton, Sharon Lavigne, Gail LeBoeuf and Rita Cooper.SLAVE CEMETERY: Gail LaBoeuf, a member of RISE, is at a former slave burial site, which has now been purchased by Formosa. There are factories that have surrounded gravesites, so that the bereaved do not get the chance to visit the graves of their loved ones. DEMONSTRATION: A member of the grassroots movement RISE is getting ready for a demonstration against the chemical plant Formosa in Louisiana in the USA. However, what has caused the most anger, and which the Biden/Harris administration has also focused on, is that the factories are located in the area which mainly consists of black people with few resources. And this is where the crux of the matter lies. Because is the location of the factories racially motivated? Yes, many think. From plantation to industrial giant For the majority of people who live in “Cancer Alley” are African Americans with a modest income. The reason for that is that the small towns on the Mississippi River used to consist of sugar plantations. Photo: Ap When the old slave plantations were closed down, the plots were sold to industry. This happened at the same time that former slaves and their descendants settled in the area. In just a few decades, the green valley transformed from cottages with tin roofs, lush cornfields into an industrial, gray giant. The politicians were at the forefront of this transformation. They would so much like to lift the state out of poverty. That is why they offered generous tax incentives for the factories to settle there. Environmental injustice Gradually, the factories were established further and further away from the big cities such as New Orleans, to smaller towns with a population, where the majority are black African Americans, who live in poor conditions. The residents have taken legal action against the state on the basis of what in the US is called “environmental injustice”. In other words, injustice in who has to bear the burden when the environment is polluted. Because that is illegal. In the Civil Rights Act, it is laid down in section VI that interventions or measures that may affect the health of citizens must not discriminate on the basis of race, color or national origin. APEi group of people from St. James Parish, an area south of “Cancer Alley” gathered for a demonstration outside the White House in Washington DC in 2022. The APEi demonstrated for Biden to declare a state of emergency in “Cancer Alley”. The API procession carried their picture of friends and family who had died of illnesses as a result of the spill. Can contribute to stronger environmental protection In the last couple of years, environmental organizations and grassroots movements in Louisiana have used this section as their sharpest sword in the fight against Formosa. At the beginning of October, representatives of “Cancer Alley” went to court. There they argued that the location of the potential poison plant was racially motivated. Now this stands and tilts from one side to the other. Between the national legal system and the Louisiana state legal system. The environmental organizations and the grassroots movement are fighting the battle of their lives, and have no intention of giving up just yet. Although “Cancer Alley” is one of the worst examples of an extremely polluting industry, there are several areas in the US that have suffered the same fate. – If the citizens of “Cancer Alley” were to win with their demands, it would have implications both for the protection of minorities against racism, but also stronger environmental protection, underlines the US expert Løkke. ENVIRONMENTAL FIGHT: The leader of the environmental organization EPA talks to a member of the group RISE in St. James. Photo: Gerald Herbert / AP Questions about class Back at the churchyard, Suzanna Alexander stands frustrated and dejected. The 60-year-old believes that it is no longer about discrimination of race or ethnicity, but about class. – Well, the housing estates around here, they don’t exactly look like Beverly Hills, she says. – It is a question of class because it is about the fact that if you are employed at the factories and get a six-figure paycheck, then you can afford to build another place, a place further away from the factories. Many of the jobs go to people who have education and experience within the petrochemical industry. Those who already live there do not always have that privilege. – The toxin is non-discriminatory. It doesn’t matter what color you are. If you are poor, you are no longer seen as important, she says. THE CANCER BELT: Hotel Rosary Cemetery in the Taft area of Louisiana in the USA. Photo: Thomas Søbstad / Thomas Søbstad? The benefits come with a high price Suzanna Alexander looks down on the factories. They have become part of the landscape whether she wants it or not. She is aware that the education she has received, the school system, the cultural offerings and everything else that the citizens can enjoy, comes from the income created by the factories. – But the benefits come with a high price, don’t they?, she says dejectedly. – I don’t think our ancestors would have made the decision to allow these factories here, had they known that it would destroy our children, and our health for generation after generation. See UXA and learn more about climate change facing the US here.
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