Stop the Money Pipeline and Defund Formosa, by uniting with with formidable, dedicated Women:
Caroline welcomes Sharon Lavigne and Long-time ally Diane Wilson.
Sharon Lavigne is the Founder and Director of RISE St. James, a Black-led community organization based in St. James, Louisiana, dedicated to prevailing over environmental racism. Unite with them to defeat/dissolve the massive Formosa plastics plant, a toxic petrochemical complex that is slated to be built within one mile of an elementary school that serves an almost entirely Black population.
RISE St. James on Facebook → www.facebook.com/risestjames/
Sharon is the North American winner of the 2021 Goldman Environmental Awards for her success in halting the construction of Wanhua’s $1.25 billion plastics manufacturing plant alongside the Mississippi River in St. James Parish, Louisiana. “Lavigne mobilized grassroots opposition to the project, educated community members, and organized peaceful protests to defend her predominantly African American community. The plant would have generated one million pounds of liquid hazardous waste annually, in a region already contending with known carcinogens and toxic air pollution.” (200 petrochemical plants along 80 miles of the Mississippi!) https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/sharon-lavigne/
The indefatigable Diane Wilson, fisher-woman-activist, fourth-generation shrimper from Seadrift, Texas, became involved in environmental issues in 1989 when she learned of neighbors’ health problems, dolphin die-offs and reduced fishery catches, and found that Calhoun County topped the list of most polluted counties in the United States, per the Toxic Release Inventory.
With San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeepers, Diane Wilson successfully sued Formosa Plastics Corp., for their discharge of plastic pellets into the Bay. The settlement included $50 million for funding of environmental projects in the local area, the largest citizen CWA settlement. Formosa has also accepted a zero-discharge goal, with full recycling of their wastewater stream.
Her work on behalf of the people and aquatic life of Seadrift, Texas, has won her a number of awards including: National Fisherman Magazine Award, Mother Jones’s Hell Raiser of the Month, Louis Gibbs’ Environmental Lifetime Award, Louisiana Environmental Action (LEAN) Environmental Award, Giraffe Project, Jenifer Altman Award, and the Bioneers Award. She is co-founder of Code Pink and continues to be a leader for social justice.
Previous Shows with Diane Wilson on Coyote Network News: here
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