Happy Juneteenth – now officially a federally recognized holiday after (like the end of legal slavery it commemorates) too damn long. I’ve been thinking a lot about Environmental Justice — and especially our friends and relatives on the frontlines in the Gulf south — as it related to the on-going debate about whether and how to speed up the permitting process for energy infrastructure in this country.
I wrote a long twitter thread responding to a (latest) lazy, badly argued, and disingenuously premised article from Ezra Klein in the New York Times, which I’ll adapt into a blog post later this week. You can sign the latest version of our “permitting reform done right” petition if you’re thinking about that too, and want to sign a petition today. But for now, I hope you’re enjoying your holiday, thinking about what racial justice, emancipation, and history means.
In honor of the holiday, and their outstanding work on the connection of FERC, Environmental Justice, and those frontline voices, here as well is a series of videos from our friends at the Frontlines to FERC campaign. Good material to watch, and share, on this Juneteenth.
Watch the videos at the link below:
YouTube Video 1: John Beard, Founder and President- Port Arthur Community Action Network in Port Arthur, TX speaking at the FERC Roundtable on Environmental Justice and Equity in Infrastructure Permitting held on March 29, 2023
YouTube Video 2: Roishetta Ozane, founder and President of The Vessel Project of Louisiana in Lake Charles, LA speaking at the FERC Roundtable on Environmental Justice and Equity in Infrastructure Permitting.
YouTube Video 3: Gwendolyn Jones and Manning Rollerson Sr., Freeport, TX residents, and members of Better Brazoria: Clean Air and Water. Gwen Jones speaking on Capitol Hill at the Ban Fossil Fuel Export Act Press Conference hosted by Senator Ed Markey on May 18, 2023. Manning Rollerson singing “We’ve Come a Long Way” at the People’s Environmental Justice Roundtable held on March 29, 2023.
You can also watch the three videos on Instagram:Port Arthur, TX: Lake Charles, LA: Freeport, TX
Shameful!