Minority Communities Suffer from Storms as GOP and Trump Admin Promote Oil and Gas

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While victims in Texas, Florida, and Puertoย Rico are still reeling from the devastation of three hurricanes worsened by a warming climate, the Trump administration and GOP senators in the Gulf continued to push fossil fuel extraction.

On October 18, two senators who reject the science of climate change, Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), teamed up to introduce a bill to fast-track the regulatory process for exporting small-scaleย liquefied natural gas (LNG). And on October 24, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke proposed the largest ever sale of oil and gas leases in the United States.ย The plan would offerย nearly 77 million acres of federal waters in the Gulfย of Mexico for auction to the fossil fuelย industry.

Port Arthur's Prince Hall Village Apartments across from a Valero refinery
Prince Hall Village Apartments across from Valeroโ€™s Port Arthur refinery on October 13,ย 2017.

FEMA interviewing residents of a housing complex in Port Arthur, Texas
FEMA interviewing residents at Prince Hall Village Apartments on September 20,ย 2017.

Rubio and Cassidyย nowย both acknowledgeย thatย the climate has changed, but donโ€™t think mankind plays a major role in the stronger and more frequent storms, droughts, heat waves, and floods documented by researchers. Both have touted the expansion of the natural gas industry as good forย theย climate, citing the fact that gas burns cleaner than coal.ย But they ignoreย scientific evidence showing that when accounting for the production of natural gas, from extraction to delivery, the fuel could be worse for the climate than burning coal.

Their proposedย legislation,ย if passed, would likely lead to an expansion of the fracking industry to meet the needs of the global market, as DeSmogโ€™s Steve Horn has reported recently. In his article, Horn explained the misnomer of โ€œsmall-scale LNG,โ€ writing that โ€œsmall-scale LNG does not refer necessarily to the actual amount of LNG which will be exported from the site, but rather the size of the tankers carrying the natural gas.โ€

The new bill and lease sale are two of the many actions by Republican politicians and the Trump administration which show a willful indifference to climate changeโ€™s impact on America, as laid out in the Third National Climate Assessment in 2014.ย (The Fourth Assessment is slated to be completed by lateย 2018.)

That assessment confirmed that climate change is affecting people and the economy in every region in the United States. The report alsoย focused onย how minority and low-income communities are especiallyย vulnerable to the forces of a changingย climate.

While Senators Cassidy and Rubio are touting a bill that flies in the face of mitigating climate change, some their ownย constituents areย victims of extreme weatherย made even more intense and frequent because of risingย temperatures.

Those who suffered significant damage to or loss of their homes may be entitledย to help from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), but many of those I met in Port Arthur, Texas, had yet to meet with a representative when I visited on Octoberย 13.

Port Arthur resident Angela Andgelle pointing out mold growing on her apartment walls
Angela Andgelle pointing out the mold growing in her apartment in the Prince Hall housing complex in Port Arthur Texas, October 13,ย 2017.

Mold growing on cut-out walls of Angela Andgelle's apartment that was flooded during Hurricane Harvey
Mold in Angela Andgelleโ€™s ground floor apartment in the Prince Hall housing complex in Port Arthur Texas, October 13,ย 2017.

There, I met with residents in the Prince Hall Village Apartments, a low-income housing complexย locatedย near the Valero and Motiva refineries. Mostย Port Arthur residents in the Prince Hall complex needed to be rescued from Hurricane Harveyโ€™s rising waters by boat or helicopter during the flash flooding that followed the regionโ€™s 28ย inches of rain on Augustย 29.

Port Arthur resident Lionel Junior in a housing complex in Port Arthur
Lionel Junior in his apartment in the Prince Hall complex in Port Arthur, Texas. He is doing the best he can to keep the mold off the walls but said it is a losingย battle.ย 

Cell phone photo of a snake Lionel Junior found in his apartment after Hurricane Harvey
Cell phone photo of a snake that Lionel Junior removed from his apartment in the Prince Hall complex in Port Arthur, Texas, following Hurricaneย Harvey.

Lionel Junior, who lives in one of the ground floorย units โ€” all of which flooded โ€” showed me a photo of a snake he found in his apartment. Though the complexโ€™s management removed the sections of drywall thatย wereย underwater, it didn’tย treat the apartments for mold, Junior told me, a concern echoed by the other Prince Hall residents I visited, many of whom showed me visibleย mold.

Jo Woodson in his apartment complex in Port Arthur
Jo Woodson in his apartment in the Prince Hall housing complex in Port Arthur Texas, October 13,ย 2017.

Mold growing in Jo Woodson's apartment in Port Arthur
Mold in Jo Woodsonโ€™s ground floor apartment in the Prince Hall housing complex in Port Arthur Texas, October 13,ย 2017.

Jo Woodson complained ofย an invasion of pests that included roaches and rats. I rescued a frog under a kitchen sink. The smell of mold in his apartment was overwhelming. There were areas of drywallย which management did not remove, and his flood-damaged furniture remained in place.

Though he plans to get rid of the moldy furniture, like many of the others I spoke to, he worriedย thatย if he removed the storm-damaged contents of his apartment,ย he would not be able toย prove to FEMA whatย heย hadย lost.

Pat Harris and her father, who moved in after Hurricane Harvey flooded his apartment
Pat Harris with her father, who moved in with her after Hurricane Harvey on September 20,ย 2017.ย 

The young grandchildren of Pat Harris in her apartment damaged by Hurricane Harvey
Pat Harrisโ€™s grandchildren, Jerianna, 6, andย Jonathan, 2, in her apartment in the Prince Hall housing complex in Port Arthur, Texas, on September 20,ย 2017ย 

Pat Harris is another resident of the Prince Hall complex. Her father moved in with her after his home was flooded even worse than hers, but she worries about his health and the health of her grandchildren. Still, she told me there is nothing she can do; she has nowhere else toย go.ย Although Harris has faith the management will fix her apartment soon, she doesnโ€™t think it is right that she and others in the complex are required to pay full rent when living in substandardย conditions.

Port Arthur resident Percy Blacke in front of debris he removed from his home after Hurricane Harvey
Percy Blacke in front of Hurricane Harvey debris he removed from his house in Port Arthur, Texas, across from the Prince Hall Village Apartments on September 20,ย 2017.ย 

โ€œPeople are going to die from cancer and have mold for the chaser,โ€ Percy Blacke, who lives across the street from the complex, told me.ย Heย gutted his home himself. Blacke pointed out that his community is alreadyย dealing with harmful emissions from Port Arthurโ€™s nearby petrochemical refineries on a daily basis. Topping it off with excessive mold,ย heย fears, could kill some of the elderly who live there.

He isnโ€™t against industry, Black says, butย he’sย certain the refineries could be operated without polluting the air as much asย they do. Because the plants are located next to an African American community, no one is doing anything toย protect them, he says.ย โ€œRace plays a role in the bad air we breathe, and the slow pace of getting people back on their feet,โ€ Blacke told me. โ€œYou wonโ€™t see too many Red Cross vehicles in this part of town giving stuff out.โ€

As Horn recently pointed out, the billionaire Koch brothers and others connected to the fossil fuel industry are key contributors to Cassidy and Rubio.

Not only are these two senators ignoring the overwhelming scientific consensus and the cries of people devastated by even more extreme weather, they are also ignoring the teachings of the religious leader Pope Francis. โ€œYou can see the effects of climate change with yourย own eyes, and scientists tell us clearly the way forward,โ€ Pope Francis said when commenting on Harveyโ€™s aftermath, stressing that leaders have a โ€œmoral responsibilityโ€ toย act.

The Pope continues to rebuke the United States for pulling out of the Parisย Climate Accord, praising the international agreement as a means to mitigate the destructive effects of global warming. But the GOP, a party thatย frequently boasts of itsย Christianย values, doesnโ€™t seem toย hear.

Main image:ย Pat Harris in her apartment in the Prince Hall complex in Port Arthur, Texas. Credit:ย All photos by Julieย Dermanskyย forย DeSmog

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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