Subsistence fishermen and poor people who live near landfills were some of the topics taken on by Jacqueline Patterson, a Director for the NAACP, at an Earth Day event put on by the Sierra Club, at The Great Plains Nature Center in Wichita Kansas, March 30. The event was a build up for Earth Day, which will be on April 22.
Patterson said she often works with environmental justice. She gave an example of some people who were exposed to toxins unnecessarily because those people were either poor or minorities. She talked of landfills were letters were sent out warning residents not to drink their water.
“They sent out letters to landfills residents warning them not to drink the water,” Patterson said. “But they were only sent to white people. Minorities were not warned at all.”
She added that a veterinarian place was even sent the letters so their animals wouldn’t suffer the toxic affects. The animals were more important than poor minorities.
Patterson pointed out that people living in the Gulf, during the BP Oil Spill of 2010, pushed that company to compensate for and clean up a mess that cost them a way of life. She showed examples of murals people painted defending the Gulf way of life.
She praised occupy forces for taking to the streets. Some of those people raised awareness of environmental concerns.
As with other panelists, she warned that changes are already here in the environment. There are more frequent tornados and that is not going to go away.
All people on the panel agreed it is getting harder for the climate change deniers as the weather keeps changing.
Patterson said she often works with environmental justice. She gave an example of some people who were exposed to toxins unnecessarily because those people were either poor or minorities. She talked of landfills were letters were sent out warning residents not to drink their water.
“They sent out letters to landfills residents warning them not to drink the water,” Patterson said. “But they were only sent to white people. Minorities were not warned at all.”
She added that a veterinarian place was even sent the letters so their animals wouldn’t suffer the toxic affects. The animals were more important than poor minorities.
Patterson pointed out that people living in the Gulf, during the BP Oil Spill of 2010, pushed that company to compensate for and clean up a mess that cost them a way of life. She showed examples of murals people painted defending the Gulf way of life.
She praised occupy forces for taking to the streets. Some of those people raised awareness of environmental concerns.
As with other panelists, she warned that changes are already here in the environment. There are more frequent tornados and that is not going to go away.
All people on the panel agreed it is getting harder for the climate change deniers as the weather keeps changing.
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