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Gulf Coast of United States

Climate Emissions From Gulf Coast’s New Petrochemical, Oil And Gas Projects Same As 29 New Coal Power Plants

October 24, 2018 By Sharon Kelly, Desmogblog.com , , , , ,
In the last six years, officials in Texas and Louisiana issued permits allowing 74 petrochemical, oil, and gas projects to pump as much climate-warming pollution into the atmosphere as running 29 coal-fired power plants around the clock, according to numbers released September 26 by the nonprofit watchdog Environmental Integrity Project. And construction appears to be speeding up, with over 40 percent of those projects permitted between 2016 and mid-2018. The 31 most recent projects combined will add 50 million tons of greenhouse gases — equal to 11 new coal-fired power plants — to the world’s atmosphere in a year, the watchdog adds. Environmentalists pointed to the risks that climate change poses to Gulf Coast states...

As Hurricanes Intensify, So Does Resistance to Big Oil in the Gulf

September 10, 2017 Mike Ludwig, www.truth-out.org , ,
By Mike Ludwig for Truthout. The protesters are growing in numbers, and their actions are becoming more direct, as they set their sights on opposing both existing oil and gas infrastructure as well as blocking new pipelines and plants from being constructed. For environmentalists in the Gulf, where sea levels are rising and precious wetlands that protect against floods and storm surges are rapidly melting into the sea, this resistance is becoming a matter of survival. Cherri Foytlin said one of the big concerns among people showing up from Port Arthur was whether cancerous chemicals like benzene were floating in the floodwaters they waded through to get to and from their homes. The health effects of chemicals leaching from damaged refineries and flaring into the air may not become apparent until years down the road. "Most of those refineries, if not all of them, went underwater, and there were a lot of concerns about what was actually in the water, and we don't know because it's proprietary information," Foytlin

Thousands Of Invisible Oil Spills Are Destroying The Gulf

December 13, 2016 Emma Grey Ellis, www.wired.com , ,
By Emma Grey Ellis for WIred - HURRICANE IVAN WOULD not die. After traveling across the Atlantic Ocean, it stewed for more than a week in the Caribbean, fluctuating between a Category 3 and 5 storm while battering Jamaica, Cuba, and other vulnerable islands. And as it approached the US Gulf Coast, it stirred up a massive mud slide on the sea floor. The mudslide created leaks in 25 undersea oil wells, snarled the pipelines leading from the wells to a nearby oil platform, and brought the platform down on top of all of it. And a bunch of the mess—owned by Taylor Energy—is still down there, covered by tons of silty sediment. Also, twelve years later, the mess is still leaking.

Guest Column: Time To Stop New Oil Leases Off Coast

March 23, 2016 Anne Rolfes and Cherri Foytlin, www.truth-out.org , ,
By Anne Rolfes and Cherri Foytlin for The Advocate - On Wednesday, we are going to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to put forth an idea to help Louisiana and the Gulf region adapt to changes that must be made. On that day, the federal government is auctioning 43 million acres of our Gulf of Mexico to the oil industry for drilling. We will be at the Superdome with hundreds of others from our region and beyond to call on President Barack Obama to cancel this auction and cease issuing new drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico. It is time.

Gulf South Rising Remembers Katrina, Builds Campaign

August 30, 2015 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , , ,
By Staff for Popular Resistance - Gulf South Rising (GSR) is a coordinated regional movement created to highlight the impact of the global climate crisis on the Gulf South region (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida). Through collaborative actions and events around strategic dates in 2015, like the 5-year commemoration of the BP Oil Crisis and the 10-year commemoration of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, GSR demands a just transition away from extractive industries, discriminatory policies, and unjust practices that hinder equitable disaster recovery and impede the development of sustainable communities. Gulf South Rising recognizes the roots of the environmental and climate crisis, it "acknowledges that the global climate crisis is rooted in economic theories that promote mass consumption of limited resources, laws that maintain inequity, and social hierarchies and governance processes that limit civic participation."
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