Louisiana

Week Of Action For Tulane Encampment Defendants

November 25, 2024 Fight Back! News. Resist! Campus Movement, Israel, Louisiana, New Orleans, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, Student Activism

New Orleans, LA – Protesters gathered twice at New Orleans Municipal Court during the week of November 18, as six activists who were arrested during the student-led Popular University for Gaza encampment attended their first days of trial. They all face misdemeanor charges, ranging from trespassing to battery on an officer. The activists were all arrested by Tulane University Police Department in the first hours of the Encampment, which was held for two nights in April and May this year. Supporters of the defendants held a “phone zap” on Monday to flood the phone lines of the city attorney’s office.

Utility Industry Dollars Pour Into Public Service Commission Elections

November 2, 2024 Sara Sneath, DeSmog. Educate! Democrats, Elections, Energy, Louisiana, Money in Politics, Politics and Policy

On Tuesday, Louisiana voters in 13 parishes will decide who will fill a vacant seat on Louisiana’s Public Service Commission, a little known but powerful five-member body that regulates electric companies, oversees telecommunications services, and sets utility rates. The person elected to District Two of the Public Service Commission will fill the seat left by Dr. Craig Greene, a moderate Republican who was seen as the commission’s sole swing voter. He is not seeking re-election. Earlier this year, Greene voted alongside the two Democrats on the commission to approve energy efficiency programs aimed at reducing electricity costs for residents.

University Medical Center Nurses Hold A One-Day Strike For Decent Contract

October 28, 2024 Fight Back! News. Resist! Health Care, Louisiana, New Orleans, Nurses, Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

New Orleans, LA – On October 25, nurses at University Medical Center gathered on the corner of Canal and Galvez Streets for a one-day strike to demand safe staffing ratios, workplace safety protections, higher pay and improved benefits. The strike began at 7 a.m. on Friday, when nurses joined the picket line outside the hospital. They were joined by dozens of community members, chanting loudly and proudly as they marched. Chants included “What do we want? A contract! When do we want it? Now!” Some signs read “If nurses are outside, there’s something wrong inside.” The crowd was filled with energy, with music blasting and people dancing together.

Louisiana’s CRT Ban Continues Long History Suppressing Black Education

October 16, 2024 Jesse Hagopian, In These Times. Resist! Black America, Critical Race Theory, Education, History, Louisiana, Suppression, Systemic Racism

As more than 700,000 students across Louisiana recently headed back to the classroom, a troubling reality looms: Black history wasn’t allowed in with them. In an increasing number of states, books on Black history and lesson plans about systemic racism are barred from schools — and Louisiana has followed suit. Gov. Jeff Landry’s executive order in late August bans critical race theory (CRT) — on top of previous restrictions already in place — and makes Louisiana the latest state to pass a law prohibiting antiracist education. Incredibly, laws preventing honest education about race impact nearly half of all public school students in the United States.

Black Residents In Cancer Alley Try A Last Legal Defense Against Pollution

October 16, 2024 Lylla Younes, Next City. Resist! Black America, Cancer Alley, Environmental Justice, Louisiana, pollution, Public Health, zoning

On the banks of the lower Mississippi River in St. James Parish, Louisiana, on sprawling tracts of land that break up the vast wetlands, hulking petrochemical complexes light the sky day and night. They piled up over the past half century, built by fossil fuel giants like Nucor and Occidental. In that time, they replaced farmland with concrete and steel, and threaded the levees with pipelines that carry natural gas from as far away as West Texas. When the plants came, the lush landscape of this part of south Louisiana deteriorated. “The pecans are dry. They don’t yield like they used to,” said Gail Lebouf, a longtime resident of the region.

EPA Found No Threat Of Air Pollution During An Oil Spill In Louisiana

September 28, 2024 Julie Dermansky and Sharon Kelly, DeSmog. Educate! Activism, Air Pollution, Environment, EPA, Fossil Fuels, health, Louisiana, Oil Spill

The pungent smell of oil woke Gerald and Janet Crappel on the morning of Saturday, July 27. Stepping outside their home on the banks of Bayou Lafourche in Raceland, Louisiana, they spotted the fumes’ source: crude oil from Crescent Midstream’s Raceland pump station was gushing into the picturesque waterway, sparsely lined with homes and fishing boats, via a stormwater canal directly across from their home. The oil’s fumes were thick that morning. “It choked you,” Gerald told DeSmog correspondent Julie Dermansky, who documented the incident as it unfolded. Before cleanup crews contained the spill, reportedly 34,000 gallons of crude oil, a slick stretched for eight miles, just past the area’s drinking water system.

First Gaza Encampment Trial In US Finds Protesters Not Guilty

September 22, 2024 Anthony Franklin, Fight Back News!. Resist! Campus Movement, Gaza, Israel, Louisiana, New Orleans, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, Student Activism, Tulane, Victory

New Orleans, LA – On Friday, September 20, Tulane University encampment arrestees held a rally at 8 a.m., outside of the Orleans Criminal District Court, just before a monumental win for the city’s movement. There were over 40 people in attendance for both the rally and their full-day trial. They packed the courts in support of the arrestees for the Popular University for Gaza encampment that took place on Tulane’s front lawn from April 29 to May 1. The crowd chanted, “Not guilty, not sorry!” and “When student rights are under attack what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” A Loyola faculty member, Pablo Zavala, shared his thoughts on the students’ bravery stating, “SDS members, the young people, and community members have shown me and have shown us what it means to be courageous.

Deaths, Asthma, Climate Pollution Linked To Citi’s Funding Of Gas

September 18, 2024 Emily Pomilio, Fossil Free Citi. Educate! Citibank, Fossil Fuels, Health Care, LNG, Louisiana, Report, Texas

The lives and health of families in Texas and Louisiana are being directly impacted by Citi’s funding of nearby liquified methane gas projects (LNG), a new report released today shows. Over $36 million in health costs, two deaths, and more than 1,600 incidences of asthma symptoms per year in the region are linked to the $1.6 billion the bank has pumped into four LNG facilities in the Gulf South. The bank’s financed emissions related to these facilities is equivalent to over 6 coal plants or 6 million gasoline cars annually. The report, Citi: Funding Fossil-Fueled Environmental Racism in the Gulf South, quantifies the projected health impacts the facilities’ permitted air pollution could have on the region and highlights three communities in the area that are fighting back against fossil fuel development.

Massive CP2 LNG Export Facility Faces New Legal Hurdle Over FERC Approval

September 8, 2024 Sara Sneath, DeSmog. Resist! Energy, FERC, Gas export, Louisiana

Environmental advocates, landowners, and fishers filed two petitions with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday, challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) recent authorization for the construction of a massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. FERC approved the Calcasieu Pass (CP2) LNG terminal proposed by Venture Global in a 2-1 vote in late June. “The approval of the CP2 LNG project is a clear indication that FERC is serving the interests of powerful industry actors rather than protecting vulnerable communities and upholding the public interest,” James Hiatt, a former oil refinery worker and Director of the Louisiana-based nonprofit For a Better Bayou, wrote in a prepared statement.

New Orleans Residents Rebuke Sham ‘Peace Statement’

August 13, 2024 Fight Back! News. Resist! Ceasefire, Israel, Louisiana, New Orleans, Palestine, Peace

New Orleans, LA – On August 6, at 9:30 a.m., nearly 100 local activists and community organizations converged onto New Orleans City Hall. They gathered to stand against the New Orleans City Council adopting a “Statement of Peace,” and demanded instead a resolution for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The so-called “Statement of Peace” was sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, an openly Zionist organization. It calls for peace while conveniently omitting Palestine or Palestinians, ignores local victims of Israeli genocidal violence such as Tawfic Abdeljabbar, and implies that local anti-genocide protests are “calls for violence.” After only a few weeks in circulation, the statement has been put forth on the council agenda.

Developers Halt Grain Elevator That Would Disrupt Black Historic Sites

August 12, 2024 Seth Freed Wessler, ProPublica. Resist! Black America, Louisiana, Victory, whistleblower

A development company abruptly halted plans for a sprawling grain export facility in Louisiana this week after a three-year campaign led by members of a Black community who said it would have ripped through rural neighborhoods, old plantation tracts and important historic sites. At the start of a meeting on Tuesday, Greenfield LLC announced that it was “ceasing all plans” to construct the $400 million, milelong development in the middle of the town of Wallace in St. John the Baptist Parish. After a company spokesperson made the announcement in a small Wallace church, community members seated in the pews burst into jubilant cheers.

Rally For New Orleans Popular University For Gaza Arrestees

August 4, 2024 Juleea Berthelot, Fight Back! News. Resist! Campus Movement, Israel, Legal System, Louisiana, New Orleans, Palestine

New Orleans, LA – On July 30, around 40 people gathered outside of New Orleans criminal court at 2 p.m., an hour before the third court date for the 14 people arrested at the Tulane/Loyola University encampment. The 14 were arrested on May 1, around 3 a.m., by a combination of TUPD, NOPD and Louisiana state police officers. While the crowd gathered, they chanted, “Protesting Is not a crime, free, free, free Palestine” and “Not guilty, not sorry!” A Loyola University faculty member, Pablo Zavala, shared his thoughts about the encampment, stating, “The popular university rejected the logic of paying for your health, which many of us can’t afford, and instead offered free healthcare – and they didn’t like it.

A Judge Ruled A Louisiana Prison’s Health Care System Failed Inmates

July 28, 2024 Richard A. Webster, ProPublica. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Health Care, History, Legal System, Louisiana, Prison Industrial Complex

Several months ago, in a lawsuit that was in its ninth year, a federal judge blasted the medical care at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Many inmates hoped it would be a watershed moment. In her opinion, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick excoriated the state for its “callous and wanton disregard” for the health of those in its custody. “Rather than receiving medical ‘care,’ the inmates are instead subjected to cruel and unusual punishment,” Dick said in her November opinion. The “human cost,” she said, is “unspeakable.” She then ordered the appointment of three independent monitors to devise and implement a plan to reform the system.

The Air In Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ Is Even Worse Than Expected

June 22, 2024 Naveena Sadasivam, DeSmog. Educate! Cancer, Cancer Alley, EPA, Health Care, Human Rights, Louisiana, pollution

Since the 1980s, the 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi River that connects New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been known as “Cancer Alley.” The name stems from the fact that the area’s residents have a 95 percent greater chance of developing cancer than the average American. A big reason for this is the concentration of industrial facilities along the corridor — particularly petrochemical manufacturing plants, many of which emit ethylene oxide, an extremely potent toxin that is considered a carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency and has been linked to breast and lung cancers.

White Residents Of Baton Rouge, Louisiana To Form Separate City

May 10, 2024 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. Educate! Louisiana, Poverty, Racism, Segregation, US South, wealth inequality, White Supremacy

The State Supreme Court in the southern US state of Louisiana, on April 26, gave the city of St. George the right to secede from the larger capital city of Baton Rouge. This has cleared the way for a group of wealthy white Baton Rouge residents to carve out a majority-white enclave of the largely Black city—recalling the history in the US of segregation and white flight. Wealthy, white residents of Baton Rouge have been trying to secede from the rest of the city in some shape or form for over a decade. In 2012, a group of parents went to the state legislature to propose the creation of a separate school district which they called the Southeast Community School District. This effort failed, but the following year they tried once again and also failed.

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