Justice Advances in Cancer Alley; Trump, Glyphosate and Cancer; Stinky Seaweed Menace and more.

March 6
51 mins

Episode Description

Descendants of enslaved people fighting pollution in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ have been greenlit for a trial. Their lawsuit alleges the St. James Parish government discriminated against Black residents by repeatedly permitting industrial plants in predominantly Black districts while shielding mostly white districts from industry.

 

Also, President Trump has deemed glyphosate as essential for national security even though some 200,000 people have complained they have gotten cancer or other adverse health effects, while using it as directed. Meanwhile a Missouri state court has given preliminary approval to a class action settlement plan for people sickened by Roundup, which contains the herbicide glyphosate. Why some in the Make America Healthy Again movement feel betrayed by the Trump Administration’s support for glyphosate.

 

And though the floating seaweed known as Sargassum provides critical habitat for many species in the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic, it is now finding a fertile home in southern waters, where it’s wreaking havoc on coastal communities and ecosystems, with impacts to respiratory health, tourism and sea turtles.

---

Join LOE and Inside Climate News for the next Living on Earth Book Club event on Thursday, March 26th! We’ll talk with data scientist Hannah Ritchie about her new book Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change in 50 Questions and Answers. Learn more and sign up for this free, live online event at loe.org/events.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See all episodes