Stop the petrochemical boom

Seeing our all-electric, 100% clean-energy future, Big Oil is grasping at straws to protect its profits by betting on petrochemicals. As we replace coal and gas plants with solar and wind, and swap out diesel engines for electric motors, the fossil fuel industry is trying desperately to find new uses for its toxic and planet-warming product. It’s going to transform those resources into a torrent of plastics, industrial chemicals, and pesticides that worsen the climate crisis and pollute our air and water — putting everyone’s health at risk. As a respiratory virus infects millions, we can’t afford to increase petrochemical production and harm our lungs any further.

The negative impacts of the petrochemical boom will not be distributed evenly, as the polluting facilities are deliberately sited in communities of color and low-income communities. For example, Formosa Plastics is planning a new petrochemical facility in the 5th District of St. James Parish in Louisiana — a predominantly Black community in an area that is known as Cancer Alley because of all the toxic infrastructure concentrated there and corresponding high rates of cancer. This facility will produce as much carbon as three million cars and triple the area’s already-elevated exposure to carcinogens all so that it can produce needless plastic waste. Residents of the parish are organizing to stop this terrible injustice, but they are fighting a well-resourced and powerful industry — which is why we need to act in solidarity.

The oil and chemical industries have helped create a status quo where pollution and health issues are concentrated in communities of color and low-income communities while profits and power are accumulated by companies who seek to further exploit people and the planet. We can reverse this, but it will be much more difficult if Congress kick-starts the petrochemical boom. Please join us in telling your member of Congress we can’t afford to subsidize this harmful industry.