BISCO Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing 406 West Second Street Thibodaux, LA 70301 985-227-9042 [email protected] Bayou History.

BISCOBayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing406 West Second StreetThibodaux, LA [email protected]

Bayou History Center, Inc.Thibodaux, LA [email protected]

Presented at the HBCU Climate Change Conference

Dillard University

April 5, 2013New Orleans, Louisiana

Climate Change in Coastal Louisiana

from a Community Perspective

Patty Whitney - BISCO

Coastal Louisiana is unique !

Our landscape is stunning !

Our wildlife is unusual !

Our people are diverse !

Our Celebrations are Varied !

Our houses are different !

And have been for centuries !

Our food is delicious !

Our Symbols Are Famous !

The Symbol of Louisiana

The River Built the Land !

The land is sinking

The Sea is Rising !

Storms are Stronger

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Rita

And Occur More OftenHurricane Gustav

Hurricane Ike

Pollution Abounds

BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster

River Flooding

Mississippi River Spring Flooding

Our population has culturally and historically been voiceless.

Ancestors who settled in this hostile

environment centuries ago were people

who had been kicked out, starved out,

sold out or cheated out of many other

places around the world.

Native Americans displaced farther and farther south

Acadians expelled from their country by force

Africans sold into slavery and shipped to America

People of multiple ethnicities populated the

area:

•Native Americans

•French peasants and orphans

•Canary Islanders “Islenos”

•African slaves

•German peasants

•Acadian exiles “Cajuns”

Wealthier, more powerful people settled on the high lands next to

the waterways.Poorer, less powerful people were

pushed farther away from the waterways and into the wetter,

lower lands and nearer the coast.

Coastal Louisianais a

“Regional EnvironmentalJustice Community”

TYPES OF E J COMMUNITIES

FENCE LINE REGIONAL

Environmental Justice isthe fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

It will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.

What Makes An E J Community?

• A unique physical environment• Natural Resources that make the area ripe for

exploitation and abuse• An unsophisticated and voiceless population

via:– Minority Ethnicity Status– Lack of Wealth– Lack of Education– Government corruption and/or ineffectiveness

E J Communities shoulder a bigger share of dangers and damages in the exploitation of shared natural

resources than other communities.

Education for these populations was either forbidden, insufficient

and poorly funded, or not significantly valued by cultures or

governmental leaders.

Those who could read and write

ended up with most of the assets,

while those who could not read

and write ended up with little or

nothing.

E J Communities usually develop

laws designed to keep the general

public, especially the poor and

disenfranchised, from receiving a

quality education.

Wealth and/or Education Affects…• An individual’s or family’s ability to prepare

for, respond to, or recover from a disaster; i.e.,– Evacuate– Secure food, shelter, supplies, transportation…– Clean up– Rebuild or rehabilitate– Mitigate for future disasters

• A community’s ability to protect themselves from environmental injustices

Location affects impacts from climate changes. Poorer

communities are more vulnerable to changes because in a delta they are located closer to the coast and

in wetlands.

Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana

What Must Be Done ?

• EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE…– Learn more about what is happening around you– Learn more about how to go about changing

things– Learn more about searching for “the big picture”– Attend public and governmental meetings– Read, read, read– Teach your family and friends what you’ve learned– GET INVOLVED !! It’s our grandchildren’s futures!

For More Information Contact Us At

Bayou History Center, Inc.Patricia Whitney, Executive Director

[email protected]

BISCOBayou Interfaith Shared Community OrganizingSharon Gauthe, Executive [email protected]