Robert D. Bullard writes in
Dismantling Energy Apartheid in the United States,
Many “clean wood chips” burning biomass plants can easily turn to
burning more contaminated fuels (which may be cheaper or even free),
or get paid to take really dirty wastes like trash or tires. Public
opposition to biomass facilities has driven siting that follows the
“path of least resistance,” which often translates to states where
environmental regulations are lax and companies are given huge tax
incentives to build these kinds of incinerators, and investors count
on the local residents being uninformed and apathetic. Environmental
justice siting concerns often get buried in the excitement and notion
of “green energy.”
Zoning laws are often legal weapons deployed in facilitating energy apartheid.
There’s more, including a writeup about the local proposed incinerator,
starting:
Residents in Valdosta, Georgia are fighting to block a 40 megawatt biomass incinerator slated for construction on a 22-acre site in their community. The community is already overburdened with polluting industries and heavy truck traffic.
Read it and see.
-jsq
NAACP reiterates charges of environmental racism,
despite claims from Brad Lofton, Executive Director of the
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority,
that
“all of a sudden we haven’t heard anymore about environmental racism.”
Leigh Touchton, president of the local NAACP chapter,
presents to the Valdosta City Council
research published by
Robert D. Bullard about environmental apartheid.