Clean Air Journal
Partnering with Burdock Book Collective turned out to be an inspiring afternoon at the reading and discussion of Ground Glass with Author Kathryn Savage and Keisha Brown! The venue at the Burdock Book Collective allowed an intimate space to fill with honest personal stories and sparked attendees with motivation and empowerment.
“We were so close to it. I could taste it in my mouth. The smell was in the house. I felt like I couldn’t get away from it. I couldn’t let my window up; I couldn’t let my window down. It’s in the ground. It’s in the foundation.”
Sustainable development means economic development without the depletion of natural resources. Another way to think of it is; meeting the needs of today without creating problems tomorrow.
Soot, is a dangerous and deadly pollutant composed of metals, organic chemicals and acidic substances. It is produced by power plants vehicle tailpipes and other industrial sources as well as wildfire smoke. Soot threatens our health and our environment, posing particular risks for children, seniors and people with chronic illnesses.
Industrial plants in Birmingham, Alabama — including one now owned by WV Gov. Jim Justice’s family — have polluted the air and land in its historic Black communities for over a century.
“It’s like a third-world country,” she said. “I know we sound like a broken record, but no one’s doing anything. Politicians keep telling us to vote for them–vote for you for what? What am I voting for you for? To do nothing? We need people who are willing to work with the community’s needs.”
We need to recognize that these modern problems often have substantial historical roots in harmful and discriminatory official government policies from the past. Governmental action helped to ensure that the places we live in, the schools we go to, the health problems we have, and even the quality of the air we breathe are likely to depend in part on what race we are.
