CONTRIBUTORS

Hurricanes should inspire environmental action: Delaware Voice

Stephanie Herron
Stephanie Herron is volunteer and outreach coordinator for the Delaware chapter of the Sierra Club.

I have dedicated my adult life to protecting the environment. Not because of trees or cuddly endangered species, but people. When someone asks me why, I usually tell them a story about my first day in college. 

I saw a person outside freshman orientation in a mountain costume. The mountain was saying something like “don’t blow me up!”

That was the day I learned about mountaintop removal coal mining. “MTR” is the process of blowing the tops off of mountains with dynamite to reach the seams of coal underneath. Besides the obvious reason, this is outrageous, I learned about the devastating impacts to health and quality of life in Appalachia.

This was the day I tell people I “became” an environmentalist.

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One of the most formative experiences of my life came a year and a half later. As a sophomore at James Madison University, I participated in an “alternative spring break.” We went to New Orleans to help with Hurricane Katrina recovery — In 2008. Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005.

I was shocked to see how little had been done in some communities, over three years later and then devastated to find out what the spray painted circles still remaining on so many homes meant — the number of people and animals found inside.

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Hurricane Katrina stood until this point as the costliest “natural disaster” in U.S. history. What happened was a disaster, but I hesitate to call it natural.

Scientists will tell you that no single weather event is attributable to just climate change, but increasing sea level combined with local land subsidence and wetland degradation (all problems facing Delaware too), combined with warmer waters, certainly did not help. What many people of the Gulf Coast experienced in 2005 was a massive breakdown of their most basic human rights. 

It is important to remember that, when disasters strike, everyone is impacted, but the impacts are not spread around equally. The most vulnerable members of society, including low-income residents, the elderly, children, and those with disabilities suffer the most.

Statistically, communities of color are generally hit first and worst by disasters. Low income and majority people of color communities are also more likely to be located near hazardous chemical facilities, compounding the danger of initial “natural disaster” with that of a catastrophic explosion or pollution release.

The absolute injustice of this broke my heart. I felt nearly crushed and nothing had even happened to me. I just couldn’t understand how we as a country, or even just as humans could let this happen.

I hadn’t taken the time to really stop and think about it much before. I never had to. I suppose this is a classic example of privilege. 

What inspired me and caused me to fall in love with both the people of New Orleans and the work of fighting for climate justice was the amazing spirit and resolve of the people there. Folks had literally lost everything and yet they not only got back up, but went out of their way to help others. 

I wrote this on the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and tragedy was unfolding again as Hurricane Harvey pummeled Southeast Texas. Now Hurricane Irma is poised to hammer Florida.

People are stepping up again. The acts of heroism and resilience already coming out of Houston and the surrounding areas are amazing.

It is incumbent on us all to do our part. Donate to the organizations supporting rescue and relief operations, check up on friends in the area, do anything you can to help. But then do as our JMU mission says (quoting Gandhi): “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Advocate for responsible local, state and federal level policies to combat climate and environmental injustices. I would love to have you join the Delaware Sierra Club in advocating for renewable energy policies that will bring blue collar jobs while cleaning up our local air quality and reducing our climate impact — but you don’t have to join my organization to make a difference. 

Support your local NAACP Chapter, Network Delaware or one of the many amazing groups fighting against racism (including environmental racism) and for justice. Attend the Delaware Concerned Residents for Environmental Justice convening on October 20-22 at the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew in Wilmington to learn how you can be a part of the solution.

In short, don’t be like me until 2008. Don’t forget that you have been blessed with many privileges and gifts, and it is your responsibility to use them for good.

Remember that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Stand in solidarity with the people of Gulf Coast and the people of your own city and state.

Upset about something that’s going on in the news? Don’t just sit there; do something.

Stephanie Herron is a Wilmington native and volunteer and outreach coordinator for the Delaware chapter of the Sierra Club.