Toxic Greed & the Fuelling of the climate crisis
You may have already seen the news stories and social media posts covering the train derailment last week in East Palestine, Ohio - the fires, the death cloud from the chemical burn, and the toxic aftermath that left chickens unalived in their coop. Or… maybe you haven’t really heard.
With surprisingly low news coverage and even less attention by the United States government, it would be no surprise if this absolute crisis to environmental and public health went relatively unnoticed to a wider US and Canadian audience.
Happening just one week before the World Day for Social Justice, we would be at a loss not to mention the human, worker, and environmental rights violations wrapped up in this event. Local organizers and rail workers have been calling for system change and warning an event like this would happen for years. All the while the rail industry has continued to focus on optimizing profit over the safety of their staff. Cutbacks to staffing numbers, increased workloads, companies actively opposing regulations and increasing the number of cars on each train, all put them at a higher risk of derailment and other serious incidents. The rail workers were even set to strike last year, but the US Government quickly signed a bill to block the strike in fear it would have too big of an impact on the economy. Once again, we see corporations and governments choose profit over people.
“Once again, we see corporations and governments choose profit over people.”
This pattern of choosing the health of the economy over the health of our lands and people was on full display last week in Ohio. “We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open,” warned a hazardous materials specialist in an interview following what was called a “controlled” release of chemicals from the railcars which ultimately resulted in toxic fumes spreading across surrounding communities.
Patterns can be broken
Is this the future we want to leave for the next generation?
Environmental and health emergencies like we have seen in East Palestine, Lac Megantic, Kalamazoo, and along the KXL are not the exception. They have become what is expected in the name of record profits.
“We want the voices and knowledge of land defenders, water protectors, and frontline communities to carry us forward into a new era of reciprocity with the land and with each other. ”
Today… on World Social Justice Day, we once again want to call on a world where Indigenous, Black, and other POC communities, frontline workers, and low-income families are no longer treated as collateral to corporate schemes. A world where our voices are not muffled under the foot of an industry executive claiming they can fix a problem that they caused if we just give them more money. We want the voices and knowledge of land defenders, water protectors, and frontline communities to carry us forward into a new era of reciprocity with the land and with each other.
There is no denying that settler-led climate and health policies are failing. We believe the knowledge and tools already exist to break the pattern of toxic greed currently fuelling the climate crisis. Many communities have already started the path back to reciprocity. In our recently launched summary report, our research network outlined seven pathways to restoring balance. If you haven’t read the report yet, we hope you will consider taking the time to at least look over the pathways and reflect on how you can start implementing them into your life and work today.
We also encourage you to look to your local communities. We are just one organization. Real solutions will not be made from a single group or person. Real change will come from the collective continually and intentionally dismantling systems within their communities that uphold white supremacy and capitalist structures like the ones that will default to releasing toxins into a community to get a railroad open… all in the name of the economy.
Community Care
If you are in a position to offer financial support to the residents of this disaster, there are several fundraising campaigns including:
River Valley Organizing is also asking folks to write letters to the Governor to request federal disaster declaration for East Palestine train spill.
About the Author
Rosalyn Boucha is a designer, illustrator and creative communicator currently collaborating within ICA as our communications manager. She is a member of Animakee Wa Zhing First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory and is of mixed Anishinaabe and German-settler decent. Rosalyn grew up on both sides of the medicine line (US-Canada border), but now calls Treaty 1 her home.
