On Community Resistance to Fossil Fuel Sacrifice Zone in Port Arthur Texas with John Beard by EcoJustice Radio published on 2022-09-05T00:20:00Z Unbeknownst to many, the United States is soon to be the largest exporter of oil and gas. With increased drilling and fracking in the Texas Permian Basin and multiple oil and gas pipelines headed for the Gulf of Mexico Coast, the neighboring communities are at the nexus of climate change disasters and community resistance. Port Arthur Texas is home base for the largest oil refinery in North America and a dizzying toxic array of fossil fuel and chemical facilities. But the people are stepping up to say - NO MORE. Port Arthur Community Action Network (also known as PACAN) is raising the alarm, holding the polluters accountable, and paving the path to transition away from an extractive economy to one that supports restorative justice. Our guest on this encore presentation is John Beard, Jr., Founder and CEO of Port Arthur Community Action Network [https://www.pa-can.com/], is helping to mobilize his community of Port Arthur and the Southeast Texas region. As a former oil employee turned advocate for environmental justice in the place he has lived all his life. John has been fighting for health and safety protections on the refineries, export terminals, petrochemical plants, and leading efforts against deepwater ports, each of which could export an estimated 2 million barrels of crude oil per day. He is the recipient of the 2021 Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism from the Center for Biological Diversity. This year he helped lead October’s historic People vs. Fossil Fuels week of action in Washington DC, and he brought a powerful voice to November’s U.N. climate talks in Glasgow. More: https://www.portarthurcan.org/ The Plastic Plague Series by EcoJustice Radio: https://socal350.org/ecojustice-radio-on-kpfk-90-7-fm-in-los-angeles/plastic-plague-series/ Break Free From Plastic on EcoJustice Radio: https://www.wilderutopia.com/ecojustice-radio/break-free-from-the-plastic-death-cycle/ News Sources https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/12/01/congress-lifted-crude-export-ban-2015-us-has-dropped-climate-bomb-world https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/john-beard-jr-honored-with-rose-braz-award-for-bold-activism-2021-12-08/ https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/who-will-protect-communities-of-color-from-climate-disaster/ar-AA11kdQE https://grist.org/climate-energy/war-ukraine-increase-pollution-oil-gas-communities-us/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/08/27/climate-permitting-sacrifice-zone/ Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://wilderutopia.com/ecojustice-radio/port-arthur-texas-community-resistance-vs-the-climate-change-nexus/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Hosted by Jessica Aldridge Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Episode 121 Photo credit: John Beard Genre News & Politics