The website Common Dreams has been providing breaking news & views for the progressive community since 1997. They say they are independent, non-profit, advertising-free and entirely supported by their readership. They posted a thought-piece about poor people on July 10, 2019 that touched us.
Climate Change is a Poor People’s Issue Says Common Dreams
Climate change is already an issue in the poorest parts of the world, says Mallika Khanna writing for Common Dreams. More than 40 people died from heat stroke in a single day in Bihar recently. This is one of the poorest states in India.
A UNICEF study reported in 2015 that children make up 80% of deaths attributable to climate change. “In the next decade,” UNICEF added “175 million children will be hit by climate-related disasters in South Asia and Africa alone.” However Mallika Khanna thinks pollution and climate change have ravaged vulnerable communities for decades.
Take the Stretch between Baton Rouge and New Orleans for Example
Petrochemical pollution created a ‘cancer alley’ in this area according to Common Dreams. The website claims “Corporations deliberately target places like Cancer Alley because they’re home to socially and economically disadvantaged people.
These are people whom corporations assume can’t fight back, Mallika Khanna says. In fact they call them “least resistant personality profiles” to add insult to injury.
However, if they do fight back and claim their rights – and that’s the point of this article – then they could receive vast amounts of compensation from companies that have diminished their lives.
Their protest should also be against governments with an arguable reputation for caring more about the wealthy few. Environmentalism ought not to be an “elite concern”. Our Earth belongs to all of us. A hurt to one of us surely ought to affect us all.
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Preview Image: Flooded Farmlands in Northern Bihar
