no i'm not proving your point. this is long, so bear with me. here's what happens. let's say a paper company wants to put in a new production plant. now paper companies in the process of making paper use a lot of unsavory chemicals, most notably a LOT of chlorine, which produces some pretty bad bi-products(ever hear of dioxin? it's not good). the state, meanwhile, offers the company tax breaks and land because they want the company to build the plant in their state.
now the issue becomes, where to put the plant? certainly not in the affluent, middle to upper middle class neighborhoods, because they don't want that to breathe whatever is coming out of the smoke stacks, nor do they want a plant to drop the value of their property. the people also have the money to raise a hell of a ruckus if the company/state even attempted something as looney as putting the plant in the rich areas. but of course the affluent folks still want the plant, because, hey, it'll be good for the economy. so what to do? what to do? someone then says, hey, let's put it in the low rent district. those people don't have money. their property values stink. they aren't powerful politically. and those people can probably use the jobs. it's win, win.
in goes the plant. even though the people in the area didn't want it there. just because they don't have money, doesn't mean they are stupid. they don't want to breathe or drink that crap. nor do they like the sight of two giant smoke stacks out their front window. they'd like to move one day, so they need to at least maintain the property values. too bad. in goes the plant.
shortly after the plant goes in, the parents in the neighborhood notice their kids are getting sick more often. even the adults are suffering more. teachers notice test scores dropping and attendance rates decline. the local neighborhood gets together to decide what to do. they don't know what's going on--could it be the plant? they scrape together some cash and get someone to test the air, groundwater, and soil. lo and behold--the plant has contaminated the water, air, and soil all over the neighborhood with carcinogens and other poisons. the neighborhood group approaches the plant to get them to make changes. no good--they are making a ton of money and a change means less profits. they approach the state/feds. pretty much same story. these people aren't important enough politically to make it worth fighting a big company. the citizen's group doesn't have money to hire a big firm, so they look to a non-profit group like earthjustice for help. earthjustice takes the case. earthjustice approaches the company. no dice. earthjustice goes to the gov't to seek enforcement of the environmental regs. still very little help there. so they bring a law suit to get the plant into compliance or get them out because they are slowly killing these people.
and if you don't think this happens, read this:
http://www.mapcruzin.com/...e/reportondioxin.htm. read more about "cancer alley" around lake charles, louisiana. and if you don't want to "take these claims seriously", that's up to you. but don't give me any non-sense about an "agenda".
f/k/a mclamb6