peeling off . Then Kamea started to ask questions . “ What is happening to me ? What ’ s causing it ? How do we stop it ?”
Roishetta , Kamea ’ s Mom said , “ It broke my heart to have to explain to my daughter and the rest of my children that the petrochemical facilities around us was poisoning our air .” She cites a recent report by Environmental Integrity , which concluded that oil refineries in Lake Charles “ release about 675 thousand pounds of nitrogen pollution a year in the Calcasieu River , causing serious environmental harms .”
Kamea listened to her mom when she informed her that if these oil and gas companies continue to operate , not only will more children continue to get sick , but the effects of climate change will get worse . Even though her Mom told her not to worry she immediately decided to fight for her town . She started to organize by talking to her friends in school and making them more aware of the issues surrounding pollution and its connection to climate change . After speaking with her friends and family about the dangers of pollution and how it was affecting climate change , she realized it was a good first step . But she wanted to do more .
In April 2023 , she helped her mom organize The Vessel Project of Louisiana in Lake Charles , Louisiana . Her mother told her that the gas industry is planning to build four huge gas export terminals in Southwestern Louisiana , which will be within five miles of each other , and ship gas to other countries . Kamea ’ s mom also told her that Lake Charles wasn ’ t the only community being sacrificed , that there were more than 20 gas export projects being proposed to be built across the Gulf .
What are these Cancer Alley teens asking for ? Kamea wants President Biden to stop approving these oil and gas projects . She asks “ President Biden , please don ’ t let the Gulf Coast become a sacrifice zone . We don ’ t want these facilities in our backyards because they are poisoning our water and our air . It makes it harder for kids like me to spend time outside and enjoy our planet . We only have one Earth , and it is time we start acting like it .”
Source : https :// chej . org / cancer‐alley‐pre‐teens‐demand‐to‐not‐be‐made‐into‐another‐sacrificezone