Environmental and Climate Inequality in a Petrochemical City: Port Arthur, Texas

Introduction

This series of assignments looks at the historical evolution of environmental inequality in Port Arthur, Texas. Port Arthur has long been a place where pollution abounds. Over much of the 20th century into the 21st it has been home to multiple, massive oil refineries, along with a growing host of chemical plants. It has also long been home to many people of color, and by 1990, had become majority non-white. Offering case study in how and why pollution has historically concentrated in neighborhoods that were Black or Brown, also of how, in response, vibrant environmental justice activism often arose.

The following assignments take students through how environmental inequalities evolved in Port Arthur as petrochemical industries alongside other demographic, political, and economic changes.

Part 1 (due March 25th)

1. First, read through the entire StoryMap on “Oil’s History and Impacts in Port Arthur.”

2. Next, let’s dive in deeper to look at the origins of environmental injustice in Port Arthur. Please open this link and answer the questions through a close look at the linked StoryMap segments. Jim Crow Roots of Port Arthur’s Environmental Inequalities. Then return to this page to also answer questions 3-5.

3. Modern Pollution Control in the Era of White Flight

A. Now review this section of the StoryMap Collection entitled “Accumulating Impacts from the 1970s” and answer this question: what new developments from the 1970s onward undergirded and somewhat altered this town’s environmental inequities?

B. After reviewing this section “Accumulating Impacts from the 1970s (continued),“answer this question: how effective were the new environmental laws and oversight put in place during the 1970s in addressing inequities in exposure to toxic pollutants (as measured by the Toxic Release Index maps)?

4. Port Arthur’s Environmental Justice Movement: now review chapter 3 on “Port Arthur, Texas…” in Lerner, Sacrific Zones, 73-98, and describe two ways in which this town’s environmental justice movement was rooted in this town’s earlier history.

5. Impacts of climate change on Port Arthur: after reviewing this section on “Today’s Still Accumulating Burdens,” describe two ways that climate change has affected or threatens Port Arthur. Then consider: to what extent are those in the town most severely affected by these threats also among those most severely impacted by the industrial pollution?