Happy Earth Day
Let's love Mother Earth
For around 12 years, most of my work was as an environmental scientist in Louisiana, including 5 years as an Emergency Responder with the State Department of Environmental Quality, which gave me a unique understanding of how we treat the Earth in our state. Through that work, I often went against the massive petrochemical companies that seemingly own Louisiana.
These are all pictures I took during that time.
When I see people picking up trash on Earth Day or sharing a post saying “Keep Mother Earth Clean”, it makes me think about the deeper environmental struggles we face that are often unknown or possibly even ignored by most people.
While the so-called “MAHA movement” focuses on food additives, vaccines, and fluoride, the same administration has already rolled back or is in the process of rolling back many environmental regulations and guidelines, which will lead to more pollution and long-term health issues.
To me, our health starts with how we treat Mother Earth - her air, her water, and her land.
But breathing in that sulfur smell, we all know too well, as we drive through Cancer Alley, or down River Rd, will quickly remind us that we must be doing something wrong.
Literally tons of chemicals are released into the air every day - some are permitted by our weak regulatory system, while others are emitted illegally.
Every day, there’s a new oil spill.
I don't say all of this to scare you or to negate any Earth Day advocacy. Instead, it’s a reminder to protect this beautiful Earth we call home.
Environmental advocacy starts with our elected officials. Even our last governor was not good on environmental issues, so imagine how this one must be?
It’s also complicated. We need many of these chemical plants to make our plastics, our gas, and our comforts, but with regulation, we could force these companies to innovate.
In my experience, industry rarely moves ahead of regulation. For example, I worked on one case where workers were getting sick while cleaning offshore pipes. The same company had workers in Europe who were not getting sick. Can you guess what the difference was? Yep, our rules were much weaker and still are.
Let’s love Earth, like the mother she is.