Vanishing Black community of Mossville set for visit by EPA head (The Advocate)
“An extensive new report on the community and the buyout released Wednesday by the University Network for Human Rights, a nonprofit advocacy group, says that its data ‘strongly suggest that the (voluntary buyout) was racially discriminatory’…The new report criticizing the buyout alleges that ‘property transaction amounts were, on average, about 88% higher’ in the Brentwood area than in Mossville… ‘When considered alongside social science literature on the contemporary housing appraisal system, these data strongly suggest that the (voluntary buyout) was racially discriminatory,’ the report says.”
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U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan visits Mossville on “Journey to Justice” tour (KPLC News)
“What we found was the median buyout amounts in Mossville were statistically, significantly lower than those in Brentwood which was 90% white community subject to the exact same formula as the people in Mossville,” said Ruhan Nagra with the University Network for Human Rights.
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‘Startling’: EPA head pledges action for vanishing Black community of Mossville (The Advocate)
“A new analysis released on Wednesday alleged sizable disparities in the prices paid for properties in Mossville compared to those in nearby White areas that were also bought out by Sasol. The University Network for Human Rights, the nonprofit advocacy group that conducted the study, says its data ‘strongly suggest that the (voluntary buyout) was racially discriminatory.’ It contends that ‘property transaction amounts were, on average, about 88% higher’ in the mainly white Brentwood area, which was also part of the voluntary buyout, than in Mossville.”
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A chemical firm bought out these Black and white US homeowners – with a significant disparity (The Guardian)
“The price paid for property transactions in Mossville was, on average, about 40% lower than those paid in the white communities, according to the analysis by researchers with the University Network for Human Rights.”
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Residents of Louisiana’s Cancer Alley hopeful for action after EPA head’s visit (The Guardian)
“On Thursday, [Regan] will visit Mossville, in Louisiana, a day after the Guardian revealed allegations of racial bias in a series of buyouts made by the South African oil giant Sasol during construction of a sprawling, multibillion-dollar petrochemical plant in the town.”
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University to Launch Human Rights Advocacy Minor in Fall 2022 (The Wesleyan Argus)
“The human rights advocacy minor is really exciting because [it’s] basically the only undergraduate opportunity in the country where students learn practical training in human rights advocacy,” Nagra told the Argus.
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Migrant advocates petition for end of Title 42 (KRGV)
"Is that it act, and that it urge the United States to stop these dangers, to stop forcing people to return to situations where their lives are at risk,” said James Cavallaro, a law school professor at Yale.
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Human rights groups appeal to international panel to end Biden’s Title 42 migrant expulsions (Texas Public Radio)
“What this asks of the Inter-American Commission is that it acts and urges the United States to stop these dangers, to stop forcing people to return to situations where their lives are at risk,” said Yale Law School professor James Cavallaro. “It’s a precautionary measure — it is not a final resolution — and that is why it is something that is urgent, and it is something that can be responded to quickly in a manner that might save lives and protect people from irreparable harm.”
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US rights groups petition for a stop to asylum seeker expulsions (Al Jazeera)
“What we’re urging the Commission to do is to ask the United States government to stop this process, to stop barring the entry of these individuals and others,” James Cavallaro, a former president of the IACHR and a petitioner, told reporters on Thursday.
Cavallaro added that Title 42, under which most migrants are unable to file asylum claims in the US, is exposing people to “severe and urgent risks to their lives, to their wellbeing [and] to their physical integrity”.
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Pols Call on Hochul to Revisit Rate Hike Tied to Controversial Brooklyn Pipeline (The City)
“On Thursday, lawyers from Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic and University Network for Human Rights, representing Sane Energy Project and Cooper Park Resident Council, filed a motion in state Appellate Court in Brooklyn to halt National Grid’s work meant to support trucking liquefied gas into Greenpoint.”
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Louisiana's communities of color already suffer from pollution and COVID. Now it's climate change. (USA Today)
“The risk of developing cancer from air pollution in the census tract closest to the plant is 50 times the national average – the highest in the country, according to a University Network for Human Rights report based on the EPA's most recent assessment, released in August 2018.
Among residents surveyed who lived near the plant, cancer prevalence was 71% higher than the national rate, according to the group’s 2019 report, called ‘Waiting to Die.’”
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Racism, Sexism, and Politics Fueled Massacres in Bolivia, Says Report (VICE)
“I’m optimistic that this will serve as a bridge to seek justice for the victims,” he said. “They’ve done such a thorough investigation that it’s hard to refute [the abuses].
“There needs to be a clear message that you cannot shoot unarmed people and get away with it.”
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Becker: Informe del GIEI ratificará lo que muchas instituciones han mostrado, que hubo masacres en Bolivia (ATB Digital)
“Va a mostrar lo que muchas instituciones han mostrado, que hubo masacres en Sacaba, Senkata, Pedregal y varios sitios en Bolivia, y va a exponer lo que pasó, y ojalá tener un mapa de cómo podemos conseguir justicia para las víctimas, cómo podemos comenzar una forma de reparación para todos los que han sufrido”, mencionó en contacto con Bolivia TV.
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Judge Temporarily Freezes Plan to Truck Frigid Liquid Natural Gas to Brooklyn (The City)
“Environmental activists protesting changes to National Grid’s Greenpoint hub for more than a year are claiming a legal victory…Following a court order, National Grid last week stopped construction work at the Brooklyn site that could be used to load and unload trucks containing liquefied natural gas, or LNG.”
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Report Outlines 'Crucial' Need for Biden Administration to Aid Climate (Common Dreams)
The report (pdf), entitled U.S. Opportunities to Address Climate Displacement, was published by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), with the endorsement of six groups: Amnesty International, Mayors Migration Council, Natural Resources Defense Council, Truman National Security Project, University Network for Human Rights, and Welcoming America.
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Climate and refugee organizations say Biden has power to help address climate change-driven displacement (USA Today)
“Several key climate and refugee organizations have endorsed the report, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), University Network for Human Rights; Mayors Migration Council; Truman National Security Project; Amnesty International; and Welcoming America.”
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Halting Transit of Fracked Gas through NYC (Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
“A temporary restraining order has been issued to halt construction of Liquefied Fracked Gas Infrastructure that consumer advocacy groups say is illegal…State Supreme Court Justice Karen B. Rothenberg issued the order halting ‘all construction activities and other physical alterations contained in National Grid’s pending LNG Variance Petition’… until a decision has been made on the merits of the case.”
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Judge halts construction at National Grid's Brooklyn LNG terminal (S&P Global)
“A New York judge ordered National Grid PLC's New York City gas utility to temporarily stop certain construction at its Brooklyn liquefied natural gas terminal in response to a lawsuit by local groups alleging the work is illegal. New York State Supreme Court Justice Karen Rothenberg on July 27 placed a temporary restraining order on all construction activity and physical alterations outlined in a 2016 variance petition.”
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Weekly New York & New Jersey Energy: LNG Lawsuit (Politico)
“Sane Energy and the Cooper Park Resident Council have filed a lawsuit against New York City and National Grid over alleged illegal construction at the utility’s Greenpoint LNG facility. The two groups are represented by the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic and the University Network for Human Rights.”
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Activists Sue National Grid And NYC Over Gas Facility in Greenpoint (Brooklyn Paper)
Coverage of our lawsuit on behalf of the Sane Energy Project and Cooper Park Resident Council to halt illegal construction of fracked gas infrastructure at corporate utility National Grid’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in Brooklyn, New York. The lawsuit seeks a Temporary Restraining Order and injunction to halt construction until and unless the environmental review mandated by law is fully complete.
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