Julie Dermansky
DeSmog
New Orleans, LA, United States
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Past articles by Julie:
Environmental Activists in Louisiana Call on Senator Cassidy to ‘Do No Harm’
“It took courage for Senator Cassidy to vote against Trump,” Sharon Lavigne, the founder of the faith-based grassroots organization RISE St. James, said about the Louisiana Republican after the impeachment hearing of the former president. “He voted with his conscience, not his party. Now he has to → Read More
Photos of the Struggle for Environmental Justice in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley in 2020
The disproportionate toll that COVID-19 is taking on the Black community brought environmental justice issues to the forefront during 2020. Calls for dealing with climate change and environmental justice were elevated by president-elect Biden, who spoke about endangered communities in the last → Read More
Cancer Alley Community Leaders Are Cautious As Biden Picks Their Fossil Fuel-Friendly Congressman for White House Role
Community leaders long at odds with the powerful petrochemical industry in Louisiana took note when their Congressional representative, Cedric Richmond, announced November 12 that he was taking a new job in the Biden White House. In his announcement, Richmond, a Democratic representative in Louisiana for most of the heavily industrialized region stretching from New Orleans to → Read More
Hurricane Zeta Leaves Thousands Without Power, Oily Mess On Heels of Laura and Delta in South Louisiana
“I will evacuate next time a hurricane is forecast to hit the area," Traditional Chief Shirell Parfait-Dardar of the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi- Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe told me the day after Hurricane Zeta hit Louisiana’s coast on October 28. Like many in the storm’s path, she was caught off guard when the storm intensified just before slamming into the coast. → Read More
A Faltering Fracking Industry, on the Verge of a Bailout, Mixes Patriotism and Oil in the Permian
Signs equating patriotism with the oil and gas industry are abundant in the Permian Basin, one of the United States’ most prolific oil and natural gas plays. There, the messages on billboards, trucks, and the sides of rest stops suggest that supporting the industry that’s one of the largest contributors to the climate crisis is a matter of American pride. → Read More
The Hunt for Fugitive Emissions in the Permian’s Oilfields
Meaningful regulation of the fracking industry is a non sequitur to Sharon Wilson, organizer for Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project. She supports her employer’s efforts to encourage tougher industry regulations, but believes that humankind needs to keep oil and gas in the ground if → Read More
Bayou Bridge Pipeline Construction Mess Poses Major Risk to Atchafalaya Basin
“It is a crime against nature,” Jody Meche, president of the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West, said while scanning the Bayou Bridge pipeline right-of-way on the west side of the Atchafalaya Basin, the country’s largest river swamp in a designated National Heritage Area. → Read More
Greta’s UN Climate Summit Speech Successfully Predicted More Business as Usual From World Leaders
On Monday, the United Nations Climate Action Summit opened with a glossy video projected around the room. It hawked a hopeful message that climate catastrophe can be averted. With the lights turned down and music turned up, for a few minutes the summit felt like an IMAX movie experience. → Read More
Fracked Gas Well Blowout in Louisiana Likely to Burn for the Next Month
A fracked natural gas well in northwest Louisiana has been burning for two weeks after suffering a blowout. A state official said the fire will likely burn for the next month before the flames can be brought under control by drilling a relief well. → Read More
Following Pushback, Chinese-owned Chemical Giant Pulls Plug on Massive Plastics Project in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley
Chinese giant Wanhua Chemical officially withdrew its plans to build a $1.25 billion plastics manufacturing complex in St. James, Louisiana, in the heart of the already industrialized Cancer Alley. The news bought relief to opponents of the plant. → Read More
Opponents Delay $1.25 Billion Plastics Factory in Louisiana
If built, the 250-acre complex would release some 300 tons of toxic air emissions per year. → Read More
Louisiana Braces for a Storm While Weighing New Fossil Fuel Projects
Yesterday, I stopped writing another story for DeSmog to get ready for what could likely become this year’s first hurricane in the U.S. → Read More
Breaking: Environmental Justice March Hits Road Block in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley
On May 30, around 100 people took part on the first day of a planned five-day march for environmental justice in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley. Amid sweltering heat, the march kicked off in St. John the Baptist Parish, but extreme obstacles have developed on their route to Baton Rouge, about 50 miles → Read More
As More Diverted Floodwaters Head Their Way, Dolphins Keep Dying in Louisiana
The historic opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway is happening during an ongoing and mysterious dolphin die-off. → Read More
As More Diverted Floodwaters Head Their Way, Dolphins Keep Dying in Louisiana
Warning: This story contains images and video of dead dolphins some may find graphic. → Read More
Critics Say State "Highjacked" Isle de Jean Charles Tribe's Resettlement Plan
Isle de Jean Charles continues to lose land at an alarming rate as Louisiana takes away important relocation funds. → Read More
New Orleans Student on Global Climate Strike: 'I Wouldn’t Be Anywhere Else'
With contributions from Ashley Braun and Mat Hope. → Read More
Louisiana and Isle de Jean Charles Tribe Try to Find Common Ground
Talks have restarted over a $48 million climate change resettlement project. → Read More
Tribe Turns Down Funds to Relocate as Louisiana Buys Land Anyway
Tribal members have been considered climate refugees since being awarded a grant to relocate. → Read More
Isle de Jean Charles Tribe Turns Down Funds to Relocate First US 'Climate Refugees’ as Louisiana Buys Land Anyway
The announcement that the State of Louisiana had purchased land for a resettlement project spearheaded by the Isle de Jean Charles Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe (IDJC) reached the Tribe’s executive secretary, Chantel Comardelle, via an emailed press release. The news hit her like a slap in the → Read More