$36 Million in Health Impacts Suffered by Texas & Louisiana Communities
NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 — Citi’s funding of nearby liquefied methane gas projects (LNG) is directly impacting the lives and health of families in Texas and Louisiana, a new report reveals. The report, *Citi: Funding Fossil-Fueled Environmental Racism in the Gulf South*, uses data analysis and community stories to quantify the projected health impacts the facilities’ permitted air pollution could have on the region.
“I have witnessed firsthand the devastating impacts of environmental racism,” said Roishetta Ozane, Co-Director of the Gulf South Fossil Finance Hub. “When Citi and other banks fund fossil fuels, they are complicit in the chronic health conditions that stem from these facilities’ pollution. Citi must prioritize the wellbeing of marginalized communities and stop funding the fossil fuel industry’s injustice.”
The report contradicts Citi’s claims of advancing racial equity and climate action. Since 2016, the bank has been the largest global funder of fossil fuel expansion, financing projects and companies in communities of color that cause dangerous health impacts. The report concludes that Citi is perpetuating environmental racism.
“As a lifelong Port Arthurian, I’ve seen this community go from life to death due to Citi’s destruction!” Reginald Trainer, with the Port Arthur Community Action Network said. “Race plays a big part of that. I believe it and I can see it. Citi is responsible for the part it’s played in harming our community.”
The dataset estimates the real-world impacts associated with Citi’s funding of LNG terminals operating and under construction in low-income communities of color in Texas and Louisiana. By providing at least $1.6 billion in direct financing to the four LNG export terminals, this analysis estimates that Citi could be attributed with the following annual impacts related to the facilities’ permitted air pollution:
- 2.3 premature deaths
- $36 million in health costs
- 10 cases of childhood asthma onset
- 26 MMT CO2e/yr
The analysis indicates that, over 35 years, Citi could be responsible for as many as 80.5 premature deaths related to the air pollution from these projects.
“Ongoing fossil fuel extraction continues to destroy Indigenous lands all over the Global South and in communities of color here in Texas and Louisiana. CitiBank doesn’t care how many communities, sacred sites, or ecosystems they destroy as long as they make their money,” Dr. Christopher Basaldú of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe said.
In addition to the data, the report focuses on three communities in the Gulf South that are actively resisting Citi’s financing of projects in their areas. These case studies highlight the human cost of living near polluting facilities and the courage of community leaders who challenge corporations and their financial backers.
“Citi’s lack of regard for people, especially Black Americans, as they continue to finance petrochemicals in these communities just emphasizes their environmentally racist tendencies,” Shamell Lavigne, Chief Operating Officer of RISE St. James said. “St. James Parish has been a safe haven for me, my family and our community for generations. But Citi continues to enable companies like Formosa Plastics to pollute and harm us without accountability.”
SOURCE Stand.earth