The Visionary Activist Radio Show

The cultivated Medicine of Kick-Butt ornery defiant effective creative dedication to protect what we love.

Caroline hosts long-time mega-ally, indefatigable Diane Wilson,
her spectacular hard won case against Formoso plastic, organizing on the Texas border for the children, parents, all of life…

www.texastribune.org/2019/06/28/federal-judge-rules-lawsuit-formosa-plastics-texas-pollution-case

Diane Wilson, a retired shrimper and an environmental activist, and San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper sued Formosa in July 2017. During the weeklong trial, which began in late March, the plaintiffs dragged in boxes full of thousands of milky white plastic they had painstakingly collected from Lavaca and Matagorda bays and Cox Creek with the help of volunteers.

“I have felt justice delivered and it’s a very rare feeling, and I’m having a hard time getting my head wrapped around what this feels like,” Wilson said Friday. “The judge saw us and he heard us.”

She said the next phase of the trial, in which penalties will be determined, is likely to take place in September.

The plaintiffs are seeking $162 million — $104,828 for every day Formosa was out of compliance with state and federal environmental permits and laws that require companies to report such violations. Any penalties would go toward cleanup costs.”

VICTORIA, Texas— A federal judge in Texas on Thursday found Formosa Plastics liable for polluting Texas waterways with billions of plastic pellets from its plant in Point Comfort. The Taiwanese company is currently seeking permits to build an even larger plastic-making plant along the Mississippi River in St. James Parish, La., a project strongly opposed by local residents and national conservation groups.

Former shrimper Diane Wilson from Texas and the San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper sued Formosa after extensively documenting the plastic pellets and powders the company discharged for years into Cox Creek, Lavaca Bay and other nearby waterways. The trial now moves into the remedy and penalty phase, with Formosa facing fines of up to $184 million.

“We showed how recklessly Formosa Plastics pollutes our waterways and communities. The plastics industry clearly needs stronger regulations and oversight,” said Diane Wilson of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper, the lead plaintiff in the successful civil lawsuit over plastic pollution from the Point Comfort, Texas plant. “As a former shrimper, I know how plastic pollution threatens seafood and other vital industries. And as someone who spent years documenting this plastic pollution, I think it’s time for the federal government to regulate this industry properly.”

“Diane Wilson, a fourth-generation shrimper, began fishing the bays off the Gulf Coast of Texas at the age of eight. By 24 she was a boat captain. In 1989, while running her brother’s fish house at the docks and mending nets, she read a newspaper article that listed her home of Calhoun County as the number one toxic polluter in the country. She set up a meeting in the town hall to discuss what the chemical plants were doing to the bays and thus began her life as an environmental activist. Threatened by thugs and despised by her neighbors, Diane insisted the truth be told and that Formosa Plastics stop dumping toxins into the bay.

Her work on behalf of the people and aquatic life of Seadrift, Texas, has won her a number of awards including: National Fisherman Magazine Award, Mother Jones’s Hell Raiser of the Month, Louis Gibbs’ Environmental Lifetime Award, Louisiana Environmental Action (LEAN) Environmental Award, Giraffe Project, Jenifer Altman Award, and the Bioneers Award. She is co-founder of Code Pink and continues to lead the fight for social justice.

Offering as pledge enticement to contribute to KPFA/Visionary Activist Show.
Molly Bang’s “Nobody Particular”

From a renowned author/illustrator; a bold, daring, non-fiction picture book that tells the true story of one woman’s fight to protect her environment.

Sometimes we have to take a stand and do what’s right. That’s what Diane Wilson thinks. An independent shrimper in Texas, she ekes out a living in the same waters that her family has worked hard in for generations. When Diane learns that the chemical plants in Texas give out more pollution than in any other state, she decides to stop them.

One woman against a powerful industry is not much of a fair fight, but Diane educates herself, lobbies, protests, writes letters, and never gives up. Based on real events, this is an inspiring, heartfelt story of one woman’s struggle to take a stand against injustice and indifference.

Award-winning author/illustrator Molly Bang has created a compelling narrative, told inventively through a series of black and white graphic panels set against a richly colored gouache background.

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Medicine of Kick-Butt

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