Contact: Bryan Parras, TEJAS, 713.303.5811, lucas77@gmail.com
Stephenie Hendricks 415 258-9151 stephdh@earthlink.net
January 18, 2011
Toxic Chemicals Around Us: Texans at Risk
Texas Politicians Attack Environmental Health Protections
A conversation with EPA Region 6 Administrator and environmental health advocates about the hidden dangers of chemical pollution in our state
January 19, 6pm CST, 7pm EST, Broadcast Live on KPFT Houston, 90.1fm, and live on www.kpft.org
(Houston) Why did a Corpus Christi woman stand up at the White House last month and loudly demand protection from the Obama administration? Why, for the same reason, did a Hollywood actor give up his career and return home to take on the biggest fight of all in Port Arthur? What drove a Gulf Coast fisherwoman to sink her fishing boat on top of a plume pouring deadly dioxin into Galveston Bay? How did a Houston man use a school to organize communities impacted by chemical contamination and fight for policy to make healthier communities in the dirtiest city in the nation?
All of these heroes will be telling their stories and showing how chemical pollution has no boundaries, that all Texans are threatened by the chemical stew that pervades the state. But another big question now is why are the Governor of Texas and Texas Congresspersons attacking the Environmental Protection Agency regulations to protect our health when the people of Texas are already sick from pollution?
January 19, 2011
New Living
6111 Kirby
Houston
Free Admission
6pm - 7pm CST, 7pm – 8pm EST, 4pm – 5pm PST
Featuring:
Al Armendariz, EPA Region 6 Administrator
Juan Parras, founder of the non-profit organization Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS), Houston
Hilton Kelley, founder/CEO, Community In-power and Development Association Inc
(CIDA) Port Arthur
Diane Wilson, author of “An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, And the Fight for Seadrift, Texas.”
Neal Carman, PhD, environmental scientist, Sierra Club, Austin
Moderated by Leo Gold, host of KPFT’s New Capital Radio Program
Administrator Armendariz will tell the story of Texas politicians attacking EPA rules to protect environmental health. Parras, Kelley, Wilson, and Carman will be telling their stories, and sharing information about what all Texans can do to deal with 82,000 unregulated chemicals in the marketplace, and how to identify and cope with the rising rates of illnesses linked to this ubiquitous chemical exposure and about the Safe Chemicals Act, federal legislation that was introduced last year to address the antiquated laws that govern the regulation of industrial chemicals
Event co-producer Juan Parras is founder of the non-profit organization Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS), a non-profit dedicated to providing community members with the tools necessary to create sustainable, environmentally healthy communities by educating individuals on health concerns and implications arising from environmental pollution, empowering individuals with an understanding of applicable environmental laws and regulations and promoting their enforcement, and offering community building skills and resources for effective community action and greater public participation.
In addition to Juan Parras, event producers include Jeff Kaplan with New Living, and Anne Robertson with New Conscious Capital. New Living is a store that specializes in sustainable building materials and other environmentally healthy products and believes that everyone deserves healthy, safe, clean spaces. New Living seeks to extend this right, while having a direct economic, social, and environmental impact on our community.
New Conscious Capital is a newly formed Texas LLC whose purpose is to raise capital and awareness for companies that are providing solutions to some of our most pressing social and environmental problems.
For more information: www.newliving.net http://www.tejasbarrios.org
Stephenie Hendricks
415 258-9151
