Environmental activists in the Metro East and St. Louis have organized around similar issues for years.
They鈥檝e pushed for in the region鈥檚 and for how coal-fired power plants . Despite sharing many individual goals, local environmental groups largely confined their advocacy to their home state, with the Mississippi River acting as an informal barrier.
But now that鈥檚 changing, said Leah Clyburn of Beyond Coal in Missouri. She started working with other organizations in St. Louis on pollution, climate change and environmental justice about 18 months ago.
鈥淎s we started going deeper into the conversation, we got really clear that there鈥檚 no boundaries when it comes to pollution,鈥� Clyburn said. 鈥淭hat what happens here in Missouri lands on the backs, on the shoulders of people who live in Illinois.鈥�
The strategy now is to link similar experiences of people living in polluted communities no matter which state they reside in, Clyburn said.
鈥淎t the end of the day this is affecting way too many people and it鈥檚 not an isolated incident,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he only way we can actually get in front of it is coming together as one region and one voice of all races and representations to say, 鈥楴o more.鈥欌��
Other local environmental organizers agree.
鈥淲e鈥檙e working on the same types of issues, and separately we don鈥檛 have the power,鈥� said Virginia Woulfe-Beile of the Piasa Palisades Sierra Club in Alton. 鈥淲e鈥檙e stronger together, and it鈥檚 a lot about building power and getting political will.鈥�
Rally for cleaner air
One of the first results of this budding collaboration came
The specific location 鈥� nestled between majority-Black Metro East communities and their counterparts in north St. Louis and St. Louis County 鈥� was intentional, Woulfe-Beile said.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e both huge environmental justice areas that have been left behind for decades,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot to clean up, and we have to do that together.鈥�
Speakers from north St. Louis and East St. Louis shared their individual struggles with the region鈥檚 , .
鈥淣othing else matters if we can鈥檛 breathe,鈥� said St. Louis Ward 3 Alderman Brandon Bosley. 鈥淓very single breath we take in is killing us. My children have asthma, my sisters have asthma.鈥�
Bosley鈥檚 experience echoed stories of those living in East St. Louis.
鈥淥ppression takes many shapes and forms; it doesn鈥檛 have to be behind prison doors,鈥� said Pastor Norma Patterson of Good Shepherd Faith United Church of Christ. 鈥淥ppression is in the air when it鈥檚 time for you to go to sleep at night and you can鈥檛 breathe.鈥�
.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e been personally aware, and I think a lot of us on the St. Louis side haven鈥檛 been as aware, of what the challenges are on the East St. Louis side,鈥� said Sister Delores Sanchez, an environmental justice organizer with Metropolitan Congregations United in St. Louis.
That dynamic is different now that her organization has ties with United Congregations of Metro East, she said.
鈥淚t doubles our reach in terms of knowledge of what the issues are,鈥� Sanchez said. 鈥淎s we share information, we can gain more clarity and share ideas for how to approach situations or challenges that we might have.鈥�
The collaboration between the organizations is natural, said Mike Atty, United Congregations of Metro East executive director.
鈥淲e share the same air, the same waterways and the impact of pollution and climate change hurts us together like a one-two punch,鈥� Atty said. 鈥淚f one state fails, both states fail.鈥�
鈥楴o one鈥檚 listening鈥�
Sharing personal experiences with pollution is a way to build community between parts of the bi-state that have long been divided, Clyburn said.
鈥淲hen you find out that you鈥檙e not crazy and other people are feeling and seeing this too, that in itself is liberating,鈥� she said.
Clyburn has heard nearly identical stories from people living in rural and urban areas of Missouri who feel alone in their struggle with different forms of pollution.
鈥淪o often in our legislature folks are given dog whistles,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hether it is the stereotype of the 鈥榬edneck farmer鈥� to the 鈥榳elfare queen.鈥� But no one鈥檚 listening to either one.鈥�
The same dynamic repeated itself when she started working more closely with groups in Illinois, Clyburn said.
Organizing across state lines also builds clout for environmental groups and helps the St. Louis region speak with a unified voice when pushing for changes in Springfield, Jefferson City or locally, Woulfe-Beile said.
鈥淭he most compelling thing a lawmaker can hear is someone鈥檚 personal story,鈥� she said. 鈥淓ven if that story is about someone in Alton and we鈥檙e in Jefferson City, they still know we鈥檙e breathing that same air and we鈥檙e using that same water to sustain our lives.鈥�
Woulfe-Beile said she already feels power building from the fresh ties between groups in the Metro East and St. Louis and expects to leverage it for specific legislation or reform for certain industries.
鈥淚f we鈥檙e ever going to move away from fossil fuels, it鈥檚 got to be a huge collective effort because it is an uphill battle,鈥� she said.
Eric Schmid covers the Metro East for 漏 2024 外网天堂 as part of the journalism grant program: , an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.
