‘Something’s got to happen’: Former Vice President Al Gore speaks at Cancer Alley United event

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore joined environmental advocates for an event called “Cancer Alley United: Rise For Our Lives Before We Die” in St. James Parish near the Mississippi River and the Sunshine Bridge.

Gore, the founder and chair of The Climate Reality Project, was among several speakers attending the RISE St. James community fair and mass revival held at Shekinah Glory Christian Fellowship Church, which is located close to the Ascension Parish line in the Donaldsonville area.

Following eight years as vice president under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001, Gore was the Democratic nominee for president in the 2000 election, which he ultimately lost to President George W. Bush.

After his vice presidency ended, he remained a prominent environmental activist.

Notably, Gore wrote and starred in An Inconvenient Truth, a 2006 documentary film focused on his campaign to educate about climate change.

Standing roughly a stone’s throw from the river’s west bank levee, the speakers decried the petrochemical industry along the 85-mile stretch from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, blaming it for ongoing health and environmental challenges in nearby southeastern Louisiana communities.

“Something’s got to happen,” Gore said. “The laws and the regulations have been twisted. They’ve been taken over. They’re not working for us. They’re not working for you, who live here.”

He went on to point out that an industry-supporting group put out a message warning to beware of outside agitators.

Gore then playfully took a bow, which drew applause from some in the audience.

“Speaking of outside agitators, is Formosa from Donaldsonville?” he said. “Is Exxon Mobil right behind the Grapevine? Shell Oil. Are they from here or are they outside agitators? They’re outside polluters. They’re the ones that took sportsman’s paradise and turned it into cancer alley.”

As the event was near the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall in Louisiana, Gore recalled that he was headed to New Orleans at that time in 2005 to give a speech on climate change for a gathering of insurance commissioners from all 50 states.

“Of course, it was canceled because of climate change, the cause of the hurricane hitting,” he said.

Gore then went on to point out floods, droughts and fires throughout the world.

“Every night on the TV news it’s like a nature hike through the Book of Revelation,” he said. “I used to use examples from ten years ago and 20 years ago, now I say yesterday, last night and last week. And it’s getting much worse.”

Gore also showed maps of the area, including one with the chemicals and petrochemicals produced along the river.

Some of the maps he displayed overlayed pollution data.

“That causes death!” Gore exclaimed while an animation showed pollution spreading along the river corridor. “It causes disease. It causes heartbreak.”

He also briefly mentioned the planned industrial corridor called the RiverPlex MegaPark.

Located in the Modeste area between Donaldsonville and White Castle, a total of more than $17 billion in new facilities have been announced for the zone.

“And now they want to condemn 17,000 acres on the west side of the river to make room for yet another massive new industrial park,” Gore said.

A week prior, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry visited Donaldsonville and touted the economic development announced during his first 18 months in office, including the Hyundai Steel mill planned for the west bank industrial park.

All major local officials, including state senators and representatives, as well as city and parish leaders attended the event with the governor, which was hosted by the Donaldsonville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Baton Rouge Industrial Group.

No local political officials appeared to be in attendance for Gore’s speech.

“The scientists who warned us about these hurricanes getting stronger, and the floods getting bigger, and the droughts getting worse, and the fires getting out of control, and the ice melting and millions of climate refugees, they were right when they warned us 30 years ago,” he said. “People didn’t believe them, but everything they’ve said has turned out to be on the money.”

Gore went on to say the climate crisis is “a fossil fuel crisis, just as cancer alley is a petrochemical fossil fuel crisis.”

“It’s unacceptable in American democracy for citizens to not pay attention when their neighbors, much less their family members, are threatened as the people in these communities are being threatened,” he said. “Now is the time to speak out and to insist that we have a significant set of changes.”

As he wound to a close, Gore said he felt as though he has failed.

“I’ve been doing this for 50 years,” he said. “It’s the kind of burden when you pick it up, you can’t put it back down.”

He then offered what he called good news.

“We have everything we need to solve this,” he said. “We have the technologies to replace what they are using all the fossil fuels for now.”

He also suggested to “stop subsidizing and giving public money to the polluters,” which drew applause.

“Do we have sufficient political will?” he asked. “Are we too distracted? Are we unfaithful servants? Can we focus? Can we connect? Not just tonight, not just this evening, but going forward. Can we find new ways to organize?”

Gore concluded by saying “the alternative is unthinkable and unacceptable.”

“For those who say we just don’t have enough political will, I’ll tell you this,” he said. “Political will is a renewable resource. You watch it.”

Gonzales Weekly Citizen and Donaldsonville Chief, part of the USA Today Network of Louisiana, cover Ascension Parish and the greater Baton Rouge area. Follow at facebook.com/WeeklyCitizen and facebook.com/DonaldsonvilleChief.