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Chemical Transportation Risk and Safety

tschuetz

In April 2024, Formosa Plastics Corp. USA was among 137 companies to receive the 2023 Pinnacle Award by the Union Pacific Railroad for "safe shipping of hazardous materials". The transport company honors cusotmers that "release prevention protocols, corrective action plans and have zero non-accident releases of regulated hazardous materials shipments". 

Meanwhile, journalists at the Intercept have followed how in the aftermath of the East Palestine train disaster, lobbyists have both weakened rail safety (Thakker 2023) and supported the buildout of toxic polyvinylchloride (PVC) production (Mitchell 20232024). The latter includes Formosa Plastics planned expansions in Louisiana's St. James Parish.

TCEQ's 1-mile rule

tschuetz

"The “1-mile rule”: Texas’ unwritten, arbitrary policy protects big polluters from citizen complaints. It’s not found anywhere in state law or the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s rules, but for years the agency has denied citizens the ability to challenge air pollution permits because they live more than a mile away." (Baddour 2023)

Diane Wilson's writing

tschuetz

Throughout her 30-year career, Diane Wilson has been a prolific author, having published several books (Wilson 2005; 2011) that have been highly regarded by scholars of feminist and environmental literature (Poe 2013; Thornber 2014; Aming-Hong 2022). Wilson's book, An Unreasonable Woman (2005), has been praised by Karen Thornber (2014), an ecocritical writer who has noted that the book highlights the "global consequences of local and national behaviors" and can "work to change consciousness in the absence of public policy" (Thornber 2014, 991). Moreover, literature scholar Heidi Amin-Hong (2022) has argued that Wilson's "documentary aesthetics" demonstrate how Formosa's pollution of Vietnamese waters is part of a longer history of pollution caused by militarized projects across transpacific geographies, ranging from Vietnam to Taiwan and Texas (Aming-Hong 2022, 1). According to Amin-Hong, Wilson's use of dialogue "decenters individual authority in favor of collective knowledge gathering and communal action" (Aming-Hong 2022, 6).

Matagorda Bay Fishing Cooperative

tschuetz

"[Formosa Plastics] paid $50 million in a consent decree to create the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust. The money is spread across environmental restoration and protection projects to mitigate the effects of decades of pollution. It also establishes the Matagorda Bay Fishing Cooperative to help shrimpers and fishers and oyster harvesters revitalize local seafood businesses." 

Source: https://capitalandmain.com/hellcat-big-oil-great-grandmother-is-fightin…

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xiaox

This article are main to referre to the Haiti's government, United Nations and USAID. Haiti's government is continuing political turmoil, and it influenced the organisation for the rebuilding after the earthquake. The government exploits the donation for children vaccination rates and HIV treatment in post disaster. These actions and auttitudes break the deals between other organisations' supporting. Due to these reasons, U.N. persuade member nations to reduce the supporting. Therefore, the restore after the disaster and cholera are so slow. USAID is United States agency for international development, and it has donated Haiti $1.5 billion since earthquake, but Haiti's people are not really can get the support.

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xiaox

The artical shows the political and government really influence the people's health and emergency. Haiti's government disappointed all the other oganisations and it makes the restore difficult after the eaarthquake and cholera epidemic. The artical descrpites the situation and fact in the 5 years after the disaster. In addition, the reactions of the involved organisations such as United Nations are shows the problem and the result that where the money go. There are also applied examples to support why the donation are not final go to the Haiti's people, and Haiti's government is deal-killer. Apart from this, the artical shows if there are not enough economic fund and medical supporting after disaster, there might be a epidemic comes up, and make the situation worse. All the donation and support are should be in good organisation to help people and rebuild the environment.

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xiaox

The government should organise all the source and fund for the disaster. Using good political to communicate with other nations and organisation who offer the supporting. Make sure the people get help such as money, food and water. As well as help people get back confident to government, therefore the government need to manage the sources in suitable areas. Medical supporting and equipment are offered for more saving and treatment. To provide the epidemic comes up post disaster, the government and organisations should be care about the weather, environment and other circumstances. If Haiti's government can help people get the supporting on fundings and others, it can really make the Haiti's restore and control the cholera epidemic. In addtion, it might can bring the confident from U.N. and other organisations.

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Sara_Nesheiwat

The purpose of this program is to help instill into nurses, doctors, social workers and more with the ability to mix their clinical practice with the ability to interpret, recognize and be moved by stories of illness according to their mission statement. This program is for those that want to improve the effectiveness of their care by increasing their familiarity with the skill of narrative medicine. 

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Sara_Nesheiwat

Columbia University was one of the first medical schools to open a program in Narrative Medicine. This program was built within their College of Physicians and Surgeons. Rita Charon is the executive director of the program and is on the forefront of spreading the need for narrative medicine in the medical field. Colleagues of hers also believe that medicine has become too professional and clinical, and doctors focus on treating medical problems based off symptoms, not the patient. The educational program at Columbia created the opportunity to earn a Masters of Science degree in Narrative Medicine in 2009, making to one of the first programs devoted to only narrative medicine.