When restrictions on polluters can be worked around to the detriment of a community, those who step up are the voices of change.
Residents of Channelview, Texas, have grown increasingly concerned as the nearby LyondellBasell refinery plans to buy pollution credits to continue to expand, despite its history of releasing ozone-forming pollution.
What’s happening?
Pollution credits are designed to allow companies to reduce their pollution and earn credits, which they can then choose to sell to other companies. However, critics say some companies exploit them when shuttering plants profit from old permits, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Those living in and around Channelview are “most concerned about the accumulation of emissions on their doorsteps,” rather than the shutdown of a plant up to a few counties away…