In partnership with The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.

ProPublica, The Times-Picayune and The Advocate, Tulane Law School’s Center for Environmental Law and the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic are hosting a community forum to address the petrochemical industry’s rapid growth in Louisiana at a time when already-high toxic emissions in the state are rising.

The event will convene community organizers, advocates, environmental lawyers, elected officials and others facing environmental challenges in their communities to discuss how they can effectively prevent harmful emissions, protect air quality and safeguard their health.

While the threat of exposure to noxious chemicals is not new in Louisiana — the state has ranked No. 2 in toxic emissions, behind Texas, nearly every year since 1988 — a new investigative project by The Times-Picayune and The Advocate and ProPublica shows that exposure levels are on track to increase dramatically.

At “Fighting the Polluter’s Paradise: Taking Back Louisiana's Air,” expert panelists will discuss the successes and failures of grassroots efforts to stop the construction of industrial plants; how communities organizing around the state’s worsening air quality can use new data on environmental exposure to effect change; and other evidence-based strategies for increasing regulations, reducing emissions and protecting public health. Audience members will also be invited to share questions and insights.

Refreshments will be served.

This event has ended.