Tim Kern

This research aimed to highlight the environmental degradation experienced by coastal communities in southern Louisiana as a result of petrochemical industrial activity. This study investigated residents of Lafourche Parish and other surrounding areas perceive the social, environmental and economic impacts of the fossil fuel industry and how these processes contribute to community vulnerability. Flyers containing the researcher’s contact information have been distributed to recruit participants for short semi-structured interviews.

Using the codes such as environmental change, economic changes, community, tension, health, education, political voice, and identity, I emersed myself into the transcribed interviews to analyze residents’ perceptions of environmental injustice and community vulnerability. That allows me to draw conclusions to how does the fossil fuel industry creates vulnerable communities in Southern Louisiana.