undefined | Better HN

0 pointsmunificent9d ago0 comments

I grew up in Louisiana in Cancer Alley[1]. At night, we rarely got to see stars because the flares gave the sky an orange glow.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_Alley

0 comments

fuzzfactor9d ago

You might have smelled Baton Rouge before the Clean Air Act of 1990 kicked in.

And that was long after the emission cutbacks of the 1970's had taken place, back when it was really rank. But the EPA had not been around very long at that early point.

Driving across the state of Louisiana you could feel better stopping to nap in the car for a few hours in a far-away mosquito-infested rest stop next to a low-lying bayou during a flash-flood warning, rather than get a hotel room in the state capital, it smelled so toxic.

Don't ask me how I know . . .

encrypted_bird1d ago

I know you said not to, but I am genuinely curious, so here goes: how do you know? (I want to hear the story!)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse