Photos and stories of communities impacted by the oil and gas industry
The Environmental Integrity Project teamed up with the International League of Conservation Photographers to tell stories of families and communities faced with the ever expanding oil and gas industry. In southwest Pennsylvania, individuals whose lives are impacted by fracking have banded together to wage grassroots, on-the-ground campaigns to protect their families and communities from health concerns, financial difficulties, and the degradation of their landscapes. Further away, southeast Texas has become riddled with refineries and “downstream” facilities needed to convey, process, and distribute oil and gas. While the expansion of industry has promised economic development, communities have instead been burdened with economic downturns and devastating health problems.
The Human Cost of Energy Production aspires to bring heightened awareness of the conditions in which those impacted by energy productive live, work, and play. All of the individuals featured are warriors: they’re fighting to protect their health, preserve their homes and farms, and reclaim their communities.
Photos by Karen Kasmauski and Garth Lenz of the International League of Conservation Photographers.
