Poverty and environmental discrimination

I re-read the article and listened to the video clip on Louisiana to refresh my mind for class today, and I'm not sure how to react to the happenings in Louisiana post-Katrina or the poverty levels in rural Kentucky. It's easy for me to say "get yourself out of there, move away", but that could not possibly be easy. The information on Kentucky is heart-breaking, especially the 88-year-old woman who can't even visit her sister because of her health problems, and the level of despair and premature death in these areas; to have such a short life-span in these areas when, as of September 15, 2006, the state with the highest life expectancy is Hawaii with 80.0 years, 66 seems very short. Looking at the chart, the state average for Kentucky is 75.2 years, ranked 42 out of 50 states and DC, and Georgia is ranked 41 at 75.3 years; knowing that and knowing the level of poverty in Kentucky makes me wonder what the poverty levels are like here. Also, the following link is for a NYTimes article on, well, the title is self-explanatory.

Gap in Life Expectancy Widens for the Nation


Then for the companies in Louisiana; the damage sounds irreparable to me. How do you purify that much water, a whole river? How do you undo that damage? The companies are certainly at fault, these things are called hazardous materials for a reason, and its not because you can drink them. To be so ignorant, to care that little about the environment, and to endanger those people living along the river, regardless of race, ethnicity, social status, eye color, education, it's just ignorant. I always hate to hear about improper disposal of chemicals because the world doesn't regenerate what humanity fucks up, excuse my language. It seems that for every one of us who cares, there's another 10 who don't and who will do these foolish things and ruin nature for everyone else. The way I see it, this planet won't be habitable (is that the right word?) forever, and humanity does a lot more damage than good.