{"id":82932,"date":"2026-03-11T12:57:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T16:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=82932"},"modified":"2026-03-11T12:57:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T16:57:53","slug":"activist-goes-on-hunger-strike-to-fight-corporate-contributions-to-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/activist-goes-on-hunger-strike-to-fight-corporate-contributions-to-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Activist Goes on Hunger Strike to Fight Corporate Contributions to Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Climate-change activist Diane Wilson is fighting against companies polluting waters near her Texas home – and she’s willing to starve for the cause. (Credit: Diane Wilson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Climate change<\/a> activist Diane Wilson hasn\u2019t eaten for weeks \u2013 as an act of protest<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson \u2013 who has been fighting against corporate contributions to current climate woes for years<\/a>, and who has garnered distinctions for her activism, such as the Goldman Prize<\/a> \u2013 embarked upon a hunger strike on March 2 as a public demonstration against the Dow Chemical Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The multinational corporation has urged lawmakers<\/a> in Texas to permit the discharge of microplastics from its Seadrift-based operations into nearby waters that feed into both San Antonio Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Wilson, who has lived in Seadrift for her entire life, launched a public hunger strike to counter that request.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n 10 Women Who Have Led the Fight Against Climate Change\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cFor decades, plastic pellets called \u2018nurdles\u2019 have been flowing from this plant into our waterways \u2013 ending up in our bay, on our shorelines, and in the fish, birds and oysters that call these waters home,\u201d Wilson said in a statement, adding that through the research efforts of she and others, \u201c107 pounds of plastic pellets\u201d were discovered nearby. \u201cThat\u2019s not \u2018trace amounts.\u2019 That\u2019s reckless disregard. That\u2019s \u2018We don\u2019t care.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She continued: \u201cThat is why I am so enraged by the cavalier and unspeakable reckless language in Dow\u2019s new wastewater permit \u2013 Dow is asking Texas to legalize plastic pollution from its Seadrift facility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem of microplastic contamination extends well beyond U.S. waterways. Research estimates<\/a> that between 82 and 358 trillion plastic particles, weighing up to 4.9 million tons, are currently floating in oceans around the world. And ingesting these pollutants is harmful<\/a> for all living creatures, experts say \u2013 including humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Louisiana, which borders on Texas, fellow activist Sharon Lavigne<\/a> says she\u2019s living proof of this. She joined the climate-change fight after being diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, which she blames on nearby pollution. It\u2019s why she launched RISE St. James, a grassroots environmental organization that aims to limit harm done by nearby petrochemical plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her message in founding the nonprofit is simple: \u201cStop building all these industries that\u2019s poisoning us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson, in that same spirit, is now determined to turn the (metaphorical) tide for Texans \u2013 even if it means starving.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Related<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n \n
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The award-winning Diane Wilson has refused to eat for weeks now, in protest of a proposal to legalize water pollution by a company with operations in her hometown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":82933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"Climate-change activist Diane Wilson is fighting against companies polluting waters near her Texas home - and she's willing to starve for the 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