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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s early life was overshadowed by the murder of his father.</li><li>He later struggled with a drug addiction.</li></ul>Robert F. Kennedy's children have spent a lifetime trying to add their marks to their slain father's legacy. They made history in public service, followed his footsteps into Congress, and contributed to an Academy Award-nominated documentary. Like their relatives born into the generation after Camelot, some struggled to shake <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kennedy-family-tragedies-curse-assassinations-plane-crashes-2023-3">the tinge of tragedy and scandal</a> that continues to hang around the famous family.Robert F. Kennedy's namesake has seen all elements of this journey.The first Kennedy to run for the presidency in decades,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-robert-f-kennedy-rfk-jr-2023-7"> Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</a> is doing so without the family's well-documented loyalty. Instead, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kennedy-family-members-who-oppose-rfk-jr-campaign-2024-2024-4">some of his siblings </a>have begged him to drop out. For years, they have worried, in increasingly public ways, that he's eroding the foundation of why the nation reveres them so much in the first place.<h2 id="bbfa73a4-629f-45ee-a9a7-1f394f9295e7">The son of the expected next Kennedy president.</h2>Born into privilege in 1954, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was raised between Massachusetts and suburban Virginia estates. He took an early interest in the outdoors, an affinity aided by the menagerie of animals kept at Hickory Hill, the family's McLean, Virginia mansion. He was the third of the 11 eventual children born to RFK and<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rfk-widow-says-assassin-sirhan-sirhan-should-not-get-parole-2021-9"> Ethel Kennedy.</a>He was asleep in his dorm at Georgetown Preparatory School on June 5, 1968, when a priest awoke him. He wasn't told what was happening, only that a ride would soon take him back to Hickory Hill. At the family home, he was told his dad had been shot the night before. He, Kathleen, and Joseph P. II flew out on Vice President Hubert Humphery's plane in a rush to be by their father's side.Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was later a pallbearer at his father's funeral, joined by Astronaut John Glenn and former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara.<div type="image" title="Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (front right) helps carry his father's casket" height="686" width="1024" msid="110340066" hostid="261" sizebytes="53690"></div>The 14-year-old never returned to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/georgetown-prep-school-brett-kavanaugh-neil-gorsuch-2018-8">Georgetown Prep</a>, which now counts two Supreme Court justices and multiple lawmakers among its influential alumni. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. bounced between three private schools before graduating from high school. At Millbrook School in New York, he briefly kept a lion cub gifted to him by former "Tonight Show" host Jack Paar. Kennedy was forced to find a new home for the animal, aptly named Mtoto Mbaya, "Boy Boy" in Swahili, after a string of incidents, including when it bit the backside of the school's zoo keeper, according to "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream," an unauthorized 2015 biography. It wasn't the animal that got him kicked out.Kennedy had begun to use drugs and not just marijuana, according to the 2015 book. Officials became increasingly concerned that they would be held responsible if another Kennedy died on their watch. Years later, Kennedy would tell Oprah that the source of his drug problems didn't truly matter. He viewed his problems more as being a product of the 1960s. Whatever the reason, his drug use would lead to repeated brushes with the law.<h2 id="1c32ab07-7e3c-4741-924b-27f9890e54ef">Kennedy graduates from Harvard, but drug use continues to hang over him.</h2>After graduating from high school, Kennedy attended Harvard, the alma mater of his father, uncle, and grandfather. Like JFK, RFK Jr. would see his senior thesis turned into a book. Unfortunately for him, reviewers reacted harshly to the tome about federal judge Frank M. Johnson Jr., whose rulings played a major role in the Civil Rights movement.After briefly attending the London School of Economics, Kennedy graduated from the University of Virginia Law School. While in Charlottesville, Kennedy met his first wife, Emily Black. Their wedding in Black's native Bloomington, Indiana, received international coverage as the Midwesterner joined the nation's foremost political family. The couple had two children together.<div type="image" title="Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is seen on his first wedding day" height="690" width="1024" msid="110340067" hostid="261" sizebytes="29434"></div>He filed for divorce in 1994 in the Dominican Republic, taking advantage of a local law that allows foreigners to file for divorce there and potentially trying to avoid media scrutiny.In March 1982, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, whom JFK had previously appointed to lead the famous Southern District of New York, hired RFK Jr. as an assistant district attorney. The famous son's first brush with politics in New York, the state his father represented in the US Senate, did not go well. Kennedy struggled to pass the bar exam. He resigned in July 1983.Months later, Kennedy would spark his largest legal scandal. While on the way to receive treatment in South Dakota for his addiction, a fellow passenger found him sick in an airplane's bathroom. Local authorities later found a small amount of heroin in his belongings. He faced up to two years in prison, according to The New York Times. Kennedy was sentenced to probation and community service.<h2 id="fd42bb34-5aa3-47c5-ab6e-4b6d3d6503c6">Kennedy found a new advocacy after his lowest moment.</h2>Kennedy's lowest moment led to his greatest reinvention. As part of his community service, he worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council and was later connected with the Hudson River Fishermen's Association. Robert Boyle, founder of the New York environmental group, began to mentor Kennedy. The organization already had notched major legal victories, but Kennedy's star power would help take it to new heights.He was so committed to his new career that in 1994, he married Mary Richardson, a longtime friend of his sister Kerry Kennedy, aboard a ship on the Hudson River.<div type="image" title="Robert F. Kennedy Jr. poses for a photo with actress Glenn Close in front of the Hudson River" height="717" width="1024" msid="110340068" hostid="261" sizebytes="62120"></div>But his relationship with Boyle did not last. His mentor later recalled that he was less than thrilled about the celebrities Kennedy soon brought onto the organization's board. He also chafed at his former protegé's other actions, particularly Kennedy's decision to hire a scientist named William Wegner. Kennedy defended hiring Wegner, who had served time in federal prison, saying that giving him a second chance was the right thing to do. Boyle was incensed given that Wegener was sentenced over his connections to a<a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/02/robert-f-kennedy-jr-rfk-riverkeeper-egg-smuggler/"> bird smuggling ring</a>. Boyle and seven other officials later resigned from Riverkeeper's board in protest."I think he's a despicable person," Boyle told Kennedy's unauthorized biographer in 2014. Boyle's children recently told The Washington Post that his father later couldn't even bear looking at the Hudson as it was too much of a reminder of Kennedy's betrayal.As for Kennedy, his environmental advocacy became the foundation of his fame. In 1999, Time Magazine named Kennedy one of its "Heroes for the Planet" as part of a series of reports on leading environmentalists.While gaining fame, Kennedy began to notice problems with his voice. He recently told The Los Angeles Times that he was 42 when he first noticed the problem. Kennedy was later diagnosed with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-rfk-jr-voice-raspy-cause-spasmodic-dysphonia-2023-8">spasmodic dysphonia</a>, a rare neurological condition that affects muscles in one's voice box.In 2010, Kennedy filed for divorce from Richardson, the mother of four of his six children. Two years later, she died by suicide at the couple's former Bedford estate.<h2 id="0bc52c2f-eeb4-43c1-b871-bc5e8352a934">After years of environmentalism, Kennedy became the face of anti-vaccine advocacy.</h2>After decades of environmental advocacy, Kennedy prepared to make his most controversial turn. In his retelling, mothers began to approach him at events to question whether vaccines had affected their children.In 2005, Kennedy wrote a piece for Salon and Rolling Stone that is now regarded as establishing him as a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.statnews.com/2017/01/10/kennedy-vaccine-book/">major player in spreading vaccine skepticism</a>. Despite his claims of a major conspiracy over a mercury-based preservative that had already been "removed from all childhood vaccines except for some variations of the flu vaccine in 2001," according to STAT. Within days, Salon, which published the piece online, issued five corrections. In 2011, the site decided to retract the article entirely.In 2014, Kennedy married the actress <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/robert-kennedy-jr-net-worth-cheryl-hines-15-million-2023-8">Cheryl Hines,</a> best known for her co-starring role in the Larry David-led "Curb Your Enthusiasm."One year later, Kennedy joined the World Health Defense Fund. He continued to be involved with Riverkeeper, but his anti-vaccine advocacy overwhelmed his public persona.Kennedy's name fueled his rise in the movement, which drew on the credibility of his environmentalism and his famous family. In turn, the now-presidential hopeful began to cobble together what the Associated Press would later deem <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/how-rfk-jr-built-anti-vaccine-juggernaut-amid-covid-4997be1bcf591fe8b7f1f90d16c9321e#">"an anti-vaccine juggernaut"</a> that he deployed when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived.

How RFK Kennedy Jr. turned from tragedy and tumult to environmentalism before becoming the face of vaccine skepticism

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A power outage halted production at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-gigafactory">Tesla's gigafactory</a> in Germany. </li><li>Workers were sent home from the plant near Berlin, the company told German newspaper Bild. </li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> took aim at a militant group that claimed responsibility for a fire which halted production at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla">Tesla</a>'s German factory on Tuesday.The far-left "Volcano Group" set fire to an electricity pylon near the plant that caused a power cut, they said in a letter posted on website <a target="_blank" href="http://kontrapolis.info">kontrapolis.info</a>."We sabotaged Tesla today," the activists claimed. "Our gift for March 8th is to shut down Tesla."They said in the letter that Tesla "consumes earth, resources, people, workers and in return spits out 6,000 SUVs, killer cars and monster trucks each week."<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1764998660406845620">Musk said on X</a>: "These are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they're puppets of those who don't have good environmental goals. Stopping production of electric vehicles, rather than fossil fuel vehicles, ist extrem dumm."Police were notified about the burning pylon at about 5:15 a.m. local time on Tuesday, and firefighters were dispatched, a Brandenburg police spokesperson told Business Insider. An investigation into the suspected arson was ongoing.Employees on the night shift were <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bild.de/regional/berlin/berlin-aktuell/tesla-bei-berlin-kein-strom-nach-brand-anschlag-87401096.bild.html">evacuated from the factory</a> in nearby Grünheide, Bild reported. Tesla told the newspaper it did not expect to resume production quickly following a consultation with energy provider E.DIS. The power-grid operator Stromnetz Berlin said the Berlin districts of Müggelheim, Rahnsdorf, and parts of Neukölln were <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dw.com/en/germany-police-probe-attack-as-tesla-production-halted/a-68440976">affected by outages, DW reported</a>. About 2,000 households were without power. Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.The EV maker's plans to expand its only manufacturing plant in Europe <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/21/german-town-votes-against-tesla-plans-to-expand-gigafactory-carmake-industrial-action-sweden">hit a snag last month</a> as a majority of Grünheide residents voted against the proposals, The Guardian reported. Tesla told the publication at the time that it would now "seek dialogue with all participants to decide on further steps."Environmental activists protesting the plans started occupying the forest near the factory last Wednesday, DW reported. They planned to camp in the forest for a week in a bid to block Tesla's expansion of its gigafactory. The expansion would mean clearing over 100 hectares of forest, the outlet added. Production at the Grünheide plant was also temporarily <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-pauses-germany-production-red-sea-militant-attacks-2024-1">brought to a standstill </a>in January because of militant attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. The pause took place from January 29 to February 11, Reuters reported.

Elon Musk hits out at 'eco-terrorists' who claimed responsibility for arson attack near Tesla's German gigafactory

<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-planet"></a><div type="image" title="Myrtle Felton, Sharon Lavigne, Gail LeBoeuf and Rita Cooper, members of RISE St. James, stand in protest on property owned by Formosa, March 11, 2020." height="3456" width="5184" msid="102399801" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>"Cancer Alley" is an 85-mile stretch of land in Louisiana dotted with petrochemical plants.</li><li>Black residents living in the area have a disproportionate lifetime cancer risk.</li><li>The EPA closed an investigation into the state's treatment of Black residents there after one year.</li></ul>When <a href="https://www.insider.com/sharon-lavigne-cancer-alley-goldman-environment-prize-formosa-plant-2021-6">Sharon Lavigne</a> was in school in the 1960s, the residents of St. James Parish in Louisiana proudly welcomed the first petrochemical plant in the neighborhood, she said."We all thought it was wonderful," Lavigne told Insider. "People say they're going to have jobs." But that plant gave way to another, and then another, and then another. In the decades since, the area has been <a href="https://www.insider.com/environmental-racism-examples-united-states-2020-8">environmentally devastated</a> by the rise of petrochemical plants, which have brought with them unprecedented levels of pollution. Today, Lavigne said, she estimates she knows 40 to 50 people who have had health complications due to what she believes are the effects of the heavy industrialization."Once, I began writing down all the names in one place, but I stopped because there were so many," Lavigne said. She remembered a classmate with liver cancer and a friend with stage 4 bone cancer.The region Lavigne lives in, which has been given the moniker <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/louisiana-cancer-alley-photos-oil-refineries-chemicals-pollution-2019-11">Cancer Alley</a>, is part of an 85-mile stretch of land between Baton Rouge and New Orleans dotted with petrochemical plants and other industrial operations. In parts of the area, residents' lifetime cancer risk is up to <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/toxmap/#hotspot/2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">47 times</a> the US Environmental Protection Agency's acceptable standard, ProPublica found.And this risk is disproportionately higher for the region's Black residents."We are being poisoned, and it's genocide," Lavigne said. "We die slowly."<div type="image" title="A family leaves Sunday church services surrounded by chemical plants in October of 1998 in Lions, Louisiana along 'Cancer Alley.'" height="3558" width="4744" msid="102399803" hostid="261"></div><h2>A dangerous precedent</h2>Last year, as the founder of the advocacy group Rise St. James, Lavigne filed a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-06/04R-22-R6%20Complaint%20Redacted.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">complaint with the EPA regarding Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964</a>, alongside the local organizations Inclusive Louisiana, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, and Stop the Wallace Grain Terminal. The complaint alleged that the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality discriminated against Black residents by issuing permits that authorized new industrial facilities.<a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/fcs/TitleVI-Overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Title VI</a> prohibits the federal government from providing funds to any program that has been found to discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Historically, these complaints have been ignored — in 2015, the Center for Public Integrity <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/environment/how-to-fix-the-epas-broken-civil-rights-office/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that 95% of Title VI complaints were rejected, dismissed, referred to other agencies, or informally resolved without an investigation.But the current EPA leadership has <a href="https://www.epa.gov/speeches/administrator-michael-regan-remarks-white-house-environmental-justice-advisory-council" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pledged</a> to enforce Title VI as a way of advancing environmental justice, going as far as <a href="https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-office-environmental-justice-and-external-civil-rights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launching</a> an Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.For a while, it seemed like residents' complaints were finally being heard. Last year, the EPA announced a critical civil-rights investigation into Louisiana, looking into whether the state had violated the rights of Black residents in Cancer Alley. EPA Administrator Michael Regan, the first Black man to head the agency, had traveled to Louisiana in 2021 to see life in the region firsthand, in a trip the EPA referred to as a "<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-environment-and-nature-new-orleans-race-and-ethnicity-mississippi-9f530f701cdac07a4b9bbf7540e326bc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">journey to justice</a>.""I distinctly remember standing on the grounds of a school that was a stone's throw away from a facility that manufactures toxic chemicals," Regan <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06042023/epa-chemical-plant-rules-michael-regan-cancer-alley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in April of this year, recalling his 2021 visit. "The children who attend that school, who study at that school, who eat lunch at that school every single day, look just like my son Matthew."<div type="image" title="Smoke billows from a chemical plant in the area along 'Cancer Alley', October 12, 2013." height="4912" width="7360" msid="102399805" hostid="261"></div>His visit brought renewed hope to residents, including Lavigne."I feel like he is trying to help us," Lavigne told Insider. "I have faith in him trying to help us."By October 2022, the EPA released the damning results of an <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-10/2022%2010%2012%20Final%20Letter%20LDEQ%20LDH%2001R-22-R6%2C%2002R-22-R6%2C%2004R-22-R6.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">initial investigation</a>, which said the agency found "significant evidence" that the state's actions or inactions led to adverse effects on its Black residents.But in June, only weeks after Louisiana's attorney general <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/louisiana-attorney-generals-lawsuit-seeks-roll-back-civil-rights-laws-2023-06-02/#:~:text=Republican%20Attorney%20General%20Jeff%20Landry,Civil%20Rights%20Act%20of%201964.%E2%80%9D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed a lawsuit</a> against the agency, the investigation was unceremoniously closed before it could be completed."It's such a dangerous precedent that conservative states can basically sue the EPA and the EPA will cave," Deena Tumeh, a senior associate attorney with Earthjustice who helped file the complaint, told Insider.In <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Resolution-notice-Louisiana-v-EPA-usdc-western-Louisiana.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">court filings</a>, the EPA said they would "fully and finally" close investigations surrounding the Title VI complaints, but that they would take a series of "significant actions" to reduce the impacts of emissions, including ordering some facilities to improve their waste management practices, proposing new rules to limit pollution, and conducting an assessment to look at the health risks associated with emissions. The EPA and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality declined to comment.<div type="image" title="October, 1998, near Baton Rouge, Louisiana along 'Cancer Alley'" height="5799" width="7732" msid="102399807" hostid="261"></div><h2>A historical lack of research</h2>The region was given the nickname Cancer Alley in the 1980s by the Sierra Club and the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union."There probably were some adult beverages inhaled that night, and we were trying to think about how to talk about the reality that we were seeing up and down the river," Darryl Malek-Wiley, a senior organizing representative with the Sierra Club who helped popularize the label, told Insider."Once we came up with Cancer Alley, industry hated it, and they've been trying to prove that it's not a reality," he said. "One of the problems with understanding issues is you have to be able to name it before it's real."For decades, there was a lack of research into cancer and pollution rates in the area, which meant that some residents often felt like their lived experiences were dismissed. But last year, two novel studies found that air pollution was <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4360" target="_blank" rel="noopener">linked to higher cancer rates</a> among Black communities in Louisiana and that Black neighborhoods in the state <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4276748" target="_blank" rel="noopener">experienced seven to 21 times</a> the emissions as white communities."What I've heard from the communities over and over is a sense of relief that, finally, somebody is looking at the data in a scientific way, rather than weaponizing the data against them," Kimberly Terrell, a research scientist who worked on these studies at the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, told Insider.Before this research, local officials often relied on cancer rates from the <a href="https://sph.lsuhsc.edu/louisiana-tumor-registry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Louisiana Tumor Registry</a>, which doesn't measure pollution. The registry also did not make cancer incidence rates on the neighborhood level available to researchers until 2018. Older studies that focused on Cancer Alley often didn't account for pollution or relied on small sample sizes. (One of the earliest studies on the region, from 2004, claimed the mortality rate there was no different from the rest of the state. It was <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1740760/pdf/v061p00295.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funded by Shell Oil Co.</a>).The dearth of data was what inspired Terrell to focus on the region. "I'm not the first person to arrive at this idea," Terrell said. "The community members know when they're having abnormally high rates of health problems, and they experience firsthand the effects of this pollution."<div type="image" title="An aerial view of chemical plants and factories lining the roads and suburbs of the area known as 'Cancer Alley' October 15, 2013." height="4000" width="5333" msid="102399984" hostid="261"></div><h2>Defined by history</h2>The fifth district of St. James Parish, where Lavigne calls home, was 89% Black in 2020. Like Lavigne, many of the neighborhood's Black residents are descendants of enslaved people who labored on sugarcane plantations in the area. (Louisiana is broken up into 64 parishes which operate like counties do in other states, each with its own local government).Those old plantation grounds are now home to large industrial facilities. Lavigne believes her grandmother is <a href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/graves-enslaved-people-found-proposed-formosa-plastics-site" target="_blank" rel="noopener">buried in a grave</a> on the proposed site of a Formosa Plastics plant, she said.Understanding this history is critical to understanding the region today, Pamela Spees, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, told Insider. In the aftermath of the Civil War, white planters and politicians were able to "completely lock out Black communities from any decision-making," Spees said.Spees said this history persisted as local officials disproportionately approved permits for new industrial plants in Black communities.In March, local advocacy groups, including Rise St. James, Inclusive Louisiana, and the Mount Triumph Baptist Church, filed a federal lawsuit against the local government asking for a moratorium on building new petrochemical plants in the predominantly Black districts of St. James Parish.The <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67057948/1/inclusive-louisiana-v-st-james-parish/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> says that the parish has granted nearly every request by industrial corporations to build facilities in majority-Black neighborhoods, while no new facilities have been allowed in majority-white neighborhoods in over 46 years."The land-use plan that was finally adopted is a racial-cleansing plan because it actually said that these residential areas were designated future industrial," Spees said, referring to a 2014 plan that changed the fifth district from "residential" to "existing residential/future industrial.""They don't intend for those communities to exist at a certain point and are literally wiping them off the map," she added.<div type="image" title="Children play along 'Cancer Alley' with oil and refinery plants in the background, October 1998." height="3231" width="4309" msid="102399986" hostid="261"></div><h2>Slow violence</h2>Because of the time it takes for cancer to develop in the body, the effects of these petrochemical plants may not be fully understood for decades. Terrell said that's an inherent obstacle with this line of research. While her studies show the influence of historical pollution, the effects of current pollution won't be known for years.Malek-Wiley of the Sierra Club referred to this by the sociological term "slow violence.""The concept is something happens to you 10 years ago, but it doesn't impact you until 10 years in the future. You don't connect the two," Malek-Wiley said. "You don't connect the exposure 20 years ago to what's happening to you right now. And that's what we have in Cancer Alley."This phenomenon relates to Lavigne's own lived experience; though she has lived in St. James Parish her entire life, she didn't know about the reputation of Cancer Alley or the influence of the pollution until she started working with a local humanitarian organization in 2015."It's really hard for somebody not living in the shadow of one of these petrochemical plants to understand the physical and psychological impact of having all the noises, sounds, smells, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day," Malek-Wiley said.Local advocates, including Lavigne, continue to fight for their home and their future in the face of adversity."I've lost friends doing this work, but I don't care," Lavigne said. "The important thing is to breathe clean air and drink clean water and go back to planning a garden."

'We are being poisoned': Black residents living in Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' say the state is guilty of 'genocide' and environmental racism

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rep. John Duarte, a vulnerable House Republican, owns a family tree farm in California.</li><li>His farm is facing a new lawsuit alleging that they deceptively sold the wrong kind of lemon tree.</li></ul>One of the most vulnerable House Republicans in the country is facing a new lawsuit over literally <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lemon.asp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">selling lemons.</a>In a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24103537-document-2?responsive=1&amp;title=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12-page complaint</a> filed on August 31, California citrus grower Ron Turner accused Rep. John Duarte's family nursery of deceptively selling him the wrong type of lemon tree in 2015 when the congressman was the company president.Specifically, Turner says that Duarte Trees and Vines — a tree nursery located in California's Central Valley — agreed to sell him 1,860 "8A Lisbon lemon trees," but sold him seedless lemon trees instead. Because seedless lemon trees <a href="https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2019-11-04/seedless-lemons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">historically have yielded less fruit</a> than their seeded counterparts, Turner in his suit claimed that he was cheated out of exactly $347,991.25 — a combination of the money he claims he could have made from better lemon trees, and the money he claims to be losing out on in the years ahead.While an invoice attached to Turner's complaint does corroborate that he was sold 8A Lisbon lemon trees, his suit may have a wrinkle: that type of lemon tree is known to have <a href="https://citrusvariety.ucr.edu/crc3501" target="_blank" rel="noopener">low seed counts</a>.Turner is accusing Duarte's nursery of breach of contract, negligence, and fraud, and hopes to win at least the roughly $350,000 he says he lost, plus attorney fees. Neither Duarte Nursery nor Turner's lawyer responded to Insider's request for comment.Duarte, a first-term Republican who represents a district won by President Joe Biden, defeated Democratic state assemblyman Adam Gray by fewer than 600 votes in 2022. Though his brother Jeff now runs the nursery, the congressman remains a co-owner.It's not Duarte's — or his nursery's — first brush with controversy.In 2015, his nursery was sued by a group of pistachio growers who alleged he was selling pistachio tree rootstock afflicted with "bushy top syndrome," a genetic mutation that causes the trees to have stunted growth. A judge has <a href="https://www.modbee.com/news/business/agriculture/article264221066.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already ruled in favor of the growers</a>, but the case remains ongoing, and the next phase is set to begin in 2024.Additionally, Duarte was forced to pay $1.1 million to the federal government after <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/long-running-clean-water-act-dispute-ends-duarte-agrees-pay-civil-fines-restore-streams-and" target="_blank" rel="noopener">violating the Clean Water Act</a> by "ripping" federally-protected wetlands contained within land that he purchased in 2015.Duarte, whose congressional office also did not respond to Insider's request for comment, has argued that he and his family were the victims of heavy-handed environmental regulations."It's a complete example of government overreach," he <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/farmers-ranchers-slam-biden-attack-farmers-epa-water-rule-complete-example-govt-overreach" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Fox News</a> earlier this year.On Capitol Hill, Duarte is a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, a post that offers him significant influence over the country's agricultural policy — particularly as Congress considers the "Farm Bill," a massive package of agriculture and food-related subsidies and regulations that requires re-authorization every five years.Duarte was also among the Republicans who <a href="https://duarte.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1188">called for</a> Rep. Kevin McCarthy — a fellow Central Valley congressman — to be reinstated as speaker after he was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-mccarthy-ousted-speaker-house-first-time-history-matt-gaetz-2023-10">ousted last month.</a>

GOP congressman's farm deceptively sold the wrong type of lemon tree, lawsuit claims

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An environmental nonprofit filed suit against <keyword id="12047300" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kroger" source="Orion">Kroger</keyword> over claims related to <keyword id="12300080" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lead" source="Orion">lead</keyword> levels in groceries.</li><li>The suit alleges that affected items include a private-label salad kit, frozen fruit, and bagels.</li></ul>An environmental nonprofit has sued Kroger over claims that several of the grocery chain's private-label products — including a spinach-and-bacon salad kit, frozen fruit, and pre-sliced bagels — contain high lead levels. The legal spat is just the latest clash between retailers and environmental activists and attorneys over lead levels in products found in stores across the country.Environmental attorney Vineet Dubey filed <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZDdM9XU-0dsuB6chOjt26m4o5V2BYhMF/edit#">the suit</a> against the grocery giant on Monday in Los Angeles County's Superior Court on behalf of the Ecological Alliance. Kroger did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, and has not yet filed a response to the Ecological Alliance's claims.In the <keyword id="11921506" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lawsuit" source="Orion">lawsuit</keyword>, Dubey said that Ecological Alliance commissioned an "independent food testing lab" to test a number of Kroger products. The lawsuit says it found that Kroger's "Spinach With Bacon Salad Kit For One" contained 70.1 micrograms of lead, well over the state's "daily maximum exposure level" of 0.5 micrograms. The products mentioned in the lawsuit each belonged to one of Kroger's private label brands: the chain's namesake brand, Simple Truth, and Private Selection. Ecological Alliance said that it found lead content at least 13 times higher than California's daily maximum exposure level in Kroger's "Single Serving Canned Sweet Peas &amp; Carrots," Simple Truth's "Organic Yellow Cling Diced Peaches &amp; Pears," Kroger's "Crumbdillyicious Graham Crackers," Simple Truth's "Organic Frozen Berry Medley," and Kroger's "Cinnamon Raisin Pre-Sliced Bagels."In a statement sent to Insider, Dubey said that Kroger "should immediately remove these items from its shelves and put into place new quality controls." The lawsuit is asking for the company to pull the products from its stores in California, lower the alleged lead levels in the items, add warnings to its packaging, and pay "civil penalties" of up to $2,500 per each violation.In the lawsuit, Dubey said that Ecological Alliance warned Kroger, California's Attorney General, and the city attorneys in each large California city several times between June and October of 2021. The lawsuit alleges that the public officials "have failed to commence and diligently prosecute a cause of action against" Kroger. The lawsuit touches upon fears over lead, a longtime public health concern in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lead-poisoning-remains-potent-in-communities-around-the-us-2017-11">United States</a>. Exposure to the heavy metal through water, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips.htm">contaminated dust, </a>and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips.htm">lead paint</a> is believed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be linked to intellectual disabilities in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lead-poisoning-states-us-2017-5">children</a> and infertility and neurological problems in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/effects-of-lead-poisoning-2016-1">adults</a>. The CDC has identified "no safe blood lead level in children," <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/default.htm">noting</a> that "even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to affect learning, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement." A <a href="https://www.insider.com/half-of-kids-under-age-6-have-lead-blood-study-2021-9">2021 study</a> found that around half of children in the US have high levels of lead in their blood.It's not the first time that Kroger has come under fire over allegations related to lead levels in its products. According to the <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/recalls/article254902342.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Miami Herald</a>, Kroger and other companies previously recalled a meat products over concerns about lead levels. Other large retailers have also received scrutiny in recent years. And in 2018, New York attorney general <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-target-lead-contaminated-toys-lawsuit-2018-12">slapped</a> Walmart and Target with a lawsuit alleging that the two companies sold lead-contaminated toys.It's also not Dubey's first tangle with a major retailer. In 2021, the attorney filed a similar lawsuit against <a href="https://www.insider.com/lawsuit-5-trader-joes-meals-contain-high-lead-levels-2021-11">Trader Joe's</a> on behalf of Ecological Alliance. That lawsuit is still ongoing, with a case management conference scheduled for March 21. Ecological Alliance itself has received backlash in the past. In 2020, a company called Best Brands Consumer Products sued Ecological Alliance over the nonprofit's claims about an unsafe fanny pack product.

Kroger sued by environmental lawyer claiming the grocery giant's salad kits, fruit, and graham crackers contained lead levels that were too high

Exposure to certain traffic-related air pollutants is associated with a greater likelihood of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus, claims an observational study of young adults. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, showed associations between infection risk and exposure to particles with a diameter less than 10 micrometres (PM10) and 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5), two days before a positive test and exposure to black carbon one day before. They, however, found no link between the risk of infection and nitrogen oxides. "Our results add to the growing body of evidence that air pollution has a part to play in Covid-19 and support the potential benefit of improving air quality," said <keyword id="13663390" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="olena-gruzieva" source="Orion">Olena Gruzieva</keyword>, Associate Professor at the <keyword id="3165410" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="institute-of-environmental-medicine" source="Orion">Institute of Environmental Medicine</keyword> at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Since pollutants in outdoor air can increase the risk of respiratory infections such as influenza and SARS, the Covid-19 pandemic aroused fears that they could also contribute to the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Studies have also shown that areas of poor air quality have more cases of Covid-19. Researchers at Karolinska studied this more closely by examining the link between estimated exposure to air pollutants at home addresses and positive <keyword id="6361808" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="pcr" source="Orion">PCR</keyword> tests for SARS-CoV-2 in young adults in Stockholm, Sweden. The researchers identified 425 individuals who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (PCR test) between May 2020 and the end of March 2021. Daily outdoor concentrations of different air pollutants at the participants' home addresses were estimated using dispersion models. The increase in risk was of an order of magnitude around seven per cent per particle exposure increase equivalent to the interquartile range, i.e. between the first quartile (25 per cent) and the third quartile (75 per cent) of the estimated particle concentrations. "Seven per cent doesn't sound much, but given that everyone is more or less exposed to air pollutants, the association may be of great significance to public health," said <keyword id="13666828" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="erik-melen" source="Orion">Erik Melen</keyword>, professor of paediatrics at the Department of Clinical Science and Education, at Karolinska. The observed association was not influenced by gender, smoking, overweight or asthma. The researchers note that the results might be affected by the willingness to take a PCR test and the fact that many of the young adults were asymptomatic or had only mild symptoms following infection. They are now examining the link between air pollutants and post-Covid symptoms in young adults. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/five-banks-that-offer-cheaper-home-loan-rates-in-india/articleshow/90959872.cms">Five banks that offer cheaper home loan rates in India</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/article/indian-livelihoods-turn-less-green-sharp-decline-in-hiring-green-jobs-over-the-last-five-years-compared-to-the-global-average/articleshow/90971775.cms">Indian livelihoods turn less green! Sharp decline in hiring green jobs over the last five years compared to the global average</a>

Air pollution can heighten COVID-19 risk in young adults

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A 16-year-old told the WSJ her parents spent around $3,000 buying her every Stanley cup going.</li><li>A year after they bought her her first cup, she now has 67, she said.</li></ul>A 16-year-old TikToker claims that her parents have spent around $3,000 buying her every Stanley cup on the market.Amelia Awad, from Birmingham, Alabama, told The Wall Street Journal that her parents got her her first Stanley Quencher cup a year ago after she admired it on TikTok. She now has 67, she said."I'm obsessed," she told The Journal.Starbucks tumblers and Hydro Flasks have had their time in the spotlight: For around the past year, Stanley cups have been the hot thing among American tweens, teens, and college kids. The Quenchers were the most-featured item in Gen Z Christmas-haul videos on TikTok, a youth consumer-trends analyst previously told <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stanley-cup-trend-gen-z-peaked-what-is-next-2024-1">Business Insider</a>.They're such a status item that they're <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stanley-cups-tearing-apart-gen-alpha-middle-schools-2024-1">creating rifts among school-goers</a>. One mom recently said in a viral TikTok that her nine-year-old daughter was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stanley-cup-status-symbol-mocked-classmates-knock-off-tiktok-trend-2024-1">mocked at school</a> for having a $10 off-brand dupe.Though they're available in 20- and 30-ounce sizes, it's the oversize 40-ounce Quenchers, starting at $45, that have sparked a buzz online. TikTok users post videos showing them unboxing new tumblers, arranging their collections, and coordinating their Quenchers with their outfits. People are scrambling to get their hands on the full range of colors and limited-edition cups, like the recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chaos-stampede-limited-edition-stanley-cups-target-vday-resale-2024-1">Valentine's Day drop at Target</a>.<div type="image" title="A shopper passes empty shelves once stocked with Stanley insulated steel tumblers at a Target store on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Canoga Park, CA." height="1310" width="2000" msid="107057156" hostid="261" sizebytes="223250"></div>Even though some of the limited-edition cups have spawned a considerable resale market, Awad said that she uses every cup she owns. "If they are rare, I would want to use them more because I'm special for having them," she said.The Journal didn't name Awad's TikTok account, but an account that BI believes to belong to her has around 138,000 followers. Videos on the account show the owner organizing their collection of Quenchers, including displaying them by color.Environmental advocates say the fact that people are amassing collections of dozens of Quenchers <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/environmentalists-say-stanley-tumblers-face-sustainability-issues-2024-1">defeats the purpose of it being a reusable water bottle</a>, and warn that people will just ditch them when a new trendy cup comes along, anyway.Do you collect Stanley cups? Email this reporter at gdean@insider.com.

A 16-year-old claims her parents have spent $3,000 buying her 67 different Stanley cups, as the giant mugs become the ultimate playground status symbol

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11926319" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="coach" source="Orion">Coach</keyword> said it will no longer destroy "unsalable" handbags after a TikTok video criticized the practice. </li><li>The viral video showed several slashed Coach <keyword id="11993130" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bags" source="Orion">bags</keyword> that were found in a dumpster outside a mall.</li></ul>Coach said it will stop destroying "<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CU6FY_DgZft/">damaged and unsaleable</a>" bags after a viral TikTok video accused the company of slashing handbags and throwing them in a dumpster outside a mall in Dallas. Anna Sacks, who posted the video, which has also been shared on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUyPS9gjK49/">Instagram</a>, told her followers that Coach asks employees to deliberately destroy handbags per company policy. She alleged that the company used this tactic as a method to write down the value of its inventory for tax purposes. A spokesperson for Coach said this statement was inaccurate and that the company is not claiming any tax benefit from these items. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Coach <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CU6FY_DgZft/">said</a> that it would no longer destroy "in-store returns of damaged and unsalable goods." These items would instead be donated to its reuse <keyword id="12019084" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="handbag" source="Orion">handbag</keyword> repair program, which it offers in stores.A spokesperson told Insider that employees were previously asked to destroy handbags that could not be used or donated. These are damaged or defective items with issues like holes in the leather, the spokesperson said. Coach currently offers a repair workshop in 40% of its stores that offers to fix broken bags or accessories. A spokesperson told Insider that the repair team can also deconstruct unusable bags and reuse the materials in other ways. When Insider asked why the bags found in the dumpster in Dallas were not sent to the repair program, the spokesperson said the company did not have the capacity to handle the repairs. Going forward, however, all bags will be sent to this service, she said. Other retailers have come under fire for destroying inventory, including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-destroying-unsold-goods-report-other-nike-burberry-fashion-2021-6">Amazon,</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/nyregion/slashers-work-ruins-shoes-discarded-at-a-nike-store.html?_r=0">Nike</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/victorias-secret-dumps-bras-in-trash-fashions-dirty-secret-2020-2">Victoria's Secret</a>, H&amp;M, and <a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/verify-did-an-eddie-bauer-slash-toss-out-unused-coats/65-505278289">Eddie Bauer</a>.Some companies have used the tactic to protect their brand image by preventing unsold products from ending up in thrift or discount stores.London-based brand <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/burberry-burned-37-million-of-goods-to-protect-its-brand-2018-7">Burberry sparked backlash</a> after it was revealed in 2018 that it had burned $37 million worth of products. In a statement at the time, a Burberry spokesperson said it has "<a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/burberry-destroyed-37m-worth-of-excess-products-to-protect-brand">careful processes in place</a> to minimise the amount of excess stock we produce.""On the occasions when disposal of products is necessary, we do so in a responsible manner and we continue to seek ways to reduce and revalue our waste," the spokesperson said.

You Searched For "environmental claims" and got 8 results

How RFK Kennedy Jr. turned from tragedy and tumult to environmentalism before becoming the face of vaccine skepticism

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Elon Musk hits out at 'eco-terrorists' who claimed responsibility for arson attack near Tesla's German gigafactory

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'We are being poisoned': Black residents living in Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' say the state is guilty of 'genocide' and environmental racism

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GOP congressman's farm deceptively sold the wrong type of lemon tree, lawsuit claims

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Kroger sued by environmental lawyer claiming the grocery giant's salad kits, fruit, and graham crackers contained lead levels that were too high

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Air pollution can heighten COVID-19 risk in young adults

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A 16-year-old claims her parents have spent $3,000 buying her 67 different Stanley cups, as the giant mugs become the ultimate playground status symbol

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Coach says it will stop destroying 'unsaleable' handbags after a viral TikTok revealed demolished merchandise discovered in a dumpster

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