Louisiana
US: Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’
(Washington, DC) – The fossil fuel and petrochemical industry in the Louisiana area that has come to be known as “Cancer Alley” has devastated the health, lives, and environment of residents, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Cancer Alley refers to an approximately 85-mile stretch of communities along the banks of the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, where communities exist side by side with some 200 fossil fuel and petrochemical operations.
The 98-page report, “‘We’re Dying Here’: The Fight for Life in a Louisiana Fossil Fuel Sacrifice Zone,” documents how residents of Cancer Alley suffer the effects of extreme pollution from the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry, facing elevated rates and risks of maternal, reproductive, and newborn health harms, cancer, and respiratory ailments. Parts of Cancer Alley have the highest risk of cancer from industrial air pollution in the United States. These harms are disproportionately borne by the area’s Black residents.
“The fossil fuel and petrochemical industry has created a ‘sacrifice zone’ in Louisiana,” said Antonia Juhasz, senior researcher on fossil fuels at Human Rights Watch. “The failure of state and federal authorities to properly regulate the industry has dire consequences for residents of Cancer Alley.”
From September 2022 to January 2024, Human Rights Watch interviewed 70 people, including 37 Cancer Alley residents, and traveled throughout the region to document the human rights impacts of fossil fuel and petrochemical operations on local residents. Cancer Alley residents described the impact on their health, including miscarriages, high-risk pregnancies, infertility, the poor health of newborns, respiratory ailments, and cancer. Many shared stories of entire communities devastated by cancer, the deaths of family and friends, missed days of work and school due to illness, and children rushed to emergency rooms suffering from asthma attacks.
The report includes new research revealing the toll of air pollution on maternal, reproductive, and newborn health in Cancer Alley, done by researchers at Tulane University in New Orleans in a paper currently under peer review for publication in the “Environmental Research: Health” journal. The researchers found exceptionally elevated rates of low birthweight and preterm birth, as much as triple the US average. Those parts of Louisiana with the highest rates of adverse birth outcomes correspond to those with the worst air pollution, including areas within Cancer Alley.
For decades, Louisiana’s regulatory authorities, particularly the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, have failed to address the severity of harm from fossil fuel and petrochemical operations, enforce minimum standards set by the federal government, and protect the health of local residents. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not ensured that federal laws and mandates are enforced in Louisiana, and as such, is failing to protect residents from harm caused by the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry.
In December 2023, for the first time in global climate conferences under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the final outcome agreement of the UN Climate Conference, COP28, called on governments to begin “transitioning away from fossil fuels.” Immediate implementation of this commitment in Cancer Alley would have profound benefits for the health of residents of the area.
Also on January 25, Amnesty International released a report titled “The Cost of Doing Business? The Petrochemical Industry’s Toxic Pollution in the USA.” The reports by two of the world’s largest human rights organizations expose the devastating human rights toll of the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry on frontline communities in the US and say that state and federal authorities should take immediate actions to address this harm.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality should increase regulations and enforcement, deny permits in already overburdened communities, and support local calls for moratoriums on new or expanded fossil fuel and petrochemical operations.
The EPA should order fossil fuel and petrochemical facilities posing an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health and the environment to immediately pause all operations. The agency should also object to permits in already overburdened communities, support moratoria on new or expanded fossil fuel and petrochemical projects, and implement a remediation and relocation plan.
“It’s long past time for governments to uphold their human rights obligations and for these sacrifices to end,” said Juhasz.
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New legislation in Baton Rouge would reclassify some illegal gaming-related offenses as racketeering law violations, elevating potential consequences.
Louisiana has already stepped up its enforcement of its gaming laws related to potential illegal gaming but a new bill in the state legislature would give prosecutors’ actions more teeth. The proposal would elevate certain crimes involving unlicensed gaming in the state to a racketeering charge with more severe penalties linked to convictions.
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Louisiana bill changes classification of gaming-related charges
Louisiana Rep. Bryan Fontenot has pre-filed HB 53, which could rewrite the state code as it pertains to unlicensed gaming sites. The legislation has been provisionally assigned to the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice, as the 2026 session does not begin until March 9.
Under the proposal, the state’s definition of racketeering would expand to include “gambling, gambling by computer, gambling on cockfights, gambling by electronic sweepstakes, unlawful wagering, and bribery of sports participants.” Under current statutes, racketeering convictions carry penalties of fines of “not more than one million dollars, or imprisoned at hard labor for not more than 50 years, or both.”
Additionally, racketeering convictions that result in sentences of fines of at least $10,000 revoke recipients’ eligibility for parole. The enactment of this bill as currently composed could have a significant impact on the operation of sweepstakes-based online casino sites for real money in Louisiana.
At the same time, many of the companies in that space have already ceased potentially infringing actions within Louisiana.
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Louisiana has already been off-limits for sweepstakes casinos
In 2025, Louisiana gaming regulators and law enforcement took multiple actions to restrict residents’ access to unlicensed platforms for playing casino games online. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill shared a public notice about the illegality of sweepstakes-based online gaming sites, in addition to issuing cease-and-desist orders to the companies affiliated with those sites. As a result, many of the operators of those sites geofenced Louisiana out of their service areas.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board supplemented that action with its additional cease-and-desist letters. Fontenot’s bill could add additional weight to these demands if it becomes law.
There is currently no legal framework for playing online casino games or redeeming casino bonus codes in Louisiana. While online sports wagering is legal in most of the state, officials in Baton Rouge have not yet tackled the issue of iGaming.
Even if voters in Louisiana someday do clear the way for the utilization of Fanatics Casino promo codes, that would involve licensed gaming and not affect the implementation of Fontenot’s bill. However, such deliberations do not seem imminent.
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If HB 53 becomes law, Louisiana could levy some of the toughest penalties for illegal gaming activity in the United States. Many potential targets of prosecution have already pulled out of the state.
Driving Louisiana Forward Program
Commerical Driver’s License (CDL) Training
In partnership with the Louisiana Workforce Commission and South Louisiana Community College, this program aims to provide African American males with financial assistance to obtain Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) training, strengthening the resilience and contributions of this key demographic and improving equitable access to workforce opportunities. This initiative aims to reduce high unemployment rates within this community but also focuses on ensuring participants come from rural and economically disadvantaged areas.
Earn your CDL Class A license with this comprehensive classroom and behind-the-wheel program to drive tractor[1]trailers, dump trucks, tow trucks, delivery trucks, tanker trucks, and flatbed trucks.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Gov. Jeff Landry is asking Louisiana’s congressional leaders to amend the state’s federal judicial districts, citing caseload growth and public safety concerns.
Landry sent letters to Speaker Mike Johnson, Sen. John Kennedy, Congressman Cleo Fields, and Congresswoman Julia Letlow requesting the change.
The request
Louisiana is currently divided into three federal judicial districts: Eastern, Middle, and Western. Landry is asking that West Feliciana Parish be moved from the Middle District to the Western District.
In the letters, Landry cited significant growth in the Middle District and an increased caseload for its judges. He said a major driver of the Middle District docket is Louisiana State Penitentiary.
Public safety argument
Landry said moving West Feliciana Parish into the Western District would improve judicial efficiency and better address public safety needs in East Baton Rouge Parish and the state.
He said East Baton Rouge Parish continues to battle violent crime. According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, recent numbers show violent crime in the parish has decreased.
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