Beneath the Bridge

LISTENING: to Shakira's new album over and over again
FEELING: disturbed
SEEING: the video of the bridge collapse over and over again

When people from other countries come to the U.S., they usually come with one purpose: to work. With this income, they can support their families back home. Immigrant workers often take any job they can: cleaning houses, cutting grass, farming fields. That's definitely been the case with my own family members who have come from El Salvador. One aunt has saved up enough money to return home after coming in 2016. She doesn't want to be here longer than necessary. She's so ready to return home.

Amid the climate crisis, we have seen the disaster economy also turn to migrant labor. When hurricanes hit or wildfires rage, this workforce often cleans up afterward. Last year, the Center for Public Integrity investigated the toxic exposures immigrants face while on the job after hurricanes. In 2019, High Country News published a deep dive focused on undocumented workers rebuilding post-wildfires.

Now, we're learning that the six construction workers who remain missing after the Baltimore bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning were from Central America. One man, Miguel Luna, was from my ancestral El Salvador. My heart aches.

Welcome to Possibilities, a creative climate newsletter on the possibilities that lie where crisis meets community. I’m Yessenia Funes, and the dark underbelly of labor is a climate justice issue.

As the U.S. prepares to build out infrastructure that can withstand the disasters of tomorrow and survive a much hotter world, cities and states will likely turn yet again to the labor of Black and Brown bodies — people who live in this country with very few protections. What happened to the Baltimore bridge was not related to climate change or even climate adaptation, but it's a sobering reminder of who remains invisible in our society. Who works under the guise of night to give us our comfort in the light of day. Who is worthy of a warning and who is not.

While the ship's mayday call stopped more cars from entering the bridge, what about those working on the bridge? Where was their warning? Reports indicate that these workers were on a break when the bridge fell, likely resting in their cars. Since watching the footage of the bridge's collapse, I've obsessed over those few precious seconds a person may have to escape their quickly submerging vehicle before it's too late.

Did they have a moment to react? Did they understand what was happening? Was survival even possible beneath the steel beams that came tumbling down with them? Could more have been done to prevent their deaths in the first place?

The migrant workforce is among the most vulnerable in the U.S. Though the bridge's collapse was a freak accident, I can't help but mull over the lessons it offers in its wake. How do we do better by these workers? They are the ones who will power a lot of our country's shift into green, climate-resilient infrastructure — whether that's rebuilding after a storm or weatherizing our homes.

How do we honor them? How do we show them appreciation? How do we keep them safe before the unspeakable happens?

The right-wing media has somehow warped the bridge incident into conspiracy-fueled alarm over the "wide-open border." Whenever something tragic happens, the right knows at whom to point their crooked fingers. They know where to find their scapegoats — and it always seems to be "the other."

These days, migrants bear much of that hate. They deserve so much more: love, community, gratitude. 🌀

Rest in Power

While we can't say for certain that climate change led to these specific weather events (we need attribution studies for that), we do know that the Earth's rising temperatures are already creating more disasters like these.

In southeastern Brazil, floods have killed at least 27 people as of Monday.

Currently Reading

Guess where else Latine migrant workers are crucial? Farms!

As someone who loves to watch videos of people organizing their kitchen pantry, I appreciated the reality check from Jaya Saxena at Eater.

Inside the fight to give whales legal personhood — from Atmos.

Amy Westervelt hits us with some realness: "The Atmosphere Doesn't Care About Your Feelings."

Now, we can pull out facts next time The New York Times pushes its anti-trans agenda. The publication repeatedly fails to source trans and non-binary folks in its stories on anti-trans legislation.

Collage

See you next week. xx

- Yessenia