A progressive interview with: Jerome Ringo.

• Position: Interview

Jerome Ringo, the former head of the National Wildlife Federation, is a past president and current board member of the Apollo Alliance.

Q. What got you interested in environmental issues as a young person growing up in Louisiana?

Jerome Ringo: Growing up in southern Louisiana, you live near the marshes and the bayous. You live very connected to nature. My grandfather was a hunter and a fisherman. He was a sportsman, bur he also hunted for food for the family: rabbits, waterfowl, and fish. We lived off of the land partially. So there was an easy influence. You learned to appreciate the value of nature and how important it is that we coexist with nature--how important it is that we keep the air clean and the water clean. But we also lived in a community that was laced with petrochemical plants. My concern for the environment was to protect the area that I grew up in, which is very dear to me and to all the people in south Louisiana.

Q: How did your environmental ethic evolve?

Ringo: Well, I worked in the petrochemical industry for twenty-two years. I worked inside the fence line of the industry, while recognizing that on the outside of that fence line there were poor people who were adversely impacted. I was a member of the labor union, so we fought for protection of workers within the fence line. But when you look across the fence, those people who live in closest proximity were not offered that same protection. That concerned me, so I got involved with organizing communities and educating people on how you can reduce the impact of living so close to an industry.

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Q: Were you intent on working in the environmental community while you were still employed by the petrochemical industry?

Ringo: For some period it overlapped. I was working in the environmental community while working in the petrochemical industry and as you can imagine, that mixes like oil and water. But as soon as I was able to, I transitioned over into full-time advocacy. It was the best move I ever made.

Q: What has been the petrochemical industry's impact on your family?

Ringo: You know, it was my job for twenty years, so the petrochemical industry paid me. It fed my family. But the petrochemical industry's overall impact on my community has been negative when you look at the health of our members. When I spoke at a classroom of thirty fifth-graders in our community recently, I asked the kids: "How many of you have family members who have had or have...