Rattling the Bars: The prison-industrial complex is an environmental catastrophe

“As a result of being on or near wastelands, prisons constantly expose those inside to serious environmental hazards, from tainted water to harmful air pollutants,” Leah Wang recently wrote for the Prison Policy Initiative. “These conditions manifest in health conditions and deaths that are unmistakably linked to those hazards.” In this edition of Rattling the Bars, Mansa Musa speaks with Paul Wright about the scope and scale of the drastic environmental hazards the prison-industrial complex poses to incarcerated people, prison staff, and surrounding communities.<br /><br />Paul Wright is the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center. He is also editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), the longest-running independent prisoner rights publication in US history. Wright has co-authored three PLN anthologies: The Celling of America: An Inside Look at the U.S. Prison Industry; Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America’s Poor; and Prison Profiteers: Who Makes Money from Mass Imprisonment.'<br /><br />Read the transcript of this interview: <a href="https://therealnews.com/the-prison-industrial-complex-is-an-environmental-catastrophe" rel="noopener">https://therealnews.com/the-prison-industrial-complex-is-an-environmental-catastrophe</a><br /><br />Pre-Production/Studio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino<br /><br />Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: <br /><br />Donate: <a href="https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtb" rel="noopener">https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtb</a><br />Sign up for our newsletter: <a href="https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtb" rel="noopener">https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtb</a><br /><br />Get Rattling the Bars updates: <a href="https://therealnews.com/up-pod-rtb" rel="noopener">https://therealnews.com/up-pod-rtb</a><br /><br />Like us on Facebook: <a href="https://facebook.com/therealnews" rel="noopener">https://facebook.com/therealnews</a><br />Follow us on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/therealnews" rel="noopen