On days of heavy pollution in Sulphur, a southwest Louisiana town surrounded by more than 16 industrial plants, Cynthia “Cindy” Robertson once flew a red flag outside her home so her community knew they faced health hazards from high levels of soot and other pollutants.
But she stopped flying the flag after Louisiana passed a law last May that threatened fines of up to $1 million for sharing information about air quality that did not meet strict standards.
On Thursday, Robertson’s group Micah 6:8 Mission and other Louisiana environmental organizations sued the state in federal court over the law they say restricts their free speech and undermines their ability to promote public health in heavily industrialized communities.
You can easily build your own air quality sensor. It’s a cheap and awesome science project and you can contribute to a global grassroot sensor network:
https://sensor.community/en/
I have one running, AMA if you want
Are you in Louisiana? Would providing this data be considered sharing under the law in question?
I’m not in Louisiana. It’s perfectly legal for me to do my own air quality measuring and I am totally allowed to publish them in the land of the free and the home of the brave Germany.
🎶🎵Oh the times, they are a-changin🎵🎶
harmonica solo
I only have one question: How?
Take a look at the website:
https://sensor.community/en/sensors/airrohr/
It looks complicated, but basically you are ordering some thing from AliExpress, connect it via cables (no soldering required), flash a firmware via a software, register an account, put in WiFi data and put it in a box.
And that’s where the tariffs getcha. Can’t share other people’s data 'cause of Louisiana’s anti-free-speech law; can’t get your own data 'cause of Trump tariffs. Oh yeah, it’s all coming together (the noose, that is).