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The inspirational true story of Jennie Shearan's rise from ordinary housewife to extraordinary environmentalist.
CLEAN AIR is an exhilarating memento of the lengths that Jennie Shearan went to in order to secure environmental equity for her community. It is a David and Goliath account of a fearless and dynamic woman who put it all on the line and left no stone unturned in her uncompromising fight for the right to clean air.
For the people who lived on the doorstep of Monkton Coke Works, their daily reality was a horrendous nightmare of hazardous and acrid sulphur dioxide emissions, all-pervading soot, and clamorous tannoys. Over decades, the facility grew unflaggingly, converting ever-increasing quantities of coal into coke without concern for the residents' well-being. In forming the Hebburn Residents' Action Group, Jennie Shearan united and empowered the underrepresented residents of Monkton Lane Estate, and gave them a voice, igniting a national dialogue about the health risks from the pollution that her neighbours had to endure.
While CLEAN AIR provides a social history of events in the North East of England that concluded over thirty years ago, there is a timeless and universal resonance to the challenges that Jennie had to overcome: a negligent big energy firm that prioritised profit over people, governmental bodies that lacked accountability, and institutional sexism. CLEAN AIR illustrates how one working class woman galvanised her community to fight for justice in her town. She took on all levels of the establishment, from British Coal to Thatcher's Government, bringing her case all the way to the European Parliament. Throughout Jennie's arduous campaign, she was brave, steadfast, and sincere, demonstrating an ability to corral a community around a single-minded vision that any politician could learn from, a level of resourcefulness that would inspire any business leader, and a degree of resilience that can energise us all. CLEAN AIR shows the countless sacrifices and bold choices that Jennie made, the effectiveness of grassroots activism and people power, and the beauty of leaving behind a better world for future generations.
