60+ environmental justice leaders and organizations are calling for action and equity for their ‘Sacrifice Zone’ communities. They released an open letter calling for “an immediate and sustained response to inequities causing Covid-19 to infect and kill a disproportionate number of people subjected to systemic racism and the denial of self-determination throughout the United States.” COVID-19 has exacerbated the equities throughout society, including unequal accessibility to health care and the industry and pollution that impacts mostly low-income and minority communities. Read More
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Tag: environmental health
A new report released by Earthjustice, the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, and faculty at the University of Chicago’s Abrams Environmental Law Clinic and Columbia University’s Health Justice Advocacy Clinic estimated that 77,000 people living in federally assisted housing in the US are at risk of being poisoned by toxic contamination. The report, Poisonous Homes: The Fight for Environmental Justice in Federally Assisted Housing comes as the Trump administration continues rolling back many environmental regulations involving the environmental impact analysis of large-scale industrial projects. Read More
Photo by: Scott Olson, Getty Images
By: Julie Silverman, Summer Communications Intern
The recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, and far too many other Black Americans have brought racial injustices to light in all spheres of life, specifically in terms of police brutality. However, racial disparities, specifically involving Black individuals have continued to pervade society in a multitude of ways including spheres of education, pollution, health care, housing, and the impacts of climate change.
Toxic waste dump sites and factories have been known to disproportionately impact minority and low-income communities, specifically Black ones, skyrocketing the risks for certain cancers and illnesses.
Air pollution from industrial facilities and highways surrounding Black communities have also burdened them with higher incidences of asthma, risks to overall health and other respiratory illnesses.
Climate change and increasing temperatures have a disproportionate impact on those who cannot afford air conditioning in their homes and live in extremely hot places. Black individuals and families often live in these regions.
Black mothers also tend to have dramatically decreased access to medical care and oftentimes receive unequal levels of treatment when receiving care.
The compounding inequities that Black Americans continue to face are unacceptable. The combination of the disproportionate impact of air pollution, climate change, pollution and unequal health coverage greatly risks the health and wellbeing of Black Americans. Studies discussed in a recent New York Times article have shown that these impacts have posed extremely large risks specifically on Black mothers, which can lead to an increased likelihood of having premature, underweight, and stillborn babies. In other words, infants are being largely impacted by racial injustices involving the color of their skin before they are even born.
In order to truly comprehend racial injustices faced by Black Americans, we must be sure to understand how the many different spheres of life are involved. The process for racial justice is one that cannot be done immediately, but one that is being largely progressed by the work of many activists and community leaders.
Photo by: Eye for Ebony on Unsplash
Bayer, the current parent company and owner of Monsanto, has reached a $550 million settlement with 13 governmental entities in order to clean up contaminated Baltimore waterways. Bayer officials claim that Monsanto legally manufactured PCBs until 1977. PCBs were widely used in paints, lubricants, and electrical equipment until they were banned in the US in 1979. Waterways in the Baltimore area have been greatly polluted by past PCB contamination. The national class-action settlement aims to make Bayer pay for the pollution caused by Monsanto’s use of PCBs. Similar Monsanto-related settlements involving PCB pollution have been reached in New Mexico, Washington, and the District of Columbia. Read More
Photo by Mabel Amber from Pexels
Two leaders from the long-time environmental justice community known as “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana were arrested on June 25th for peacefully protesting against the Taiwanese petrochemical company, Formosa Plastics. The company plans to build a plastics manufacturing facility in the backyard of a predominately Black Louisiana community that has already experienced large health detriments from polluting industries in their community. Read More
Photo by: Ron Moyi/Louisiana Bucket Brigade
The EPA redefined protections of water through its new navigable waters rule on June 22, one that largely cuts out storm water runoff from being regulated by the EPA. This change could have a large detrimental impact on drinking water quality in areas and could therefore result in greater human health risks. Thus far, the new rule went into effect in all states except Colorado, where a federal judge in Colorado was able to block the Trump administration’s narrowing definition of water protections. Read More
Photo by Suhel Nadaf on Unsplash
Air pollution and increased temperatures are not only tied to climate change but have also been tied to the increased likelihood of having premature, underweight, and stillborn babies. Given that many low-income and minority communities are disproportionately impacted by industrial pollution and many can’t afford air conditioning in their homes, they are at a much higher risk for pregnancy risks. Black mothers have been specifically impacted by these risks. In addition to the risks of increasing temperatures and air pollution exposures, minority mothers tend to have less access to medical care and unequal levels of treatment when getting care. In order to address systemic racism, we need to also make sure that the environment in which people live is equitable. Read More
Photo by Tembinkosi Sikupela on Unsplash
By: Sophie Weinberg, Intern
Money is the driving force behind many industries in the United States, and those that pollute are no exception. It is a common perception that those industries, such as coal mining, are vital to the economy, when in reality pollution that results from those industries is detrimental to economic success. Particularly, the burden of disease that comes from pollution has an immense price tag. Despite the real reason, the costs of these diseases are not typically attributed to pollution and are instead lumped in with general health expenditures. Beyond the direct costs of caring for patients who are battling life-threatening pollution-related diseases, there are also the indirect costs of decreased productivity associated with those employees missing work which then lowers the GDP of a country. This loss of GDP is estimated at $53 billion in higher income countries. That is an incredible sum of money that could be used in a wide variety of programs to build up vulnerable communities. Currently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the EPA has decided to not enforce environmental regulations in order to give polluting industries an economic break. This decision will not only add more pollution to the air, but more people will suffer the effects of coronavirus as it is a respiratory illness. The economy will ultimately become more damaged as all industry remains closed to respond to the large amount of sick people.
Beyond the cost of disease, governments also must contribute large sums of money to mitigate environmental threats that could have been prevented originally. The Michigan government, for example, settled on setting aside $97 million in order to replace corroding lead pipes in Flint, when the decision to switch water sources in the first place would only save the city about $5 million. That estimate does not include the nearly $400 million lost to the city in social costs, since so many children will suffer for the rest of their lives due to lead exposure.
Despite public belief about rolling back environmental protections in order to boost the economy, the enormous economic benefits of environmental regulations and sustainable technology are rarely discussed. Renewable energy, for example, creates jobs and also utilizes resources already found in the United States. This boosts the economy by bringing in revenue rather than relying on fuel imports. Regardless of these positives, society is not willing to uproot their livelihood to make changes, even if those changes are for the good of everyone involved. Overall, the price of sustainability may seem high at first glance but will always be worth it in the end when the environment is protected, human health is promoted, and the economy is thriving.
Environmental degradation and pollution have dominated low-income and minority communities, both historically and in the present day. These populations are known as environmental justice communities and often struggle disproportionately with health issues such as respiratory illnesses and cancers due to pollution. The five stories in the article below are told from the perspectives of five different individuals living in distinct environmental justice communities. Read More
Photo credit: Katie G. Nelson
Yes, we can say their names: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin and far too many more, people of color who were killed or mistreated by the racist criminal justice system. Black people and people of color experience daily threats to their lives due to institutional racism and exploitation in this country, a reality that is not always evident to someone who hasn’t had that experience. While our country’s long history of racial injustice and violence makes this fact unsurprising, it was and is horrible and it is unacceptable.
I have always believed in the power of social movements to create lasting change. Collective action has, in several very important moments in our country’s history, forced forward necessary changes to its laws and its norms, resulting in the bettering of many lives. I am lucky to have lived through a few of these moments, and I believe that this is one of them. I wholeheartedly support the Black Lives Matter movement and the progress they are fighting to create.
Just as communities of color are often targeted by institutional systemic racism, they also find themselves vulnerable to environmental health hazards at disproportionately higher rates than White Americans. Over our nearly 40 year history, our work has shown us that environmental justice is deeply interwoven with racial justice, and we at CHEJ have and will continue to be committed to equity for all races. We know the people and communities who are forced to live in America’s Sacrifice Zones — communities that are in the 70th or higher percentile for cancer and respiratory related illnesses. They are Black, Latino, Indigenous Native Americans and White. What they have in common is that they are almost always poor, and the air they breathe is always toxic. They did not choose to live with this exposure, but they are forced to suffer from pollutants spewing from factories, power plants, and other sources. Currently, many of these communities battle staggering infection rates due to COVID-19, which is worsened due to their pre-existing respiratory illnesses caused by many of these pollutants.
We hear the cries of George Floyd, Eric Garner, and more saying, “I can’t breathe.” There are many other silenced voices also pleading for their lives, who reside in these Sacrifice Zone communities. They, too, are being stripped of their rights to breathe clean air. Many times they are the same communities often preyed upon by a violent, racist criminal justice system and other forms of systemic institutional racism. Together, they represent compounding effects that continue to oppress and disenfranchise Sacrifice Zone communities and to a larger degree, disproportionately harm communities of color across our nation. We must do something now to stop it. We must work together, all of us, to ensure that everyone, and especially vulnerable communities, have the right to freedom, justice, and equality, including the right to breathe clean air. To the Black Lives Matter movement: know that we are with you in this fight, we are standing beside you, and we support you fully.
Lois Gibbs, Founder of CHEJ, June 2020
