Systemic Racism In Urban Environments & Our Future

By: Sharon Franklin Children play near an oil refinery in Los Angeles, California. Photo Credit: Etienne Laurent / EPA   Dr. Jake M. Robinson PhD Researcher, Department of Landscape, University of Sheffiel, South Yorkshire, England recently published an article in The Conversation entitled “How Racism and Classism Affect Natural Ecosystems”. In the article, Dr. Robinson cited a recent publication in Science Magazine by Christopher J. Schell of the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, “The Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Systemic Racism In Urban Environments” , which reports the conscious and unconscious

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Residential Segregation and Disproportionate Exposure to Airborne Carcinogens

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis published a paper late last year that found carcinogens present in the air of the St. Louis metropolitan area to be highly concentrated in Black and poor neighborhoods. They found that approximately 14% of the census tracks in the city had elevated cancer risk due to exposure to toxic chemicals in the air and that these air toxic hots spots were independently associated with neighborhoods with high levels of poverty and unemployment, and low levels of education. Census tracks with the highest levels

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Remembering the Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

By Sophie Weinberg, Intern Last week marked the 75th anniversary of the two bombings that changed the course of the world, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not only did these two bombings obliterate the populations of two Japanese cities, but they also still impose lasting health effects on those residents. Thousands of people died in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki following the explosions. These immediate deaths were due to the explosion, the fires that followed, and radiation poisoning. Although many people did immediately die from exposure to radiation, there were many survivors of

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Unequal Infant Mortality Rate Caused by Environmental Injustice

By Monica Lee, Communications & Development Intern Children are oftentimes more vulnerable to the negative effects of environmental injustice. This is because their bodies have not been fully developed to face the harsh health impacts from their environment. Nonetheless, according to the National Vital Statistics Reports done by the CDC, in 2018, infants of a black mother were more than twice as likely to die compared to infants of a white, Asian, or Hispanic mother. This is an issue raised by inequality that has always been around, and yet does

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Studies Suggest Air Pollution Increases Threat of Coronavirus Airborne Transmission

By: Shaina Smith, Community Organizing Intern The reality of environmental inequality is that industry polluters target low-wealth and minority communities disproportionately. A 2018 study found that Black and Latino people are typically exposed to 56% and 63% more air pollution than is caused by their consumption, but that white people are exposed to 17% less than they cause. This exposure weakens the immune system over time, and people with preexisting respiratory or cardiovascular diseases are more likely to have a severe case of coronavirus. A recent Harvard study found that

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Biden Releases Environmental Plan in Bid for Progressive Vote

By Paolo Padova, Science Intern Last week the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, released his climate and energy plan. Biden’s plan puts an emphasis on environmental justice and its intersection with racial inequality. The plan commits to creating a new Environmental and Climate Justice Division within the Department of Justice to hold contaminating corporations accountable. Building on the EPA’s EJSCREEN tool, Biden will “create a data-driven Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool to identify communities threatened by the cumulative impacts of the multiple stresses of climate change, economic and racial

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Blog Roll
Greenpeace’s The Witness
Grist
Groovy Green
Healthy Child Healthy World
Inside Prevention
It’s Getting Hot in Here
Moms Rising
Pharos
Safe Mama
Safer Chemicals Healthy Families
The Soft Landing
Treehugger
Zero Waste World