Black lives matter. As we contemplate the scope of structural racism, we find that “Black Lives Matter” needs to be said over and over again. We say it as we push for policing that protects rather than threatens. And we can keep saying it. Like when we talk about having available, affordable health care. Having access to technology and broadband, a quiet space, and time when the classroom becomes off limits due to a pandemic or climate-driven extreme weather. Finding an affordable place to live and landlords who don’t discriminate. Finding meaningful work and getting a promotion. Finding fresh food. Getting respect.
And then there’s the environment. We still see stark disparities in exposures to environmental harms in our country. For example, communities of color are more likely to live in areas with higher levels of air pollution. For decades, people of color have been relegated to areas suffering cumulative pollution from industry, energy development, trucking, and highways and freeways. Meanwhile, the suburbs became pristine havens for whites only, shaped by restrictive housing covenants that were pushed by banks, the federal government’s loan policies, and the real estate industry.
And harm from pollution is not just about how much pollution you’re exposed to, but your underlying vulnerability. The less you have access to good nutrition, good health care, and economic and emotional security, the greater the harm from a given level of pollution. The significance of underlying vulnerabilities has also been in sharp relief as climate change impacts mount. Few can forget the devastating impacts of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans’ black residents, many of whom lived in flood-prone areas, lacked the resources to flee, and were left behind by the city's inadequate evacuation planning. Similarly, we can all remember the months and years of hardship in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, where underlying socioeconomic challenges compounded the harm, and American citizens were treated as if they were some other country's problem.
The story continues with the COVID-19 pandemic. The more you’ve been exposed to pollution, the greater health risks you appear to face from the virus. And the connection between pollution “sacrifice zones” and black vulnerability to COVID has not gone unnoticed. In both directions – health to pollution risk and pollution to health risk – risks are compounded.
If we take Black Lives Matter seriously, then we need a holistic vision for environmental and climate progress. Environmental and climate well-being are not separate from socioeconomics. Environmental policies that do not account for cumulative harms and underlying vulnerabilities will not protect people, and especially not the people of color who experience disproportionate harm. Moreover, socioeconomic policies that improve underlying physical and mental health can lessen vulnerability.
Reducing the risks of climate change will require a fundamental transition to a clean energy economy. That transition should prioritize the communities facing the worst pollution, where transitioning to clean energy will not only reduce greenhouse gases, but also reduce the persistent harms experienced in many communities of color. And the more we direct clean energy resources, like electrified transportation powered by renewables, energy efficiency, and distributed renewable resources, to communities that have historically been left behind, the more we can make up for past exclusion and provide a path for sharing in a green economic transition.
While the risk of police brutality is fresh on our minds at the moment, it is also time to come to terms with the myriad ways black lives have been treated as if they don't matter, and to set our sights on new approaches that seek to repair the damage wrought by persistent racial injustice.
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Alice Kaswan | June 10, 2020
Black lives matter. As we contemplate the scope of structural racism, we find that “Black Lives Matter” needs to be said over and over again. We say it as we push for policing that protects rather than threatens. And we can keep saying it. Like when we talk about having available, affordable health care. Having access to technology and broadband, a quiet space, and time when the classroom becomes off limits due to a pandemic or climate-driven extreme weather. Finding an affordable place to live and landlords who don’t discriminate. Finding meaningful work and getting a promotion. Finding fresh food. Getting respect. And then there’s the environment. We still see stark disparities in exposures to environmental harms in our country.
Darya Minovi | June 9, 2020
June 1 marked the start of hurricane season for the Atlantic Basin. While not welcome, tropical storms, strong winds, and storm surges are an inevitable fact of life for many residents of the Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf Coast. As a new paper from the Center for Progressive Reform explains, with those storms can come preventable toxic flooding with public health consequences that are difficult to predict or control.
Michael C. Duff | June 3, 2020
For decades, commentators have complained about how long it can take for workers attempting to unionize to simply get an election in which workers make an up-or-down decision on whether to form a union. For many years, employers were able to raise hyper-formalistic legal arguments that took so long to resolve that the employees initially interested in forming a union had often moved on to other employment. In far too many cases, employers also unlawfully coerce workers during the delay, and those workers eventually withdraw their support for the union. After much internal wrangling, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) enacted a series of new election procedures in 2014, but after Donald Trump took office, the Board published a “Request for Information” in December 2017 that implicitly questioned the continuing need for, and efficacy of, a rule that was little more than two years old.
Katlyn Schmitt | June 2, 2020
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court finally weighed in with an answer to a longstanding question about what kinds of pollution discharges rise to the level of a "point source" and require a permit under the Clean Water Act. The Court dipped its toes into some muddied waters, as this question has been the subject of a range of decisions in the lower courts for decades, with little consensus. Panelists on the Center for Progressive Reform's May 28 clean water webinar examined the Supreme Court's opinion and its possible implications for water quality protections.
Alice Kaswan, Amy Sinden, Brian Gumm, Catherine Jones, Darya Minovi, David Flores, James Goodwin, Joel A. Mintz, Katie Tracy, Katlyn Schmitt, Matt Shudtz, Matthew Freeman, Robert L. Glicksman, Robert Verchick, Sidney A. Shapiro, Thomas McGarity | June 1, 2020
Staff and Board members of the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) denounce the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on Memorial Day. We stand with the peaceful protestors calling for radical, systemic reforms to root out racism from our society and all levels of our governing institutions and the policies they administer. CPR Member Scholars and staff are dedicated to listening to and working alongside Black communities and non-Black people of color to call out racism and injustice and demand immediate and long-lasting change. Racism and bigotry cannot continue in the United States if our nation is to live up to its creed of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.
James Goodwin | June 1, 2020
It is now beyond debate – or at least it should be – that we, the people of the United States, have been failed by the Trump administration and its conservative apologists in Congress in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They failed to put in place mechanisms for systematic testing and contact tracing. They failed to coordinate the efficient acquisition of essential medical equipment such as ventilators and personal protective equipment. They failed to provide for an orderly phase-down of non-essential economic activity. They failed to establish clear, enforceable safety standards protect consumers, workers, and their families engaged in essential economic activity. This stopped being a public health crisis a long time ago. The pandemic is now more fairly characterized as a crisis of government. Fortunately, our democracy has a crucial safety valve that stands ever ready to kick in when our representatives fail to protect us: the civil courts.
Dave Owen, Katlyn Schmitt | May 28, 2020
Sometime soon, EPA is expected to release its final rule limiting state and tribal authority to conduct water quality certifications under section 401 of the Clean Water Act. A water quality certification is the most important tool states have to ensure that any federally permitted project complies with state water quality protections.
Samuel Boden | May 27, 2020
On May 19, the National Weather Service advised people living near the Tittabawassee River in Michigan to seek higher ground immediately. The region was in the midst of what meteorologists were calling a “500-year-flood,” resulting in a catastrophic failure of the Edenville Dam. Despite years of warnings from regulators that the dam could rupture, its owners failed to make changes to reinforce the structure and increase spillway capacity. By the next day, the river had risen to a record-high 34.4 feet in the city of Midland.
Michael C. Duff | May 21, 2020
A recent, interesting lawsuit filed against McDonald's, in Cook County, Illinois, suffers from few of the deficiencies that I have identified in prior postings about public nuisance cases related to COVID-19. The named employee-plaintiffs allege "negligence" in what might look at first blush like a drop-dead workers' compensation case. This time, however, there is a wrinkle.