COVID-19 relief and economic recovery must dismantle environmental racism
The record-breaking national demonstrations that arose from George Floyd's death, as well as the extreme racial disparities of the COVID-19 crisis highlighted by the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have exposed systematic racism across the United States. But climate change is not slowing for protests or pandemic - there, too, we find communities of color once again hit the hardest.
People of color experience greater incidence of human and financial loss because of extreme weather events such as hurricanes. Discriminatory housing and permitting policies expose people of color to more extreme heat, pollution and ecosystem disruption in their communities. Generations of structural racism have left many in these same communities without access to quality, affordable health care and good jobs, impeding the economic security needed for recovery.
Unified by a desire to confront the compounding devastation of structural and environmental inequality and climate change, 75 environmental justice and national environmental groups came together last July to launch the Equitable and Just National Climate Platform. Signed by more than 280 organizations, the platform calls for a national climate agenda centered on advancing economic, racial, climate and environmental justice.
One year ago, we could not have foreseen the events that now grip the nation. On the platform's anniversary, the country is recognizing its systemic racism - and how far we must go to dismantle it. With these longstanding inequalities in the spotlight, Congress must not squander this unprecedented opportunity to transform our nation's treatment of Black, Indigenous and Latino communities while enacting sustainable, equitable climate solutions.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/covid-19-relief-and-economic-recovery-must-dismantle-environmental-racism/ar-BB16U7JM?li=BBnb7Kz
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