At a time when all of us must confront the racial divisions and injustices that continue to trouble our nation, it’s important to remember this fundamental truth:
The impact of everything that is wrong with our fossil-fuel based energy system is even worse if you are Black, Latinx, or simply poor. If you are a member of a historically disadvantaged community then, statistically speaking, you bear a disproportionate share of the health, safety and financial burdens imposed by fossil fuels.
We know, for example, that exposures to particulates and volatile organic compounds are noticeably higher in neighborhoods adjacent to fossil fuel-driven power plants. We know that exposure to high levels of leaked methane can weaken the respiratory system and increase susceptibility to everything from asthma to COVID-19. And we know that it is simply more difficult to gain access to clean energy alternatives and energy efficiency audits for those who live in poorer, more densely populated urban areas.
The latest reminder about the unfair distribution of fossil-fuel-related health risks comes from the communities around the Mystic Generating Station, including Chelsea (72 percent non-white) and Everett (42 percent non-white). That oil- and gas-fired plant was scheduled to shut down forever in 2024, but its owners have now decided to keep it burning – even though ISO-New England, the agency that operates the regional electrical grid, has already decided it isn’t needed.
But the problem is by no means confined to urban areas. Earlier this year, the U.S Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit vacated a permit to build a compressor station for the proposed Atlantic Coast gas pipeline because the state had failed to properly evaluate its impact on Union Hill, a rural community in Virginia that was founded after the Civil War by newly freed slaves – and remains largely African American to this day.
Social injustice, racial injustice and environmental injustice tend to be overlapping and mutually reinforcing. That’s one more reason why our nation’s post-COVID economic recovery should be driven by incentives for renewable, clean-energy solutions that can provide more jobs, more affordable energy and better public health to the communities most affected by our current use of fossil fuels.