According to the EPA, Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This goal will be achieved when everyone enjoys:

• the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, and

• equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.

Environmental racism is the inverse of environmental justice. Even controlling for levels of poverty, polluters are more likely to be located in communities with a higher percentage of people of color. 

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The Greater Rochester Black Agenda Group has called on local organizations and individuals to publicly acknowledge that racism is a public health crisis and commit to fighting for racial justice. ColorPenfieldGreen has signed on in support of their statement and we encourage readers to consider doing the same. Not only is racism a public health crisis, climate change will only exacerbate the dangers. We will support initiatives at the local, state, and federal level that advance social and economic justice. We commit to advocating for policies that will improve health and climate resiliency in communities of color.

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Climate change is an existential threat to everyone on this planet, but the effects will hit, are hitting, and have been hitting indigenous populations and people of color first and hardest.  These populations are more likely to be exposed to the harmful air pollutants that are released when burning hydrocarbons, and therefore have much higher rates of asthma, respiratory diseases, and other chronic illnesses – some of which are the very underlying health issues causing Covid-19 to be so much more deadly to these populations.