anarchobotanist: milkiscold: Environmental racism refers to the intentional and unintentional dispro

anarchobotanist:milkiscold:Environmental racism refers to the intentional and unintentional disproportionate imposition of environmental hazards on minorities (x). It is a term that can be used to describe a number of unjust realities faced by minority populations all over the world. In the United States, it is a term that can be used to explain why minorities are almost 80% more likely to live in neighborhoods where industrial pollution poses an extreme threat to human health (x). It explains why 56% of the people living within a 3 mile radius of our nation’s hazardous waste facilities are people of color, and only 30% of the people living outside of those radii are people of color (x). It explains why even in big cities, poor white people still inhale less nitrogen-dioxide (NO2) from car and power plant pollution than affluent people of color (x). Race, it turns out, is a better predictor of the location of hazardous waste facilities than education or income, and is also a better predictor of dangerous exposure to air pollution than income (x)(x).It is not uncommon in the world of developmental theory to read about the intergenerational transmission of racist ideologies from parent to child (x). What is discussed much less is the intergenerational perpetuation of race-based oppression that occurs when the lives of minority children are affected by environmental racism before they even gain individual autonomy. Because exposure to environmental pollution is an important determinant of infant health, inequities in exposure can lead to persistent group-level differences in health at birth (x), and those differences at birth can affect a child for their entire lifespan.Besides unequal exposure to air pollution and hazardous waste contamination, minority populations are also more likely to experience adverse birth outcomes as a result of exposure to environmental contaminants such as tobacco smoke, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and pesticides (x).  The ramifications of environmental exposure to air pollution, various hazardous wastes, tobacco smoke, PAH, and pesticides in utero vary widely. However, many of the effects, such as asthma, reduced cognitive functioning, autism, and ADHD are lasting. No child deserves to have their life disproportionately affected by exposure to environmental toxins as a result of their race. `I’ve seen this over and over again. The coal ash plant named “Scherer” in Georgia, an older pollution spewing thing (it emits far more than CO2. but it’s the top CO2 releaser in the USA, and the 15th in the world just to give you an idea of how bad this thing is) disproportionately affects POC. In Atlanta, GA the airport there - the busiest in the world, and heavily impacts the air in surrounding neighborhoods - disproportionately affects POC. You’ll find that NIMBY means that those with the least power in the system end up with the most polluting things in their midst. Here’s a great website to find out the most polluting power plants in your area - http://carma.org/ -- source link

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