Racial disparities exist in Minnesota when it comes to asthma cases. Environmental-justice advocates said it is one example of pollution disproportionately affecting communities of color, and they hope a bill in the Legislature would add protections.
The plan calls on the Pollution Control Agency to consider whether an industrial site or other entity seeking a permit would add to the cumulative impact in a racially diverse area that already has environmental stressors.
Carolina Ortiz, associate executive director of the Latino advocacy group COPAL MN, said the timing is especially important as Minnesota sees more climate migration from other countries.
"They're running away from some of the pollution, some of the additional barriers they face over there," Ortiz observed. "But then they're coming here to face the same thing, just in a different location."
Criteria for the environmental justice areas would include certain percentages of people who are nonwhite, who speak limited English, as well as income levels and tribal lands. The measure has been heard by various committees and is expected to be included in a larger omnibus bill. The League of Minnesota Cities recognizes the need but worries about how municipal water facilities would need periodic reviews of permits.
Tim Schaefer, legal advocate for COPAL MN, said it should not be viewed as an obstacle toward economic growth, because it can help create stronger and healthier communities.
"If economic growth comes at the expense of human health, if it comes at the expense of people's families and people's safety and security and their well-being, it's not worth it," Schaefer argued.
Roxxanne O'Brien, founder of Community Members for Environmental Justice in North Minneapolis, said neighborhoods in her area often lack the power to limit the development of industry and traffic and the pollution that comes along with it.
"We're not the ones heavily adding the carbon footprint out here, but we are the ones who get exploited the most," O'Brien contended.
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Advocates are asking Maryland lawmakers to establish a superfund to help hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the costs of climate change.
Both houses of the General Assembly are debating the "Responding to Emergency Needs from Extreme Weather Act." It would establish a Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Fund, targeting the 40 largest companies extracting or refining gas and oil with a fee totaling $9 billion over 10 years.
Sen. Katie Fry Hester, D-Howard, citing the expense of infrastructure upgrades, said the state needs help paying these costs.
"Unfortunately, it has become the responsibility of the Maryland taxpayer to foot the bill for the costs of climate mitigation, adaptation and recovery measures," Hester pointed out. "Not anymore. It's time to ensure that the polluters pay."
The bill would enable the Department of the Environment to use the fund for stormwater and sewer system improvements, bridges and rail infrastructure, flood recovery, clean energy projects and more. In a recent Senate committee hearing, some lawmakers expressed concern about the targeted businesses passing the cost on to consumers.
The Center for Climate Integrity estimated by 2040, Maryland will have to spend more than $27 billion to protect against the possibility of moderate sea-level rise.
Jamie DeMarco, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said climate change mitigation is already costing the state hundreds of millions.
"Howard County is spending $228 million to bore an 18-foot diameter drainage tunnel through granite bedrock to prevent flooding," DeMarco noted. "It's the biggest capital expenditure in the history of the county. Annapolis is spending $50 million renovating their dock from nuisance flooding. The same thing is happening everywhere across the state."
Recent polling by Data for Progress found 73% of likely voters support assessing a fee on big oil and gas companies to pay part of the cost of climate change mitigation. Either version of the measure needs to pass one chamber by March 18 in order to have a future in the current session.
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The founder of the Baltimore Compost Collective wants Baltimore to ditch trash incineration, fight climate change and grow healthier food.
Marvin Hayes began composting in Baltimore more than a decade ago and has grown the operation into a collection service picking up around 1,500 pounds of food waste each week. Hayes operates a composting facility at the nonprofit Filbert Street Garden, where the organic material is turned into rich soil for use at the urban garden.
Hayes sees a revolution, a better way of life for Baltimore's Black community to help fight what he calls "food apartheid" and end the city's reliance on a giant, polluting waste-to-energy incinerator and fight climate change.
"People didn't know that the incinerator was causing $55 million in health damages, or they didn't know what the incinerator was," Hayes recounted. "People didn't know that Baltimore County trash gets brought here and burned. Howard County's trash gets brought here and burned."
In September the Environmental Protection Agency announced a $4 million grant as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill to build a solar-powered composting facility in south Baltimore to accept food scraps and other organic material. The agency estimates the facility will keep 12,000 tons of waste out of the city's incinerator.
Incinerators release large quantities of lead, mercury and other harmful pollutants into the air. In late 2020 Baltimore signed a 10-year contract to continue incineration, much to the chagrin of environmental advocates such as Hayes, who have long advocated for composting as a viable alternative to toxic trash incineration.
A 2018 study by the Baltimore Office of Sustainability noted compost-amended soil can reduce contamination of urban pollutants by 60% to 95%, and protects against the danger associated with lead in urban soils.
Hayes' composting facility has a limited capacity. When it is full, he transports the rest of his food scraps to a bigger organic compost facility in Upper Marlboro in Prince George's County.
"If PG County is doing it, why shouldn't Baltimore be following the same practices?" Hayes asked. "Make a large scale composting facility, so when the residents put their recycling out, they'll put their composting out, it'll go to a large-scale composting facility, create four times more jobs than incinerators, two times more jobs than the landfill."
This story was produced based on original reporting by Aman Azhar for Inside Climate News.
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Up to $1 million in grants are up for grabs in Los Angeles for local groups to build or expand community parks, gardens and green spaces.
The Bezos Earth Fund awarded the grant to the nonprofit GreenLatinos through its Greening America's Cities initiative. GreenLatinos will now distribute the funds to local community groups who can apply starting Feb. 27.
Jonathan Fajardo, California community advocate for GreenLatinos in Los Angeles, said the idea is to fight environmental inequalities perpetuating systemic health and economic injustice.
"We're looking especially to uplift projects that are creating access to healthy organic foods, like urban gardens and community farms, true communal spaces," Fajardo outlined.
A July 2022 study from the University of Southern California found almost a quarter of households in Los Angeles were food insecure over the prior year, with low-income households headed by young Latina adults hit the hardest.
A community group, called Mujeres de la Tierra - which means "Women of the Earth" - will use funding from the initiative to add native pollinator gardens, interpretive signage, shaded areas, and exercise equipment to Juntos Park in the Glassell Park area of Los Angeles. The project aims to promote community involvement and engagement.
Fajardo emphasized they are focused on funding projects springing from local community groups, rather than large public agencies.
"We're mainly looking towards nonprofits, especially grassroots and frontline organizations, community-based smaller organizations that are more addressing, at a hyperlocal level, urban greening and food access," Fajardo explained.
The Sustainable Cities Urban Greening Initiative is offering a similar program in Albuquerque and Chicago for a total of $2.7 million in grants. Groups can apply through the JustFund online grants portal. GreenLatinos also offers training to help groups write their proposals.
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