Credit: Capital B News
A Biden administration initiative that assured at least 40% of federal investments in climate and clean energy would reach “disadvantaged” communities may prove costly to environmental justice goals because of a metric related to race, a new study reveals.
A policy analysis published in Science this week and conducted by a dozen of the country’s leading environmental health experts found that while the tool and spending initiative will help lower emissions in disadvantaged communities, it will not reduce relative disparities amongst racial groups. In some instances, it may increase the gap.
This means that while air and water will get cleaner across the country, Black people will still be exposed to relatively more pollution than the general population. Air pollution contributes to anywhere from 85,000 to 200,000 premature U.S. deaths, with Black people disproportionately impacted.