Coal Blooded: Putting Profits Before People
- Abstract
Coal Blooded: Putting Profits Before People is a new report analyzing sulfur dioxide (SO2) and Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions in conjunction with demographic factors –race, income, and population density – to rank the environmental justice performance of the nation’s 378 coal fired power plants.This report focuses on the role that coal-fired power plants have in the inequitable health outcomes of low income communities and communities of color in the U.S. and in the contribution of greenhouse gases that drive climate change, the consequences of which also disproportionately impact people of color and low income communities globally.This report provides an empirical discussion of the effects of burning coal, the worst coal plants, and te companies that own them. It is the argument of this report that the worst ones must be closed.This report is for grassroots community activists and community organizers, to make them aware of the issue and its impact, to provide tools for organizing and advocacy, and to highlight what a winning strategy looks like. Second, it is written for environmental activists and organizations to dialogue about environmental justice and climate justice dimensions of the anti-coal movement, to raise awareness of the existence and struggle of grassroots environmental justice organizations in communities across the country, and to suggest models of partnership that are the basis of a winning strategy. Lastly it is written for philanthropy to offer opportunities for investing resources that will both support loca communities’ struggling to better their living conditions while also advancing environmental grant makers’ most important goals of protecting human health and the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.Part 1- an intro to coal and its impact on our communities. Part 2 – performance ranking of coal plants in the U.S. Part 3 – ranking of coal power companies Part 4- how industry is profitable Part 5- framework for response Part 6- recent community victory in Chicago Part 7- series of recommendations
- Resource Type
- Report
- Authors
- Adrian Wilson Jacqueline Patterson Kimberly Wasserman Amanda Starbuck Annie Sartor Judy Hatcher John Fleming Katie Fink
- Resource URL
- http://www.naacp.org/pages/coal-blooded1
- Date
- November 2012
- Institution
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Indigenous Environmental Network, LIttle Village Environmental Justice Organization
- Organization Type
- Ngo
- Climate and Environmental Impact
- Air pollution
- Emission Sources
- Conventional energy Energy Conventional
- Fossil Fuel
- Coal
- Region
- Midwest
- Other
- Climate and environmental justice/health equity Vulnerable populations