Geopolitics of Climate Change – A Civil Rights Perspective
- Abstract
An African American family making $50-$60,000 per year is more likely to live next to a toxic facility than a White American family making $10-$15,000 per year. One example of these toxic facilities is the thousands of coal fired power plants that are the number one contributor to the carbon dioxide emissions that drive climate change. Over 78% of African Americans live within a 30-mile radius of coal fired power plants, which also emit sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury, arsenic, and lead. And 71% of African Americans live in counties in violation of EPA air quality standards.
- Resource Type
- Report
- Author
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- Resource URL
- http://www.naacp.org/blog/entry/geopolitics-of-climate-changea-civil-rights-perspective
- Date
- Feb 29, 2016
- Institution
- NAACP
- Organization Type
- Ngo
- Other
- Advocacy Climate and environmental justice/health equity Vulnerable populations