The New Civil Rights Front: Climate Change
By Lorraine C. Miller and Trip Van Noppen

Those of us who care about economic and environmental justice realize that global warming is a civil rights issue. The NAACP and Earthjustice have worked together to defend new safeguards that will lower mercury and other pollution from coal-fired power plants. Both organizations firmly believe that no community should bear a disproportionate cost for activities that benefit others.

But the most vulnerable communities across the nation are paying the highest cost for the negative consequences of climate change.

For this reason, African-Americans and other communities of color, at every level, will have an especially high stake in the implementation of new safeguards limiting carbon emissions from existing power plants, which were recently unveiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and will be discussed at public hearings in Denver later this month.

Coal-burning electric plants are far more likely to be located near communities of color with African-Americans suffering disproportionately from the pollution these plants emit with illnesses like asthma, lung and heart disease, as well as developmental disorders such as autism.

From coast to coast, African Americans are more likely to be impacted by rising sea levels predicted by climate scientists. We witnessed communities across the Gulf become devastated by Hurricane Katrina, slammed by Hurricane Ike and pummeled by Hurricane Rita and Sandy because of warming oceans and air currents.

And as we enter the summer months, communities nationwide, especially inner-city communities, will be hit harder by more frequent and more severe heat waves.

Low-income communities, in particular, who already live in food deserts will see their food prices soar as droughts in agricultural areas and periods of low production become more frequent.

But no one will be immune from the impact of global warming. Urgent steps must be taken, now, to blunt the worst of what’s coming.

That is why we welcome new limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants, the centerpiece of President Obama’s climate initiative. These limits could be the most dramatic anti-pollution measure in a generation.

These safeguards are not just the best, most efficient method for significantly lowering America’s carbon output (coal-fired power plants are the single largest contributor to greenhouse gasses), they will also have an immediate impact on the health and wellbeing of communities across the nation, including our most vulnerable.

During both of his presidential campaigns, President Obama promised meaningful action on climate change. The EPA’s proposal, if properly implemented, will be a huge step toward fulfilling that promise.

Polluters have pumped millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the Earth’s atmosphere. They have polluted the air breathed by millions of Americans, contributing to countless illnesses, hospital visits, missed days of school and work, and thousands of premature deaths every year.

Some will talk about the cost of these new safeguards, but the truth is that the cost of going without them has been enormous. Inaction will be catastrophic.

If you care about environmental justice, the health of America’s most vulnerable children and the future of humanity, we must act with urgency. We need your vocal support at the hearing this month for the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Make it known that EPA has your support.

Lorraine C. Miller is the interim president of the NAACP. Trip Van Noppen is president of Earthjustice.

More information about Lorraine C. Miller can be found here.. http://www.naacp.org/pages/board-member-lorraine-c.-miller Please contact Nicole Kenney at 410-336-4559

More information on Trip Van Noppen can be found here. http://earthjustice.org/about/staff/trip-van-noppen