Nearly 50 Million Americans are exposed to higher levels in the air after discriminatory redlining policies were banned decades ago. According to research published by the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters.
According to research, Black and Latino Americans live in areas with higher levels fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide. Redlining, which is the practice that classifies minority neighborhoods as less risky for investment, is a major factor in these findings. It prevents residents from accessing loans or insurance.
Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley compared Home Owners Loan Corporation maps from the 1930s and 2010 to determine the levels of air pollution in 202 cities, which account for 75 percent of U.S. residents. They found a strong correlation between pollution levels and worse HOLC scores. For example, nitrogen oxide levels in neighborhoods receiving a D-grade were 50 percent higher than those in neighborhoods receiving an A.
Researchers also found that there were racial as well as ethnic disparities between the grades. White residents were more likely to be exposed than Black and Latino residents to fine particulate matter and Nitrous dioxide. This suggests that redlining may have been a factor in the environmental inequalities, but other racially discriminatory practices could have contributed more recently.
The authors wrote that our findings demonstrate how redlining – a nearly 80-year-old racist policy – continues to shape systemic environmental exposure disparities throughout the United States.
The study, which was published in Environmental Health Perspectives months after the previous one, found that federal regulations for air pollution did not properly account for racial disparities. This led to federal regulators underestimating mortality costs by about $100 billion.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan
Michael ReganOvernight Environment & Energy Biden pushes truck pollution to be reduced Pentagon shutting down fuel tank facility at Hawaii that leaked into water Second Joint Base Andrews Intruder at Large after search MOREEnvironmental justice and addressing racial inequalities related to the environment were his top priorities. Last year, he testified before the House Appropriations Committee regarding the budget request for the Environmental Protection Agency. He stated that the COVID-19 Pandemic had created a storm for communities of color as well as low-income communities, who already have the highest pollution burdens.