Extreme weather events tend to hit minority communities hardest. New legislation unveiled by Washington Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal aims to turn that grim reality on its head.
he research showing how climate change-related events disproportionately affect vulnerable communities is staggering. From New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to New York City after Superstorm Sandy, extreme weather events tend to hit minority communities hardest. Afound that Black Americans living in communities hit by disasters over the study period lost nearly $20,000 in wealth—whereas their white counterparts gained more than $126,000 as investment flowed and communities rebuilt.
“One of the things we really want to fix is how the resources get distributed: who gets the jobs, how do we make sure that those jobs are well paid, and that it becomes an opportunity to—wait for it—build back better in those communities,” says Jayapal. The legislation would also provide funding for local governments to come up with their own resilience plans—and require them to address the disparate challenges faced by the most vulnerable communities. A new Office of Climate Resilience at the White House would serve as a hub for the federal government’s coordination with vulnerable communities.
That vision leaves much of the details to states, cities and communities—and that’s sort of the point. Activists have spent years calling on government to pay closer attention to environmental justice issues while also demanding solutions that empower local leaders.
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