(ThyBlackMan.com) The climate crisis is not coming; it is here now. We see it all around our communities on a daily basis. And we know it hits frontline and Black and Brown communities first and worst.
It is impacting our economy and nearly every aspect of our daily lives. And while Congress has passed and the president has signed into law historic climate crisis legislation, a new action by the Biden administration – that many may not have noticed – can have a powerful and meaningful impact on frontline communities.
And examples like what we saw this year in Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, are just a preview of what is to come. The majority of the residents of the island – most of whom are indigenous members of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe – were forced to relocate due to rising water levels. Meanwhile, Louisiana is one of the biggest per capita carbon polluters in the country.
On top of that, a recent EPA study found Black people are 41% to 59% more likely to die as a result of poor air quality and that Black children 17 and younger are 34% to 40% more likely to be diagnosed with asthma.
Our communities are already being hit the hardest.
Recently, the Biden administration’s Department of Transportation finalized an important rule that will give us a tool to protect our environment, limit greenhouse gas emissions and advocate for public transit.
The rule mandates states to measure the Greenhouse Gas impact of transportation. It will unify a hodgepodge of incomplete data from across the country by creating a standardized measure This will enable cities, states and the federal government to make informed decisions about which transportation projects to invest taxpayer dollars in to reduce climate emissions.
This vital rule could not have come at a more critical time for both our planet and transit in our community.
The transportation sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. – and with record amounts of federal funds already flowing to states thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, there is no time to waste to ensure that the projects being built reduce harmful carbon emissions, rather than increase them.
The good news is that there is already federal funding available for all communities to implement the rule.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed last year, is a historic bill, and this new action by the U.S. Department of Transportation will ensure it can not only create jobs, rebuild the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, and invest in transit but also live up to its promise of helping to combat climate change.
The USDOT’s latest action will undo some of the harm of the previous administration and will help meet the climate crisis with the urgency needed.
But this is not only a critical time for the climate crisis, it is also a critical time for our communities.
As the Climate Reality Project has made clear, “Frontline communities experience the impacts of climate change ‘first and worst.’ Overwhelmingly and disproportionately, people of color individuals in these communities have endured the incredible physical, economic, and mental burdens of climate change. They’ve been forced to rebuild their homes and lives after climate-fueled floods or wildfires take everything they’ve worked for. They’ve lived through heatwave after heatwave or watched endless droughts turn crops into dust.”
That is why this new rule is so critical. We can’t tackle the climate crisis on a scale that meets the challenge unless we measure the size of the problem. And that is what the Biden administration is doing.
The pandemic and ongoing climate catastrophes have changed how our communities function, work, socialize and commute. We need to use this moment and the opportunities provided by the increased federal funds to reimagine our community and invest in sustainable transit.
This new rule will allow frontline communities across the country to do just that.
Written by Libero Della Piana
Official website; https://twitter.com/ldellapiana
