Citizens' Climate Lobby

CCR Ep 34 Extinction Rebellion and Students Demanding Climate Action

Rebels are organizing. We are witnessing a growing global student protest movement around climate change. In episode nine our host, Peterson Toscano, chatted with Quaker author, speaker, and activist, Eileen Flanagan. She described the four different roles change agents take—Helper, Organizer, Advocate, and Rebel. This month we dig deeper into the role of the rebels—groups and individuals who disrupt business as usual in order to bring about systems change. 

In addition to capturing voices of protesters from the recent student walk-out in Honolulu, Hawaii, which was part of similar actions around the world, Peterson chats with Robin Boardman, from the British group Extinction Rebellion. Robin and his friends are planning major disruptive actions in London and other parts of the UK in mid-April. What are their goals, values, and methods? Join us for this insightful and moving conversation. 

The Art House

Returning to the Art House is Hope Clark. She is a dancer concerned about climate change. In episode 18 she told us how she decided to engage her community in the Washington DC area through a public art project. To do so, she used giant parachutes. 

Creating an art piece can help us process our thoughts and feelings about a topic as large and challenging as climate change. No surprise then, once she completed the Make a Movement Parachute Community Project, Hope began to go deeper into her own feelings. She found herself returning to an old comfort—an addiction to cigarette smoking. Hope is making powerful connections between her own addictions and society's addiction to fossil fuels. Through spoken word and dance, she is exploring the comforts we seek that have failed us. 

Puzzler Question

We have been getting excellent answers to our puzzler question. We want to hold this one out for another month. We look forward to hearing from you. 

Puzzler Question

You are at a family dinner when you mention your excitement about more and more people becoming concerned about climate change. Your Uncle Ralph interrupts, “Global warming? Seriously? What about all this record cold weather we have had? It doesn’t seem its warming at all?”

 

So what do you say? How can you open up a conversation about climate change that doesn’t just turn into a debate?

Send Peterson your answers by April 15, 2019, along with your name, contact info, and where you are from. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of three minutes or less at 518.595.9414 (+1 if calling from outside the USA).

 

Dig Deeper

• Extinction Rebellion on Twitter @ExtinctionR
• Erica Chenoweth, author of Civil Action and the Dynamics of Violence, inspiration to Extinction Rebellion
• Gandhi's Civil Disobedience 
• Environmental Organizations Outreach Training
• Addiction as a Metaphor for Climate Change: An Interview with Charles Eisenstein(The Fix)

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!

 

(Photo from the Extinction Rebellion newsletter #16.)

CC Radio Ep 33 One of 7500 Islands in the Philippines

Gael Henry Carlut grew up in the Philippines on what was once a desert island. Gael's father is from France and his mother is from Iloilo in the Philippines. They fell in love and in 1986 settled on Pandan Island.  Their goal was to protect the extraordinary coral reef that surrounds the island and then share it with others. Gael left the Philippines and settled in France to study environmental science and water treatment processes. He felt a strong pull though to return not only to the Philippines, but to this remote island. On a recent visit to Pandan Island, Citizens Climate Radio host, Peterson Toscano chatted with Gael about the island, climate change, and the pursuit of happiness. 

Art House

Marissa Slaven talks about her novel, Code Blue, an eco-mystery. Drawing on her love of the coast in New England and even her background a palliative care physician, Marissa has created a near future world that is stressed by climate change in a society has chosen to respond creatively to it. She expertly weaves in various mysterious her main characters, Atlantic or Tic, a high school student, must solve. These mysterious are both personal and scientific. Her book is one you cannot easily put down once you start reading it. 

Puzzler

We hear answers to last month’s puzzler question: Your cousin Dan is discouraged because world leaders do not want to respond to climate change; he wonders if we should just wait it out until we have better leaders. 

 

New Puzzler Question

 

You are at a family dinner when you mention your excitement about more and more people becoming concerned about climate change. Your Uncle Ralph interrupts, “Global warming? Seriously? What about all this record cold weather we have had? It doesn’t seem its warming at all?”

So what do you say? How can you open up a conversation about climate change that doesn’t just turn into a debate?

 

Send Peterson your answers by March 15, 2019, along with your name, contact info, and where you are from. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414 (+1 if calling from outside the USA).

 

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!

CC Radio Ep 32 Coal Miners Speak Out

Two coal miners from Appalachia open up about the risks and challenges of mining. Michael Ray Whitten from West Virginia and Nick Mullins from Kentucky come from families that have been mining for generations. They talk to show host, Peterson Toscano, about the physical toll mining had on their fathers. After seeing the damage to miners and to the land, they are now speaking out about the need to transition away from coal mining jobs. Dr. Nathasha DeJarnett from the National Environmental Health Association joins the conversation to talk about Black Lung Disease and the health risks miners in rural communities face. Listen in to this informative and moving discussion.

Art House

Inthe art house you will meet Michelle Irizarry. She a visual artist living in Orlando, Florida, USA. Michelle is is also a civil engineer. As a result of climate change, she has seen a big transformation in her work as a artist. Hear about her powerful new paintings and the role of art in her life as she deepens her understanding of climate change. She her paintings on-line at her website or her Facebook page. 

Puzzler

We also have answers to last month’s puzzler: What do you say your co-worker, Janet, wants nothing to do with your bipartisan climate group because it includes Conservatives? Two listeners share how they would address Janet’s fears and doubts.

New Puzzler Question

At a family gathering you are chatting with your cousin, Dan. You mention climate change and he has a meltdown. He says, “I feel so discouraged. All over the world you have leaders in Brazil, the US, and parts of Canada opposing any action on climate change. I hate to give up but maybe we just have to wait a couple of years before we can do anything about it.”

What do you say to Dan to help address this discouragement she has? If national leaders are not acting on climate change, what can we do?

Send your answers to Peterson by February 15, 2019. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from.

You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) 

Dig Deeper

• Nick Mullins' Breaking Clean organization
• Michael Ray Whitten and his coal mining family in Boone County (YouTube video)
• Prevalence of Black Lung Continues to Increase among U.S. Coal Miners (NIOSH)  
• 4th National Climate Assessment Rural Communities Section (USGCRP)
• An Epidemic is Killing Thousands of Coal Miners—Regulators Could have Stopped It (NPR)
• Pneumoconioses Fact Sheet (CDC)  

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!

Ep 31 Dr Katharine Hayhoe and Dr Jeffrey Bennett

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is a climate scientist, a professor in the Department of Political Science and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. She is also a brilliant climate communicator and the host of the Global Weirding web series. She chats with show host, Peterson Toscano, about what has changed since she her famous address at the 2015 Citizens Climate International Conference. There is no more speculation; climate change is here. She talks about the many ways people are adapting, and she provides excellent climate communication tips. Dr. Hayhoe also reveals where she finds hope in these troubling times. 

The Art House

Dr. Jeffrey Bennett and illustrator Roberta Collier-Morales created the whimsical and moving illustrated children's book, The Wizard Who Saved the World. While most of his Dr. Bennett's Max the Dog books are about space travel, Jeff felt it was time to write about what was happening on earth with global warming. Not only did he need to tap into deep emotions, he had to find a new illustrator who could capture the story of Diego, a boy suddenly alarmed by climate change and motivated to do something about it. To create the vibrant images about Diego's inner and outer world, Roberta Collier-Morales drew on her own childhood struggles with dyslexia and the role imagination played in her young life.

Puzzler Question

Listener Sherri Michalovic answers the question, What does your faith have to do with climate change? She makes connections to a changing climate, asthma among children in her city, and the mandate she feels as a Christian to love her neighbor. 

New Puzzler Question

You are part of a group that pursues bi-partisan economic solutions to address climate change. One of your co-workers, Janet is a Progressive Liberal who also wants to see us do something about climate change. But she is pushing back against your ideas. She says, “Right now I don’t trust any plan that has Conservatives involved. How do I know this is not some group that is  lying, greenwashing, and is an enemy of environmental justice?”

Janet has fears and doubts that need to be addressed. How would you respond?

Send your answers to Peterson by January 15, 2019. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from.

You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) 

Dig Deeper

• Global Warming Primer by Dr. Jeffrey Bennet
• Fourth National Climate Assessment NCA4 Volume One
• Fourth National Climate Assessment NCA4 Volume Two
• Story Time from Space--watch astronauts read Dr. Jeffrey Bennett's books for children
• Citizens Climate Radio Ep 4 Dr. Katharine Hayhoe and Communication Myths

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!

CC Radio Ep 30 What Does the Bible Say About Climate Change

Three American Evangelicals consider faith, theology, and global warming. Kyle Meyaard Schaap, National Organizer and spokesperson for Young Evangelicals for Climate Action (YECA) and Corina Newsome, YECA steering committee member on the diversity and civic engagement subcommittees, along with Rev. Josh Gibson, pastor of Emmanuel Bible Fellowship Church in Sunbury, PA, chat with host, Peterson Toscano about the Bible, stewardship, loving our neighbor, heaven, and earth. Discover how these Evangelicals approach the often political topic of climate change, and learn how to connect with Bible believers, who may not be environmentalists but care very much for what happens to people and to our earthly home. 

Art House

In response to the question, What Does the Bible Say About Climate Change? Tony Buffusio from the Bronx, NY (a comic creation of Peterson Toscano) tells the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Joseph lives in Egypt during a time of temporary regional shifts in the climate. Not only does he predict changes in weather patterns, he developes a plan of how to look after the people. Peterson is a Bible scholar with a passion for looking after the welfare of people who are affected by extreme weather events.

Puzzler Question

We hear from Jay Greene in Salisbury, England. She tells us what her faith has to do with climate change. 

Since this is such a rich question, we want to keep it open another month. 

Louis, someone you know from your faith community asks why are you involved in climate change work. You say, Lots of reasons, but a big part is because of my faith. Louis looks puzzled. He asks, Climate Change? What’s faith got to do with it?

So what do you say to Louis? How is climate change connected to your faith or religion or spiritual practice? How is climate change connnected to your faith or religion or spiritual practice? What do you have to add to this topic?

Send your answers to Peterson by December 10, 2018. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from.

You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) 

Dig Deeper

Here is a listing to the various Bible passages referenced in Ep 30. You can look up these verses at BibleGateway.

Genesis 1:26, Genesis 2:15, Leviticus 25:4, Pslam 24:1,2, Psalm 104:10-15, Colossians 1:15, Revelation 21, Matthew 25:31-46, Romans 8:19-21

• Stopping Climate Change is Part of Following Jesus by Kyle Meyaard-Schaap (Relevant Magazine)
• YECA resource list of books for Christians interested in learning more about climate change and creation care. 
• Evangelical Climate Initiative
• Operation Noah, a Christian charity working with the church to inspire action on climate change
• The Christian Climate Professor Bridging the Gap Between Faith and Science. (Quartz)
• Citizens Climate Lobby Faith Outreach

 

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!

 

CC Radio Ep 29 Truth, Fact, and Cli Fi

When telling climate change stories, truth is more important than facts. Host, Peterson Toscano shares his own bizarre climate change coming out story. Like many people, he was aware of climate change, but it never hit him in the heart or the gut--until one day. Moving, funny, and unexpected, his awakening came when climate change hit him and his Italian-American/South African family close to home. In addition to telling how he woke up to the reality of climate change, he shares listeners' responses to the Puzzler Question—What Does Climate Change Mean to You?

Art House

We learn about climate fiction or “cli-fi” from Elizabeth Rush. Although she is the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed non-fiction book, Rising—Dispatches from the New American Shore, she also teaches cli-fi at Brown University. She reveals the differences and important contributions both humanities and science students bring to the course. She also provides us with a reading list and discusses:

Gold, Fame, Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins

10:04 by Ben Lerner

New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson

Puzzler

The puzzler question is such an important part of this show. These questions are designed to help you improve in your climate communication skills. 

New Puzzler Question (especially designed for people of faith)

You are at a place of worship and you have fliers about an upcoming climate change event. Louis, someone you know from your faith community asks why are you involved in climate change work. You say, Lots of reasons, but a big part is because of my faith. Louis looks puzzled. He asks, Climate Change? What’s faith got to do with it?

So what do you say to Louis? How is climate change connected to your faith or religion or spiritual practice?

Send Peterson your answers. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from.

Get back to him by November, 15, 2018. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or better yet leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)

Dig Deeper

• Burning Worlds column in Chicago Review of Books by Amy Brady regularly features reviews of new 
• Interview with cli-fi novelist Claire Vaye Watkins CC Radio Ep 22
• La Jetée French sci-fi film 
• Article: With Cli-Fi Fiction Novelists Aim for ‘Radical Empathy 
• Cli-Fi Report (CFR) Global a research tool for academics and media professionals to use in gathering information and reporting on the rise of the emerging cli-fi term worldwide 

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!

Ep 28 College Students Modeling Systems Change

University campuses in the USA are the training grounds for collective action leading to systems changes. Since 2012 a group of students at the University of Delaware have taken on a big idea--to transform their large lush heavily chemically treated lawns into an organic public green. The Green the Greeninitiative has required thoughtful strategy, community building, public education, and lots of persistence. Climate advocates can learn a lot from their methods. Show host, Peterson Toscano, speaks with Sophie Phillips, a senior and the outgoing head of Students 4 the Environment. Sophie is in the process of handing over the work to sophomore, CJ Krulewitch who also talks about strategies and successes. They both offer advice for climate advocates.

Art House

In the USA one of the most dramatic encounters happens around the Thanksgiving holiday table. In the USA one of the most dramatic encounters happens around the Thanksgiving holiday table. In his play, Dad, theater student Dante Flores decides to magnify the tension.  He talks about the setting, tone, and structure of his play. By putting the action on a repeat loop, he deepens the theater experience.

Puzzler

You are talking with your neighbor, Tabitha. She seems interested in your work as a climate advocate. You tell her about large solutions like carbon fee and dividend. You are so excited to find someone who wants to know more. But then you notice Tabitha's eyes start to glaze over. She interrupts you, "This all sounds so important and overwhelming. But What does it mean for you and for me?"

Tabitha wants to better understand climate change. She doesn't need more facts right now. She needs to hear some of your own story. How might you begin to shift the tone and and get personal with her? What does climate change mean for you? Let's personal.

Send Peterson your answers. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from.

Get back to him by October 15, 2018. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less. And don't be anxious about the voicemail. You can leave as many versions of your answer as you like. If you stumble, try again until you feel comfortable with your answer. Leave your message at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)

Dig Deeper

• Interview w/ Paul Tukey about organic lawn care 

• Green the Green videoand Students 4 the Environment on Twitter.

• Dr. McKay Jenkins, author and professor of environmental humanities at U of Delaware

• 2,4-D chemical compound, Wikipedia article

• Removing Trays from Dinning Halls Cuts Food Waste, Reuters

• If You Must Talk Politics at Thanksgiving, Here's How, The Atlantic

• Citizens' Climate Lobby Higher Education
• CCL Higher Education Outreach page

• Dakota Access Pipeline Protests at Standing Rock, Wikipedia article

• Theater in the Age of Climate Change Convening

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!

CC Radio Ep 27 Telling Better Climate Stories with Sara Peach and Hayride Casualties

Sara Peach, the senior editor at Yale Climate Connections has only 90 seconds to tell a compelling and inspiring climate change related story. She sits down with show host, Peterson Toscano, to discuss the kind of stories that move people closer to climate advocacy. Based on extensive research from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Sara and her team have produced hundreds of short radio pieces. She brought two of these stories with her to share on this episode. Sara also talks about where she is finding hope these and what she does when she hears discouraging climate news.

Art House

Singer Song writer Dan Dewald produces music as Hayride Casualties. His album Fossil Fuel Kid is all about climate change. The songs explore how climate change affects us. They point to the complications of feeling complicit in contributing to the pollution.  In addition, they have songs that point to the fierce passionate response needed to address our growing fossil fuel problem.

Citizens Climate Radio Puzzler

Many listeners wrote in to say they want more puzzler questions. We have set up a new listener call line, so can share you answers with us. How about you take a stab at the puzzler.

New Puzzler question

You are talking with your neighbor, Tabitha. She seems interested in your work as a climate advocate. You tell her about large solutions like carbon fee and dividend. You are so excited to find someone who wants to know more. But then you notice Tabitha's eyes start to glaze over. She interrupts you, "This all sounds so important and overwhelming. But What does it mean for you and for me?"

Tabitha wants to better understand climate change. She doesn't need more facts right now. She needs to hear some of your own story. How might you begin to shift the tone and and get personal with her? What does climate change mean for you? Let's personal.

Send Peterson your answers. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from.

Get back to him by October 15, 2018. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less. And don't be anxious about the voicemail. You can leave as many versions of your answer as you like. If you stumble, try again until you feel comfortable with your answer. Leave your message at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)

Dig Deeper

• Sara Peach talks about the power of storytelling for Citizens Climate University 

• How to revolutionize climate change storytelling. An interview with the creators of Years of Living Dangerously TV series.

• Climate Change--the greatest story never told. Video of George Marshall TEDxWWF

• Science Needs to Take Storytelling Seriously, article by Elaine Burke

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!

CC Radio Ep 26 In Deep Water with Edgar Westerhof and Elizabeth Rush

Super Storm Sandy shocked the New York Metropolitan area in 2012. By some freak coincidence, right before this epic storm hit, Edgar Westerhof, moved to New York City from the Netherlands. Not only does he come from a country that knows a lot about flooding, Edgar is an expert in integrated urban water management.

Since Sandy, Edgar has become the National Director for Flood Risk and Resiliency for Arcadis North America. He talks about his experiences with Sandy and how this devastating storm could have been even worse. 

Art House

Author Elizabeth Rush reads from her new book Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore. 

Puzzler

Do you enjoy the Puzzler section of our show? We are considering replacing it with another segment, but we would love to hear from you before we do. Email Peterson radio @ citizensclimate.org

 

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!

CC Radio Ep 25 Race, Pollution, Justice -- Brentin Mock, Tyree Daye, Dr. Natasha DeJarnett

After 10 years of reporting on race, culture, and civil rights, Brentin Mock embraced environmental issues as his new beat. That was in 2008. He has since become a leading voice highlighting environmental racism in America.  He speaks with Citizens Climate Radio host, Peterson Toscano about pollution, segregation, asthma, and mobility. Brentin also speaks candidly about failures of predominately white environmental organizations that attempt to reach out to people of color. He shares why these attempts fail and what climate advocates can do to build a more diverse coalition. Also joining the discussion is Dr. Natasha DeJarnett, environmental health policy analyst from the American Public Health Association. She outlines statistics on historical and contemporary pollution and how air and water pollution pose severe heath risks for everyone, but espeically people of color in the USA. 

Art House

Joining us in the Art House today is poet Tyree Daye. As an African-American man living in the  the US South, Tyree weaves together stories and voices from his family. He artistically expresses the collective trauma they have experienced and the deep insights passed down. Rivers, water, and flooding continually come up in his book of poetry called River Hymns. Tyree talks about his poetry and reads pieces from the book and new poetry. 

Puzzler

You are on a break with a co-worker, let's call him Murphy. You tell Murphy about a climate change conference you attended hoping to engage him in conversation. Murphy blurts out, "Seriously. I never pegged you as one of those save the whales and the polar bears kinda person. The way I see it, humans are the most adaptable beings on earth. Whatever is coming our way, we will be able to handle it. Sucks for other creatures, but humans will be just fine."

Murphy has put just you in a certain environmental box. It may or may not be a fit for you. But how can you respond to Murphy to help crack open the conversation?

Send Peterson your answers. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from.

Get back to him by July, 15, 2018. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or better yet leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 570.483.8194. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)

Dig Deeper

• African-Americans faced 54% higher health burden from air pollution (particulate matter) compared to the overall population. Communities of color overall had a 28% higher health burden compared to the overall population (Mikati et al., 2018).
• Communities of color have higher exposure rates to air pollution than their white, non-Hispanic counterparts. A study monitoring 12 air pollutants showed that whites had the lowest exposures, non-Hispanic blacks had higher exposures than whites to 13 of the 14 pollutants. Hispanics generally had the highest exposures (Bell & Ebisu, 2012). Some of the pollutants studied including particulate matter, nitrate, chlorine, nickel are connected to repertory illnesses, asthma, and cardiovascular issues.
• From a 2010 CDC report, seven million American children have asthma, about one out of ten. One out of every six black child has asthma (CDC, 2010). The reported rate rose 50% between 2001 and 2010.
• In 2000 and 2010, disparities in nitrogen dioxide concentrations were larger by race-ethnicity than by income. Black and Hispanic people experienced 37% higher exposures to NO2 than white people in 2010 (Clark et al., 2017). NO2 is linked to asthma symptoms, increased susceptibility to repertory problems and heart disease (EPA).
• Most communities located next to, and directly affected by the operations of, corporate, industrial, or service facilities are low-income, communities of color, and other systemically oppressed groups. This placement exposes these groups of people to health, economic, and social hazards. Over 1 million African-Americans live in counties facing cancer risks above the EPA’s level of concern from toxins emitted by natural gas facilities. (Franklin, 2018)
• The percentage of black people in fenceline zones is 75% greater than for the U.S. as a whole, while the percentage of Latino people is 60% greater than for the U.S. as a whole (Orum et al., 2014). Larger, more chemical-intensive facilities tend to be located in counties with larger black populations and counties with high levels of income inequality.
• People of color are more likely to be exposed to environmental threats than are whites of the same social class. Race is a powerful predictor of many environmental hazards including the distribution of air pollution, location of municipal solid waste facilities, location of abandoned toxic waste sites, toxic fish consumption, and lead poisoning in children (Bullard, 1993).
• People of color make up nearly half the population in fenceline zones (11.4 million), and are almost twice as likely as whites to live near dangerous chemical facilities. Children of color make up almost two-thirds of the 5.7 million children who live within one mile of a high-risk chemical facility in the United States. Facilities in communities of color have almost twice the rate of incidents compared to those in predominately white neighborhoods – one incident per six facilities compared to one incident per 11 facilities (Starbuck & White, 2016).

          (Special thanks to Dr. Natasha DeJarnett and Siena Fouse from the APHA for Dig Deeper content)

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!

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