Institutional and systemic racism built into the fabric of our country means that the people who generate the least amount of pollution still suffer the worst of its effects . Or they suffer the greatest risk from environmental hazards because they receive fewer protections .
Think of the landfills and incinerators in Houston . Think of levee failures during Hurricane Katrina . Think of the communities across the country with oil and gas refineries in their backyards .
These problems are exacerbated by climate change . Poor and minority communities are increasingly at risk of degrading air quality , heat waves , flooding , losing power and more , Bullard said .
There ’ s no mystery to these consequences , Bullard said . They ’ re all the result of how we — as a country — planned and built our cities .
“ You tell me your ZIP code , I can pretty much tell you what ’ s in your neighborhood and how healthy you are ,” Bullard said .
“ This is not rocket science ,” he said . Why should you care ? Because it ’ s all connected .
Think once more of Hurricane Katrina . Levees in wealthier and whiter areas of New Orleans were better maintained than those in poorer and Black neighborhoods , Bullard said . When the storm surge breached the latter , most of the city flooded .
“ A chain is only as strong as its weakest link ,” he said . Environmental and climate effects often compound into greater problems .
Communities breathing more air pollution suffer respiratory and cardiovascular damage , stressing the health care system .
The asthmatic death rate for Black children is eight times higher than that of white children , Bullard said .
“ That is unacceptable . That is preventable ,” he said . “ We should be mad as hell .”