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Climate Strike -- Environmental Racism (week 64) [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-08-28  

You can make a difference to the hurt being caused by climate chaos and the great extinction event, in your town or your city! How? Reuse, repurpose, and recycle this information.

This is the letter for week 64 of a weekly climate strike that went on for 4 years in front of San Francisco City Hall, beginning early March 2019. For more context, see this story. For an annotated table of contents to see topics for all the strike letters, see this story. Meanwhile…

STRIKE FOR THE PLANET

The Need Of The Many Tops The Greed Of The Few.

That’s why this week, once again, is about ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM.

What is Environmental Racism1?

It is “racial discrimination in the enactment or enforcement of any policy, practice, or regulation that negatively affects the environment of low-income and/or racially homogeneous communities at a disparate rate than affluent communities.”2

Do we have Environmental Racism in SF?

Obviously! Whether it’s poverty- or racially-determined asthma rates3, childhood lead (Pb) exposure4, copper poisoning5, particulate pollution6, 7, radioactive wastes8, 9, 10, light pollution11, sound pollution12, air pollution13, Covid-19 rates14, opioid overdoses15, or something else, SF has it. It’s not an accident SF is so obviously segregated in so many damaging ways. BIPOC and the poor were redlined16, then priced out of places that are safer and into places with worse food17, less and lesser quality medical treatment18, and much worse outcomes.19

Do we need to do anything about it?

Yup. Racism and the forces that benefit from inequality and injustice are destroying the ability of our planet to support life20, 21, and White supremacy is driving environmental destruction.22, 23 As shown by the exploitation of people as “resources” being written into our Constitution24, this colonial drive for commodification and theft are the heart of the American economic system.25 We continue to value the needs of the many at less than the greed of the few.26, 27 Polluters have successfully gaslighted28 the populace, and the entire planet is suffering from it.

There’s A Chokehold On Communities Of Color, And It’s Killing Us All.

So what do we do?

We stop kneeling on the necks of BIPOC communities so everyone can breathe!

Would you like some local examples?

The Delta Tunnel — This project, which will cause massive damage to the San Francisco Bay and hence to San Francisco, is yet another instance of colonizing and appropriating lands, water, and bio-resources at the cost of permanent ecosystem destruction, species extinctions, and desertification (and increased salinization) to feed the greed of a few rich and “connected” people and corporations. 29, 30, 31 Additionally, there’s use of a classic strategy to force through decisions while the most impacted people are unable to access the process, in order to disenfranchise those with the most to lose. 32

— This project, which will cause massive damage to the San Francisco Bay and hence to San Francisco, is yet another instance of colonizing and appropriating lands, water, and bio-resources at the cost of permanent ecosystem destruction, species extinctions, and desertification (and increased salinization) to feed the greed of a few rich and “connected” people and corporations. Additionally, there’s use of a classic strategy to force through decisions while the most impacted people are unable to access the process, in order to disenfranchise those with the most to lose. Hunters Point — What hasn’t been dumped here? Who hasn’t made a fortune off of polluting and abandoning this area and the people who live here? 33, 34

— What hasn’t been dumped here? Who hasn’t made a fortune off of polluting and abandoning this area and the people who live here? Air pollution — Locally, just like internationally, it’s much worse if the community is BIPOC or poor. 35, 36

— Locally, just like internationally, it’s much worse if the community is BIPOC or poor. Enforcement of environmental laws — Enforcement of the laws protecting the environment are unevenly applied to shield the rich and poison the poor and communities of color. 37

— Enforcement of the laws protecting the environment are unevenly applied to shield the rich and poison the poor and communities of color. The Ramaytush Ohlone — The original inhabitants and custodians of the land San Francisco sits on have been enslaved, massacred, kidnapped into boarding schools, forced off their land, and federally determined not to exist, all to put their lands into White hands. 38, 39

— The original inhabitants and custodians of the land San Francisco sits on have been enslaved, massacred, kidnapped into boarding schools, forced off their land, and federally determined not to exist, all to put their lands into White hands. Mercury and PCB pollution — Many people in SF grow and catch their own food. Most of the people who do this are BIPOC and poor. Yet the fish is often too dangerous to eat40 and the soil polluted (with no free access to soil testing for those unable to pay for it themselves).41

There’s a pattern here. If we’re interested in surviving, we need to do what’s

right, not what’s “easy”. That includes creating:

Countywide blackwater recycling;

An SF native urban forest with green pathways for people, plants, and animals throughout the city;

Immediate all electric and clean energy transportation that is free for those most in need;

A majority of roads permanently closed to car traffic, a huge increase in transit-only lanes, a huge increase in bike and scooter share stations especially in poor and BIPOC communities, and a lowering of the speed limit to 20 mph citywide;

Elimination of all single-use plastics in SF and aggressive movement toward eliminating all plastics that are not reusable, locally recyclable, and biologically safe;

All local, carbon-neutral or carbon-negative energy — eliminating all methane heating and cooking and assisting in transitioning from fireplace-to-electric heating; and

A resilient and self-sufficient SF.

If we had already been taking action to survive, this letter would have said you have 24 weeks left to start the necessary big actions. That’s not true anymore.42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 In a little over a year, we lost 10 years in which to act.

There is NO time left; act now.

FOOTNOTES

1. You could also look at the letters for Weeks 15, 23, 56, or 58.

2. “Environmental Racism Law and Legal Definition”. USLegal. Accessed 14 July 2020. https://definitions.uslegal.com/e/environmental-racism/ .

3. “San Francisco County Asthma Profile”. California Dept of Public Health. 8 June 2017. https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/EHIB/CPE/CDPH%20Document%20Library/County%20profiles/San%20Francisco%202016%20profile.pdf .

4. Mike Moffitt. “San Francisco’s most dangerous areas for lead exposure”. SF Gate. 4 May 2016. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-s-most-dangerous-areas-for-lead-7390853.php#photo-4915734 .

5. Richard Looker. “Copper Site-Specific Objectives in San Francisco Bay”. California Regional Water Quality Control Board. 6 June 2007. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/board_info/agendas/2007/june/8_appendix_c.pdf . Look at table 3.3.

6. “Air Pollution in North America: Real-time Air Quality Index Visual Map”. The World Air Quality Project. 15 July 2020. https://aqicn.org/map/northamerica/ . Look at the pm 2.5 information.

7. Purple Air. https://www.purpleair.com/map?opt=1/mAQI/a10/cC0#11.96/37.74282/-122.44774 . This is real-time mapping. Look at the pm 2.5 information during commute times.

8. Matt Smith. “Radiation Contamination on Treasure Island More Widespread Than Reported”. KQED. 17 August 2012. https://www.kqed.org/news/73502/radiation-history-on-treasure-island-more-widespread-than-reported .

9. Carol Harvey. “Radioactive burn pit found near Treasure Island home”. San Francisco Bay View. 4 March 2014. https://sfbayview.com/2014/03/radioactive-burn-pit-found-near-treasure-island-home/ .

10. “New Questions for Radioactive Cleanup at San Francisco Dockyard”. The Maritime Executive. 31 October 2018. https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/new-questions-for-radioactive-cleanup-at-san-francisco-dockyard .

11. David Lorenz. “San Francisco Light Pollution”. Clear Dark Sky. Accessed 14 July 2020. http://www.cleardarksky.com/lp/SanFranCAlp.html?Mn=meteorites .

12. Andreas Töpfer and Carsten Stabenow. “Sound Map of Tallinn Visualisation”. Tuned City. 2 May 2011. http://www.tunedcity.net/?page_id=967 .

13. Rachel Swan. “Map shows which SF neighborhoods are hit hardest by air pollution”. San Francisco Chronicle. 4 September 2017. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Map-shows-which-SF-neighborhoods-are-hit-hardest-12172473.php .

14. San Francisco Joint Information Center. “San Francisco releases map of coronavirus impact by zip code”. San Francisco Bay View. 20 April 2020. https://sfbayview.com/2020/04/san-francisco-releases-map-of-coronavirus-impact-by-zip-code/ .

15. “Program Targets Opioid Overdose Deaths At San Francisco SRO Hotels”. KPIX 5. 1 October 2019. https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/10/01/fentanyl-overdose-prevention-program-sro-hotels-opioid-epidemic/ .

16. Nuala Sawyer. “A History Of Redlining In San Francisco Neighborhoods”. Hoodline. 3 June 2014. https://hoodline.com/2014/06/a-history-of-redlining-in-san-francisco-neighborhoods .

17. Bora Chang. “Voices From a Food Desert: Bayview-Hunters Point, San Francisco, CA”. Good. 31 October 2013. https://www.good.is/articles/voices-from-a-food-desert-bayview-hunters-point-san-francisco-ca .

18. Jane Goodman and Claire Conway. “Poor Health: When Poverty Becomes Disease”. UCSF. 6 January 2016. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2016/01/401251/poor-health-when-poverty-becomes-disease .

19. Joshua Sabatini. “Life expectancy differs dramatically by race in San Francisco”. San Francisco Examiner. 10 May 2019. https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/life-expectancy-differs-dramatically-by-race-in-san-francisco/ .

20. Heather C. McGhee. “Racism has a cost for everyone”. TEDWomen 2019. https://www.ted.com/talks/heather_c_mcghee_racism_has_a_cost_for_everyone/footnotes?rss=172BB350-0205&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TEDTalks_video+%28TEDTalks+Main+%28SD %29+-+Site%29&es_p=11808286.

21. Bill McKibben. “Racism, Police Violence, And The Climate Are Not Separate Issues”. The New Yorker. 4 June 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/racism-police-violence-and-the-climate-are-not-separate-issues .

22. “What do racism and poverty have to do with pollution and climate change?” Grist. 26 January 2016. https://grist.org/cities/what-do-racism-and-poverty-have-to-do-with-pollution-and-climate-change/ .

23. Jibril Kyser. “White supremacy produces disproportionate environmental pollution”. The Daily Californian. 15 July 2020. https://www.dailycal.org/2017/05/08/environmental-racism/ .

24. Article 1, Section 2: In which White men younger than 25, all women, all “Indians”, and all enslaved people are denied direct representation. This means all the groups mentioned above have fewer to no rights and are therefore easily exploited. It’s noteworthy that women aren’t even considered worth mentioning.

25. Frederick Hewett. “‘Racial Justice Is Climate Justice’: Why The Climate Movement Needs To Be Anti-Racist”. WBUR. 9 June 2020. https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2020/06/09/the-links-between-racism-and-the-environment-frederick-hewett .

26. Sara Bernard. “Making the connections on tar-sands pollution, racism, and sexism”. Grist. 27 August 2015. https://grist.org/climate-energy/making-the-connections-on-tar-sands-pollution-racism-and-sexism/ .

27. Eric Holthaus. “The climate crisis is racist. The answer is anti-racism”. The Correspondent. 28 May 2020. https://thecorrespondent.com/496/the-climate-crisis-is-racist-the-answer-is-anti-racism/65663772944-cc6110b0 .

28. Robin Stern. “I’ve counseled hundreds of victims of gaslighting. Here’s how to spot if you’re being gaslighted.” Vox. 3 January 2019. https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/12/19/18140830/gaslighting-relationships-politics-explained .

29. Dan Bacher. “It’s official” Delta Tunnel planning begins in California”. Red Green and Blue. 17 January 2020. https://redgreenandblue.org/2020/01/17/official-delta-tunnel-planning-begins-california/ .

30. John Vasquez and Chuck Winn. “Social justice argument on Delta tunnel project doesn’t hold water”. Cal Matters. 7 July 2020. https://calmatters.org/commentary/reader-reactions/2020/07/social-justice-argument-on-delta-tunnel-project-doesnt-hold-water/ .

31. Jessica Cejnar. “Yuroks and other Northern California Tribes Protest Delta Tunnel Project at Redding Rally”. Wild Rivers Outpost. 2 March 2020. https://wildrivers.lostcoastoutpost.com/2020/mar/2/yuroks-and-other-northern-california-tribes-protes/ .

32. Scott Thomas Anderson. “Delta tunnel advisory committee compelled to work through the pandemic”. Sacramento News & Review. 13 July 2020. https://sacramento.newsreview.com/2020/05/12/delta-tunnel-advisory-committee-compelled-to-work-through-the-pandemic/ .

33. Leif Dautch and Theo Ellington. “Hunters Point is a textbook case of environmental injustice”. San Francisco Chronicle. 15 May 2018. https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Hunters-Point-is-a-textbook-case-of-environmental-12917354.php .

34. Greta Jochem. “San Francisco residents were sure nearby industry was harming their health. They were right.” Grist. 20 June 2018. https://grist.org/article/san-francisco-residents-were-sure-nearby-industry-was-harming-their-health-they-were-right/ .

35. J. Perty Silvers. “Air Pollution and Environmental Injustice: Differential Burdens in San Francisco Bay Area Communities”. Air Quality Burdens in SF Bay Area. Spring 2016. https://nature.berkeley.edu/classes/es196/projects/2016final/SilversP_2016.pdf .

36. Manuel Pastor, James Sadd, and Rachel Morello-Frosch. “Still Toxic After All These Years”. Center for Justice, Tolerance & Community. February 2007. https://cjtc.ucsc.edu/docs/bay_final.pdf .

37. Marianne Lavelle and Marcia Coyle. “Unequal Protection: The Racial Divide In Environmental Law”. The National Law Journal, Volume 15, Number 3. 21 September 1992. http://www.ejnet.org/ej/nlj.pdf .

38. The Association of Ramaytush Oholne. Accessed 25 August 2023. www.ramaytush.org.

39. Samantha Artiga and Kendal Orgera. “COVID-19 Presents Significant Risks for American Indian and Alaska Native People”. KFF. 14 May 2020. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/covid-19-presents-significant-risks-for-american-indian-and-alaska-native-people/ .

40. “Should I eat fish caught in San Francisco Bay?” SFEnvironment. Accessed 15 July 2020. https://sfenvironment.org/fish-caught-in-san-francisco-bay-mercury .

41. Alicia Rudnicki. “Soil Contamination Testing”. SF Gate. Accessed 15 July 2020. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/soil-contamination-testing-22559.html .

42. Matt McGrath. “Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months”. BBC News. 24 July 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48964736 .

43. Heather Smith. “Climate Change: Even Worse Than We Thought”. Sierra. 8 October 2018. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/climate-change-even-worse-we-thought-ipcc-report .

44. Michael Grose and Julie Arblaster. “Just how hot will it get this century? It’s worse than we thought”. Phys Org. 18 May 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-hot-century-worse-thought.html .

45. Amelia Urry. “The scientist who first warned of climate change says it’s much worse than we thought”. Grist. 22 March 2016. https://grist.org/science/the-scientist-who-first-warned-of-climate-change-says-its-much-worse-than-we-thought/ .

46. Rafi Letzter. “Today’s Climate Change Is Worse Than Anything Earth Has Experienced in the Past 2,000 Years”. Live Science. 25 July 2019. https://www.livescience.com/66027-climate-change-different.html .

47. John D. Sutter. “Vanishing”. CNN. Accessed 30 June 2020. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2016/12/specials/vanishing/ .

48. Peter Castagno. “Biodiversity Loss Worst in Human History — 1 Million Animal Species Risk Extinction”. Citizen Truth. 6 May 2019. https://citizentruth.org/biodiversity-loss-worst-in-human-history-1-million-animal-species-risk-extinction/ .

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