Thread by @DrNoelHealy

The fossil fuel industry's impact on public health is undeniable. Our new study maps out the disproportionate harms at every stage of the coal, oil, and gas lifecycles for Black, Brown, Indigenous and poor communities. (1/n) #fossilfuelracism bit.ly/FFRacism

The study by @quinn43, @CPichonBattle, @charlieyj12, & me, reveals how racial injustices permeate every stage of fossil fuel production. Fossil fuels require "sacrifice zones," which disproportionately impact Black, Brown, Indigenous, & poor people. (2/n) bit.ly/FFRacism

Black, Brown, Indigenous & poor communities bear a disproportionately high burden of air pollution and climate impacts. As the ‘father of environmental justice’ @DrBobBullard said “The US is segregated, and so is pollution” (3/n). bit.ly/FFRacism

Systemic racism enables the fossil fuel industry to avoid paying the true cost of its pollution by passing it onto communities of color. This cycle is fueled by the industry's political power and obstructionism which come at the expense of our democracy and public health (4/n).

Structural racism is embedded in fossil fuel corporations' support for voter suppression, gerrymandering, criminalization of climate protests, and deregulation of fossil fuel production. The US government also tolerates racism and the externalization of harms onto POC (5/n).

We draw from 200+ studies which reveal a consistent pattern: fossil fuel pollution is associated with asthma, birth complications, cancer, respiratory disease, heart conditions, & premature death. Discriminatory practices, both past & present, exacerbate these inequities. (6/n).

Our study reveals that oil, gas, & petrochemical refining are among the most disproportionately polluting sectors of the economy, even when compared to other heavily polluting industries. These facilities disproportionately impact communities of color and poor populations (7/n)

Historically redlined neighborhoods, a discriminatory practice that denied housing loans to people of color, have a higher concentration of oil & gas wells, elevated air pollution levels, increased rates of asthma & preterm births, reduced green space, & higher temperatures (8/n)

Pollution from natural gas infrastructure, including pipelines, drilling sites, and processing plants, has increased the risk of cancer for one million Black Americans. Black people have the highest exposure to particulate matter pollution of any group in the US (9/n)

Our study warns that offsets, cap-and-trade, CCS and other “carbon centric” solutions could fail to address the racial and health impacts of fossil fuels. These solutions often perpetuate inequities by failing to reduce local pollution & public health harms (10/n).

In other words, carbon capture and sequestration could further harm environmental justice communities. E.g., See @CJAOurPower ‘s response to Biden’s new climate rule below: (11/n) climatejusticealliance.org/ccus-is-not-a-…

So, what’s the solution? First, we need a managed phase out of fossil fuel production to drive absolute pollution reductions. Phasing out exports of crude oil, LNG, & coal, banning new fossil fuel permitting on public lands & waters, & ending federal fossil fuel subsidies (12/n)

Alarmingly, Biden is approving new drilling at a faster rate than the Trump administration. This includes approving "carbon bombs" at the Alaska Willow and the LNG Alaska Project, and recently breaking a major G7 climate promise by financing an Indonesian oil refinery (13/n)

Biden’s Executive Order expanding focus on environmental justice in federal agency planning was welcome. But continued approval of harmful and extractive fossil fuel licenses is a catastrophic climate and public health failure (14/n).

Instead, the U.S needs policies that can improve public health, tackle the global climate crisis, and rectify its legacy of fossil fuel racism. We need an enactment of wider programs of social, economic, and democratic reforms via a Green New Deal (15/n).
bit.ly/InequalityFuel…

Climate change is fueled by fossil fuel racism. We need political and policy solutions that disrupt the power of the fossil fuel industry and their state allies. We can tackle climate crisis, improve public health, and confront systemic racism by phasing out fossil fuels (16/n)