Tigue, K. (2023, January 19). Six Environmental Justice Policy Fights to Watch in 2023. Inside Climate News. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19012023/environmental-justice-policy-2023/
This source illustrates how the US government has dedicated their spending, which is some 47-60 billion dollars, into the “nation’s communities hardest hit by climate change, industrial pollution and racist practices like redlining”. It explains how most of the money will go to families in need in the USA. The Environmental Protection Agency also stated that the first $100 million in grants would be for the community and local governments.
This is related to environmental justice because it is talking about the grants that the US government is giving to more disparate communities that are in need, because of climate change or other environmental factors as well as environmental racism.
I think it’s interesting how instead of taking action to reverse climate change, we are instead dedicating money to places that are going to be hit hardest. It’s like a bandaid on an open wound. What about other countries that will be hit even harder than the U.S. that don’t have the resources to put towards the damage caused by climate change? We are preparing for the damage that we are causing instead of putting that money towards fighting the very problem that we are causing.
It’s good to see the US government remedy the atrocities of climate change but also past social issues such as the process of red lining and other racist practices. It also raises the question of where exactly is this money put into and what impact has it had so far?
I found the article very interesting it’s always exciting to hear that the US is really making an effort to fix a lot the the major issues we face today. Especially since the issues they are putting all this money towards are ones that despite being extremely critical are still heavily politicized.