ANNAPOLIS, Md. – To “fully” combat climate change, policymakers at every level of government cannot ignore longstanding social and economic inequities. That would simply reinforce past injustices.
That, for the first time, is one of the major themes of the latest National Climate Assessment, the federal government’s periodic update on the nation’s response to warming temperatures, rising seas and other impacts of climate change. In the Chesapeake Bay region, environmental justice advocates and experts have taken notice.
“The fact that this ‘Social Systems and Justice’ chapter is the first ever included in a National Climate Assessment is remarkable and historic in and of itself,” said Marccus Hendricks, an urban studies and environmental planning professor at the University of Maryland. “It shows we’re recognizing at the highest level that environmental justice is a critical part of climate change.”
Queen Zakia Shabazz, who leads the Virginia Environmental Justice Collaborative, said the assessment signals that federal officials are taking justice considerations seriously.
“They’re finally getting it — what we’ve been yelling at the top of our lungs for so many years,” she said. “We need to take some action now, so we leave a safe world for those who are coming behind us.”
The assessment, released in November, is the fifth such report since 1990, when regular climate updates were mandated by Congress. Authored by governmental and scholarly experts, it represents the fullest scientific accounting of how a changing climate is changing America.
But an analysis by Inside Climate News found that inequities ingrained in climate change consequences have often been treated as an afterthought in previous assessments, with the terms “social justice,” “climate justice” or “environmental justice” barely mentioned in the lengthy documents.
In addition to the standalone chapter, the newest assessment sprinkles discussions of social and economic disparities throughout the text of chapters with titles such as “Water,” “Forests,” “Coastal Effects” and “Human Health.” For instance, a subheading in the “Air Quality” chapter states, “Air pollution is often worse in communities of color and low-income communities.”
In the “Social Systems” chapter, the authors describe how “growing evidence” points to the linkages between society and climate science. It noted that “conscious and unconscious tendencies and biases, and visible and invisible social rules” often distribute climate risks and benefits in inequitable ways.
Hendricks, the director of UMD’s Stormwater Infrastructure Resilience and Justice Lab, was among the chapter’s contributors. One of his biggest climate concerns for the Bay region, he said, is the growing risk of intense rainstorms. In many cities, the existing infrastructure was not designed to handle such flooding. Or sewer systems are failing because of their age. Or both.
“In our region, it’s only a matter of time before we face another catastrophic flood,” Hendricks said.
The assessment found that households inhabited by people of color or low-income residents are more susceptible to natural disasters, such as hurricanes, because of discriminatory practices that sorted them into riskier neighborhoods. Those past actions include predatory lending and redlining — the use of government maps from the 1930s–1960s to exclude Black residents from white neighborhoods.
A report released by McKinsey Climate Analytics in November underscored those modern hazards. It found that in 11 southeastern states, including Virginia and Maryland, Black communities are 1.4 times more likely to experience extreme heat, with an average of 37 days a year of temperatures of 90 degrees or more compared with 27 days for white neighborhoods.
The report also suggested that those disparities extend to hurricanes. By 2050, the authors said, about 17% of Black-owned homes will be at risk of storm damage. That’s above the 10% risk for all property owners.
“It is clear that climate change will disproportionately impact disadvantaged communities across the United States because of relatively higher population concentrations in areas that are being impacted, existing inequalities that impact recovery and socioeconomic mobility,” Munya Muvezwa, one of the report’s authors, said in an email.
“As the need for climate adaptation continues to increase,” Muvezwa added, “it is imperative that we keep an acute focus on the impacts of climate change on Black lives and livelihoods in order to create an equitable path forward.”
Marginalized communities share many infrastructure ills: a lack of green space to soak up excess stormwater, spotty maintenance of storm sewers and a proliferation of pavement that amplifies heat. In places such as Baltimore and the Washington, DC, suburb of North Brentwood, Hendricks’ research has looked for climate solutions from the bottom up, seeking historical context and ideas from community members.
Shabazz cheers that approach. She has seen too much of the opposite, she said, even though “often times, the answers and the solutions are right there in the communities.”
The new climate assessment also promotes community collaboration. And it suggests a step-by-step process. The protocols include establishing well-defined, measurable goals; sharing technical information in accessible ways; and bridging ideological and cultural divides by emphasizing “the things people care about most,” such as their homes and investments.
As Shabazz sees it, Congress can put the climate assessment’s goals into action by passing the proposed A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act. Named after the late Democratic congressman from Virginia who originally championed the bill, the measure would require regulators to consider cumulative impacts in permitting decisions and expand legal remedies for those facing disparate levels of pollution.
In an April 2023 executive order, President Biden called on his administration to enact several pieces of the proposal. But the bill itself has stalled, with Republicans’ control of the House making its demise likely.
Although the new climate assessment offers a roadmap for environmental justice, Shabazz said, it’s not enough to wait for government action. She became a prominent advocate against lead two decades ago after her son was diagnosed with lead poisoning.
“Gone are the days where we waited for someone to come in and save us,” she said. “We realize we can’t wait. We saw that with [Hurricane] Katrina. We saw that with Flint. We realize the onus is on us to save us.”