Science is joining the Social Justice Warriors
Unequal air: Pollution from whites disproportionately affects blacks, Hispanics
The air that Americans breathe isn’t equal.
Blacks and Hispanics disproportionately breathe air that’s been polluted by non-Hispanic whites, according to a study. This new research quantifies for the first time the racial gap between who causes air pollution – and who breathes it.
“Pollution is disproportionately caused by whites, but disproportionately inhaled by black and Hispanic minorities,” the study said.
Poor air quality remains the largest environmental health risk in the United States, the study warns. In fact, with 100,000 deaths per year, more Americans die from air pollution than car crashes and murders combined.
“Even though minorities are contributing less to the overall problem of air pollution, they are affected by it more,†said study co-author Jason Hill, an engineering professor at the University of Minnesota, who is white. “Is it fair (that) I create more pollution and somebody else is disproportionately affected by it?â€
Hill said that while the air in the U.S. has gotten cleaner in the past decade, pollution inequity has remained stubbornly high.
What is especially surprising is just how large pollution inequity is and has been for well over a decade,” Hill said.
So, wait, this is Obama’s fault?
Other experts agreed with the research: “These findings confirm what most grassroots environmental justice leaders have known for decades, ‘whites are dumping their pollution on poor people and people of color,’†said Texas Southern University public affairs professor Robert Bullard, who was not part of the research. Bullard, often called the father of environmental justice, is African-American.
Researchers say their pollution inequity formula could be used on other types of environmental burdens.
“The approach we establish in this study could be extended to other pollutants, locations and groupings of people,” Marshall said. “When it comes to determining who causes air pollution – and who breathes that pollution – this research is just the beginning.”
Has anyone considered that there are, get this, more white people in America than blacks and Hispanics? Meh, none of that matters, this is all about race-baiting and SJW mule fritters.
“On average, whites tend to consume more than minorities. It’s because of wealth,†Hill said.
Is he saying minorities are too stupid to achieve? Huh. And, yes, this social justice study was actually published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
