Poverty and the Environment
About 15 percent of North Carolinians, or roughly 1.2 million people, live in poverty, as defined by the federal census. According to a more accurate measure used by the NC Justice Center, however, fully one third of North Carolina’s working families are not earning a “living income” that can cover their basic needs of food, housing, medical and transportation.
Poverty intensifies environmental harms; and the political powerlessness of poor communities attracts new environmental problems. For the last decade, national studies have repeatedly documented that pollution sources are disproportionately located in low-income communities. As just one example in North Carolina, low-income families bear greater than average risks from hazardous air pollutant emissions in 60 counties, releases of toxic chemicals in 36 counties and emissions of smog and particulates in 56 counties.
To highlight the often overlooked link between poverty and environmental issues, and to facilitate a dialogue on the issue, we asked four members of the environmental community to write a short piece on the topic. In “Overview” Grady McCallie, Policy Analyst with NC Conservation Network, starts things off with an analysis of poverty in North Carolina and the connection between poverty and several environmental issues. Kathy Knight, the Director of the Area Wide Health Committee of Concerned Citizens of Tillery in Halifax County offers some clear advice to environmentalists on working with poor communities in her piece “Getting Real.” Frank Warren, President of Greene Citizens for a Responsible Environment, in “Landfills Feed on Poverty,” discusses the effort to fight mega-landfills being proposed in eastern NC. And in “Mending Unequal Water Justice” Hope Taylor-Guevara, Director of Clean Water for North Carolina, discusses how safe drinking water is an issue that especially affects low income communities.
The series ran on our blog in April, 2006. We invite you to click at the end of each article and add your thoughts to the discussion.
Links
Poverty and the Environment in NC: an Overview
Getting Real About Poverty and the Environment
Landfills Feed on Poverty
Mending Unequal Water Justice
Issues Main Page
