The Environmental Protection Agency’s new clean power plan could be an opportunity to address “a bad deal of racial inequity” in the siting of coal-fired power plants across the U.S., but grist.org correspondent Brentin Mock says the devil will be in the details. One of the key features of the new regulations—and one of its most brilliant features, from a carbon pollution standpoint—is the flexibility for states to cut carbon pollution “outside the fenceline” if that’s more cost-effective than shutting a coal plant down or controlling its emissions at source. But that’s a problem for the 78% of African Americans who live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant, according to a 2012 NAACP report. “Residential areas near coal plants are often called ‘fenceline’ communities,” Mock explains. “Given that coal-burning emissions like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide cause respiratory problems, this might explain why black children have an asthma rate that is 80% higher than their white peers, and are nearly three times more likely to die from it.” EPA is pitching the clean power plan as a chance to clean up the “co-pollutants” that come along with carbon dioxide, “but there’s no guarantee that carbon reductions will translate into cleaner air for local communities across the board,” Mock notes. “Of particular concern to fenceline folks are cap-and-trade programs that allow companies to buy emissions permits from another cleaner plant rather than upgrading to new scrubbing technology.”
- The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
- You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
- The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.
