North Carolina environmental-justice groups are calling for increased representation in crafting state policies related to environmental issues.

During Black History Month, advocates have highlighted how communities of color are harmed by disproportionate exposure to air pollution and vulnerability to extreme weather events.

Riza Jenkins, chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, said Black and brown communities want increased representation in crafting state policies related to environmental issues.

“I think the critical thing is, one, an acknowledgment of how some of the policies have been written inequitably in the past,” Jenkins asserted. “And then also when we’re thinking about how policies have been written, how do we ensure diversity and participation.”

Residents have until March 4 to complete the North Carolina Access survey, which, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Environmental Justice Program, aims to increase public input on issues faced by communities that are underserved, overburdened, and have historically been left out of the participatory process.

Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order issued last month highlighted environmental justice and equity in the state’s transition to a clean economy.

Jenkins also called for more investment into research looking at how policies and practices designed to address climate change impact communities of color.

“You can think about community solar, how are community solar bills and policies written, to ensure not just particular families can participate in it,” Jenkins urged. “And removing some of these barriers, such as credit requirements. “

She pointed to President Joe Biden’s more than one trillion-dollar spending package as a step toward reducing health disparities in communities of color.

“The Build Back Better Framework, where it highlights and acknowledges the disadvantages and the lack of support for communities of color, especially Black and Hispanic communities, is really going to help bring a lot of light to a lot of the work these groups are doing,” Jenkins contended.

The Build Back Better Act includes new funding for improving energy efficiency in affordable housing, boosting tax credits for renewable energy generation serving low-income communities, and increasing funding to remove lead paint in homes and replace lead pipes.

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States will soon be able to set their own tailpipe-emissions limits stricter than the federal government’s, thanks to an expected rollback of a Trump-era policy.

The Environmental Protection Agency says California and other states will be allowed to set separate emissions standards once it reinstates a waiver that allows them to do so.

A former engineer and policy advisor for the EPA’s Office of Transportation & Air Quality, Jeff Alson, said when California first changed its standards during the Obama administration, other states took the lead.

He said he expects a similar trend once the rule is reinstated.

“Between 10 and 20 of the other states end up adopting the California standards,” said Alson.

West Virginia is one of a handful of states that doesn’t require vehicle emissions testing.

A 2021 study found emissions from light-duty trucks, including Sport Utility Vehicles, were responsible for more than 2,400 premature deaths. The study found all states experienced sizable public health impacts from vehicle emissions.

Alson, who is now an Environmental Protection Network member, added that large trucks traveling across the country log hundreds of thousands of miles each year and are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.

“They put on so many miles that, even though the numbers of these trucks are small compared to cars, the pollution is large,” said Alson.

Alson said he believes the decision will benefit communities’ local air quality and public health.

“I think this announcement is a big deal,” said Alson. “And should give everybody hope that the U.S. could once again become a leader in this important area, to try to protect the planet.”

Last December, the EPA announced new rules for tailpipe pollution for 2023 through 2026-model vehicles. New cars will be required to average 55 miles per gallon starting in 2026.

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This Valentine’s Day, climate advocates want policymakers to show the planet some love.

More than 450 local lawmakers from the nonprofit group Elected Officials to Protect America have signed an open letter calling on President Joe Biden and congressional leaders to declare a climate emergency and pass the climate sections of the Build Back Better Act.

Clair Brown, economics professor emerita at the University of California-Berkeley, said time is running out.

“The UN climate scientists made it very clear that, for us to have a chance to keep the planet from overheating and making life uninhabitable for people, we have to reduce our carbon pollution 50% by 2030,” Brown pointed out. “We only have eight years.”

The Build Back Better Act stalled in the U.S. Senate in December, and it is unclear when or if it will be revived. The bill would invest heavily in renewable energy and electric vehicles, and would create a new Civilian Climate Corps.

Yassamin Ansari, a city councilwoman in Phoenix, said the Build Back Better Act would be the largest investment in climate action in U.S. history.

“The Build Back Better Act includes more than $550 billion for climate action,” Ansari noted. “It’ll put the United States on a path to dramatically cut the pollution driving climate change, while building a just and equitable economy, with union jobs.”

Christian Brock, CEO of Elected Officials to Protect America, said he’d like to see the California Geologic Energy Management Division follow through on its plan to require buffer zones between oil wells and neighborhoods.

“We are asking for Gov. Newsom to end fossil-fuel production,” Brock outlined. “To do 3,200-foot setbacks for communities near oil and gas well production.”

The effects of climate change are apparent in the Golden State, where intense heat waves and extended drought are the new normal. And last year alone, wildfires blackened more than 2.5 million acres of land in California.

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Environmental groups filed a notice of intent this week to sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over the agency’s failure to enforce the Regional Haze Rule under the Clean Air Act.

The rule aims to protect national parks and wilderness areas in Wyoming and across the nation from air pollution reducing visibility.

Rob Joyce, energy organizer for the Wyoming chapter of the Sierra Club, said pressing the EPA to do its job will also help limit the number of days people with respiratory problems have to stay inside.

“Reducing and eventually eliminating haze pollution will improve public health, because the same pollution that muddies the skies also harms our bodies,” Joyce asserted. “Reducing haze will reduce the number of yellow, orange and red air-quality days.”

An EPA official said he was not able to comment on pending litigation, but noted public comments are being taken until this Friday on the agency’s proposal to deny a request made by Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon to delay plans to reduce more than 3,000 tons of pollution from two units of PacifiCorp’s Jim Bridger Power Plant by the end of this year.

The plant, south of Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks, is Wyoming’s number one polluter and the nation’s third-biggest source of haze pollution.

Joyce contended the state of Wyoming and PacifiCorp know they are violating clean-air rules, and if the agency charged with enforcing the Clean Air Act does not hold states accountable, his group and some 38 others are prepared to force the issue in federal court.

“We understand that the EPA is trying to resolve the issues at the Jim Bridger power plant,” Joyce acknowledged. “But what we need them to do is to fulfill its obligation to protect clean air from harmful pollution.”

Joyce added getting the EPA to enforce the Clean Air Act also will help states across the West avoid year-round wildfire seasons and other impacts of a warming planet. Haze pollution, mostly from burning fossil fuels, currently obscures the views in 90% of America’s national parks.

“Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite,” Joyce outlined. “These same sources of pollution are also contributing to increasing wildfire severity, drought severity, to climate change, all on top of impairing visibility in our parks.”

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