Coronavirus and Climate Hit Communities of Color Hardest
We examined the data from Detroit
By J. Mijin Cha, Marcela Mulholland, Julian Brave NoiseCat
This blog is also available in Spanish
Frontline communities across the country that have historically borne the brunt of poverty and pollution are also being disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. These communities experience the impacts of climate change first and worst, yet have the fewest resources to address them. Similarly, these communities are being hit the hardest by coronavirus and, as a result of decades of environmental injustice and financial disinvestment, are least prepared to handle the onslaught of the pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic is laying painfully bare that the current public health crisis cannot be separated from the longstanding crises of inequality and environmental injustice that many communities across the country were already facing long before coroanvirus made headlines. Any attempt to mitigate the impacts of coronavirus must take into account its intersections with environmental and economic justice.
Let’s take a look at Detroit, MI a city with some of the worst air pollution in the country that’s expected to be the next hotspot for coronavirus. To start with, there are 7,736 cases of coronavirus in Detroit alone, more than half of the total cases in Wayne County despite comprising only 38.5 percent of the population. This situation in Detroit has been fueling the massive racial disparities in coronavirus death and infection rates in Michigan at large. While only 14 percent of Michigan’s population is black, black people make up 33 percent of its coronavirus cases and 40 percent of all coronavirus deaths.
This public health crisis cannot be separated from Detroit’s economic struggles. The city is 78.6 percent Black with a median household income of $29,481. In comparison, Wayne County, within which Detroit is located, is 38.8 percent black with a median household income of $45,321. Relatedly, the health insurance coverage rates in Detroit are much lower than those in Wayne County. But even looking at economic and public health issues does not paint the whole picture.
Emerging research has found a link between air pollution and the lethality of coronavirus These findings are consistent with the lived reality on the ground in Detroit where communities that have been ravaged by air pollution and lack of access to clean water are also being disproportionately hit by coronavirus. To make matters worse, all of these factors exist within the context of Detroit’s vulnerability to the climate crisis–the city is ranked as “high risk, low readiness,” for climate change by Univ. Notre Dame Urban Adaptation Assessment. These conditions make clear that the same communities that are most vulnerable to pollution, inequality and global warming are also those most impacted by coronavirus. This empirical reality should shape the decisions of policymakers.
Detroit, and communities like it across the country, were vulnerable before coronavirus and the pandemic is only exposing how deep those vulnerabilities run. As we look to the next phase of stimulus funding, frontline communities like Detroit must be prioritized for relief that not only mitigates the coronavirus economic fall out, but also addresses the historical legacy of environmental injustice and economic inequality. A crucial component to identifying where to invest is data collection to understand which communities are bearing the burden and how. A data collection tool, similar to CalEnviroScreen, would show which communities are at the most risk. These communities should then be prioritized for investment. Such relief could take the form of a green stimulus that supports communities like Detroit by investing in projects like water infrastructure repair, public transportation and electric vehicle charging stations, mass energy efficiency retrofits, and clean energy expansion and deployment. Policymakers must also incentivize industrial facilities to install scrubbers on smokestacks while implementing more stringent fines for facilities that don’t meet air pollution standards. Doing so will plant the seeds for a more just future and improve the health and economy for all Detroiters.
As we face the ongoing coronavirus pandemic we must resist the temptation to think about coronavirus as a siloed off, separate issue. Rather, we must recognize the broader environmental and socioeconomic context in which coronavirus is occurring. The communities hardest by coronavirus, like those in Detroit, have been struggling with public health, economic and environmental justice issues since long before the coronavirus pandemic. Any relief packages for coronavirus must recognize these intersections and propose solutions that meet the scale and scope of the crises frontline communities face.
J. Mijin Cha is a Senior Fellow at Data for Progress
Marcela Mulholland is Deputy Director for Climate at Data for Progress
Julian Brave NoiseCat is Vice President of Policy & Strategy at Data for Progress