Re:EPA declines to tighten soot pollution standards
by yostrovs on Monday December 07, 2020 @10:28PM
(#25341384)
Are minorities more susceptible to environmental pollution?
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Re:EPA declines to tighten soot pollution standards
by ip26 on Monday December 07, 2020 @10:41PM
(#25341494)
Poor folks can't afford fancy air quality monitors, filtering, well-built houses without leaks, or houses on the clean-air side of town. They are more likely to work outside.
Poor communities are almost always on the east side of town because (in the Northern Hemisphere) prevailing west winds usually blow the town's pollution east. This is also how the "right" and "wrong" side of the tracks came about.
It bears similarities to heat waves, which mainly kill the poor. You never see headlines about how the last heat wave killed twenty-three investment bankers in their penthouses.
Re:EPA declines to tighten soot pollution standards
by yostrovs on Monday December 07, 2020 @11:16PM
(#25341709)
You're talking about poor people, not minorities, though there's an overlap. There's also an overlap with white people. Actually, the focus should be on people that are disproportionately affected by pollution, regardless of their skin tone. There are towns around refineries and heavy industry that are predominantly white. Are you implying we should care less about them?
Re:EPA declines to tighten soot pollution standards
by tptacek on Monday December 07, 2020 @10:46PM
(#25341532)
No, but they tend disproportionately to live in areas near pollution sources.