Why Climate Change is About Social Justice
In September of this year, a Category 4 hurricane swept through the island of Puerto Rico, knocking its entire electrical grid and leaving key infrastructure, homes, and hospitals devastated in its wake. Five months later, President Trump’s State of the Union address spoke directly to those affected by Hurricane Maria, telling them, “to everyone still recovering in Puerto Rico… we are with you, we love you, and we will pull through together”. But Trump failed to mention that the island, which, before the hurricane had a poverty level of 44%, and lacks any real representation in Congress, remains in a critical state. Electricity has yet to be restored to 30% of the island, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to end their distribution of the drinking water and food items that the island so desperately needs. Homelessness rates on the island, which were already elevated before the storm, are now as high as sixty percent in some Puerto Rican towns.
The U.S. government’s Maria recovery effort has failed Puerto Ricans, just as the federal response to Hurricane Katrina failed poor Louisiana residents in 2005 and its response to Hurricane Sandy failed low-income New Yorkers in 2012. But the lack of adequate aid for those affected by natural disasters is only one symptom of a larger problem: climate change in America has a disproportionate effect on our nation’s poorest families. An estimate by the scientific journal Science predicted that by the end of this century, “the poorest third of counties are projected to experience damages between 2 and 20% of county income under business-as-usual emissions” (Hsiang et. al.). Whether these damages occur as a result of devastating natural disasters, loss of homes due to flooding, or crop failures, it’s clear that Americans affected by poverty will be hit hardest by climate change, possibly beyond recovery.
And while everyone contributes to the greenhouse gas emissions that have been proven to cause climate change, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the rich, including large corporations, generally pollute far more than those low-income people who are more likely to be impacted by the results. In Puerto Rico, for example, the per-capita emission of carbon dioxide is less than half our nation’s average. Meanwhile, the richest 10% of people in the world produce half of the world’s greenhouse gas. In addition, a 2016 research paper by the journal Nature Climate Change found that, although it is impossible to predict how exactly the changing climate will affect wealth redistribution, it is likely that this redistribution will benefit those already at high socioeconomic levels.
Climate change is inherently an economic and social issue. The gap between the incomes of the wealthiest and poorest in America has been widening for decades, and at present, Americans in the top 0.1% of income levels earn about 200 times more per year than the average for the bottom 90%. Global warming, more frequent and devastating disasters, and other climate-related events threaten to exacerbate this trend, and make life even more difficult for people in low socioeconomic levels. It is an issue that encompasses more than just polar bears and coral reefs: it is about people’s financial security, and their lives.
When policymakers talk about climate change, they often either circle the issue in vague terms or dismiss it as hippy nonsense. Asked about his position on a deal for an emissions cap, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told reporters “I am interested in protecting Kentucky’s economy, I’m interested in having low cost electricity” (McCarthy). But underneath the political posturing and ambiguity lies a troubling reality. Inaction on climate change will make America’s poor even poorer, and ignorance, whether actual or feigned, is complacency.
by LUCIE NOLDEN