According to extensive research over the past three decades, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color are disproportionately affected by exposure to air pollution and toxic substances.

If that weren't enough, federal, state, and local governments provide less money to these communities to address such problems.

It should be obvious, but the reason this is critically important is because air pollution from fossil fuel harms literally every organ in the body. A recent study found that particulate matter caused tens of thousands of deaths across the U.S. in 2020.

The microscopic solids and liquid droplets in particulate matter — invisible to the naked eye — can be inhaled and cause serious health problems. Some of the smaller particles go deep into the lungs and some may even get into the bloodstream.

Researchers found that Black and Latino communities have disproportionately higher levels of particulate matter than white communities.

High lead levels also can seriously harm children. A 2021 study showed Black children averaged the highest levels of lead in their blood. Significantly more than white children.

A 2019 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences warned that poor air quality is the largest environmental health risk in the U.S. And the kicker is the poor air quality is "disproportionately caused by whites, but disproportionately inhaled by Black and Latino minorities."

Latino and Black Americans are exposed to over five times more pollution than they produce. White Americans are exposed to 17% less pollution than they produce.

Oh, and just in case you're one of those people who denies systemic racism and thinks everything is based on economics and never race, poor White communities suffer far less from pollution and other environmental-related issues than Black communities.

Recent studies of mortality in the Medicaid population found that those who live in predominately Black communities suffered greater risk of premature death from particle pollution than those who live in poor communities that are predominately white.

Let's not kid ourselves. None of this is an accident.

Landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal sites have been regularly placed in or adjacent to communities of color. To be clear, not poor white communities. Poor communities of color.

Over the past three decades, roughly 150 chemical plants and refineries were constructed along the 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi River near New Orleans and Baton Rouge. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, this is where the air that carries the country's highest cancer risk levels emanates.

The area is so bad it's now known as "Cancer Alley."

Wanna take a guess what population overwhelmingly lives in Cancer Alley?

Add on top of this intentional neglect, lax regulation, and a lack of institutional power for Black communities and the result is devastating to neighborhoods.

As a result, on April 21, 2023, President Biden created the Office of Environmental Justice that recognizes that "racism is a fundamental driver of environmental injustice." The purpose of the office is to ensure other federal agencies consider the disparate impact pollution and other environmental degradation is having on Black communities when making policy decisions.

Sounds great, but Bill Clinton took a similar step in 1994 but the problem persists. Their actions, while noble, are just executive orders and not legislation. In other words, implementation varies wildly depending on who is president. And the orders can be easily canceled.

The EPA defines environmental justice as ""the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." But the agency has not always practiced the concept in the past.

In order to pursue this justice, we need more than lip service and an occasional executive order. We must have permanent laws to prevent more harm to Black communities and to hold companies accountable where they already have caused harm.

One law proposed is the Environmental Justice for All Act. The bill expands the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and codifies Biden's and Bill Clinton's executive orders directing federal agencies to identify the disproportionate environmental and health impact of any federal actions on low-income communities of color.

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker introduced a separate environmental justice bill that includes giving individuals the right, under the Civil Rights Act, to bring actions against entities engaging in discriminatory environmental practices. We all know that money talks in our economic system.

It's interesting how many people I've met who oppose COVID vaccines because they believe they cause serious and unnecessary harm to humans.

Maybe they're right. Maybe not. It's not my area of expertise.

But we know without question that pollutants and toxic chemicals are harming our Black brothers and sisters.

How about using that same anti-COVID vaccine energy and demand real change when it comes to environmental justice?