MADISON, WI – After introducing LRB-0136/1, which would require the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to investigate the disparate impacts of pollution and toxic waste on vulnerable communities during the facilities permit application process, Representative Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) released the following statement:
“All Wisconsinites deserve equal access to clean, breathable air and clean, drinkable water. However, our marginalized neighbors have not been granted the same access to these necessities as their more privileged counterparts. As we have seen throughout our nation and in our own communities, people of color and those living in poverty are at a disproportionately high risk of health issues caused by exposure to environmental elements, from lead poisoning to asthma to cancer.
According to the NAACP’s 2017 Clean Air Task Force report, African Americans in particular are exposed to 38% more polluted air than white Americans. Additionally, African Americans are 75% more likely than the average American to live in a fence-line community, or a community that is directly affected by the noise, odor, and chemical emissions of a facility.
To combat the disproportionate hazards posed to our most vulnerable communities by pollution from facilities, we must attack the root cause. The groundwork for much of the damage caused by environmental racism and discrimination is laid in the planning and permitting stage.
This bill will not only pave the way toward environmental justice in Wisconsin, but will also put more control in the hands of communities. By requiring the DNR to take additional steps in collecting public comment and assessing the impact certain pollution-causing facilities could have on BIPOC and low-income neighborhoods, we will lessen the toxic burden of pollution and hazardous waste on the most vulnerable populations in our state.
In the words of the Father of Environmental Justice, Dr. Robert Bullard, ‘The laws that codify racial segregation have been eradicated but the practices continue today, which is why you get refineries, chemical plants and landfills disproportionately in communities of color. There have been four decades of studies documenting that it’s not land values or property values – the most potent variable is race. It’s the driver of who gets pollution and who doesn’t. America is still segregated and so is pollution.’”
