national context
In the US alone, environmental racism has become a large issue due to the large amounts of air pollution power plants have caused and the many violations they have broken. “The U.S. is home to 75 ‘Failing Plants’ by Environmental Justice Standards. These 75 ‘failing plants’ produced only 8 percent of U.S. electricity in 2005, but they were responsible for 14 percent of SO2 emissions and 13 percent of all NOX emissions from all U.S. power plants ("Coal Blooded Putting Profits Before People").” The US power plant corporations are mainly worried about the profits and are not acknowledging the fact that they are releasing large amount of pollutants into the air, which is harming the minorities that are forced to breathe the polluted air. The 75 failing plants mainly impact people of color, as they are all located in close proximity to low-income communities. “A total of four million people live within three miles of these 75 failing plants. Out of these four million people, nearly 53 percent are people of color ("Coal Blooded Putting Profits Before People").”
A majority of the people of color that are being affected by the air pollution caused by the hazardous facilities in their vicinity are Latino. The air quality in many of the Latino communities in the US violates many of the air quality standards that have been set by the US government and Environmental Protection Agency. The standards for air quality were established through the Clean Air Act of 1970, which was brought upon when it was realized that power plants were causing a lot of air pollution. “More than half of the U.S. population (55 percent) lives in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. Hispanics make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, yet in 2002 more than seven out of ten Hispanics (71 percent) lived in counties that violated federal air pollution standards for one or more pollutants. Hispanics are exposed to high levels of pollution ("AIR OF INJUSTICE How Air Pollution Affects the Health of Hispanics and Latinos")."
“Thirty-nine percent of the Latino population lives within 30 miles of a power plant – the distance within which the maximum effects of fine particle soot from the smokestack plume are expected to occur ("AIR OF INJUSTICE How Air Pollution Affects the Health of Hispanics and Latinos").” Unfortunately for Latinos they suffer the most from the effects of air pollution caused by the emissions of power plants. Even worse is the fact that many of Latinos that are affected are low-income and lack resources such as good health care. Since they do not have the appropriate health care they do not receive the proper care to treat illnesses such as cancer and asthma, which develop from inhaling the contaminated air. Cancer in particular has become one of the most serious effects of living in the proximity to a power plant or other environmentally hazardous facility. “The agency found that approximately 1 out of every 27,000 Americans would develop cancer because of breathing polluted air -- if those individuals were exposed to 2002 emissions levels 24 hours a day for 70 years ("EPA Estimates Cancer Risk Associated With Air Pollution").”
A majority of the people of color that are being affected by the air pollution caused by the hazardous facilities in their vicinity are Latino. The air quality in many of the Latino communities in the US violates many of the air quality standards that have been set by the US government and Environmental Protection Agency. The standards for air quality were established through the Clean Air Act of 1970, which was brought upon when it was realized that power plants were causing a lot of air pollution. “More than half of the U.S. population (55 percent) lives in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. Hispanics make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, yet in 2002 more than seven out of ten Hispanics (71 percent) lived in counties that violated federal air pollution standards for one or more pollutants. Hispanics are exposed to high levels of pollution ("AIR OF INJUSTICE How Air Pollution Affects the Health of Hispanics and Latinos")."
“Thirty-nine percent of the Latino population lives within 30 miles of a power plant – the distance within which the maximum effects of fine particle soot from the smokestack plume are expected to occur ("AIR OF INJUSTICE How Air Pollution Affects the Health of Hispanics and Latinos").” Unfortunately for Latinos they suffer the most from the effects of air pollution caused by the emissions of power plants. Even worse is the fact that many of Latinos that are affected are low-income and lack resources such as good health care. Since they do not have the appropriate health care they do not receive the proper care to treat illnesses such as cancer and asthma, which develop from inhaling the contaminated air. Cancer in particular has become one of the most serious effects of living in the proximity to a power plant or other environmentally hazardous facility. “The agency found that approximately 1 out of every 27,000 Americans would develop cancer because of breathing polluted air -- if those individuals were exposed to 2002 emissions levels 24 hours a day for 70 years ("EPA Estimates Cancer Risk Associated With Air Pollution").”