Representative Adriano Espaillat Introduces House Resolution to Address Impact of Climate Change on Marginalized Communities

Statement

Today Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) issued the following statement in support of his resolution, H. Res. 367, recognizing the impact of climate change on vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in the United States and around the world. This global environmental justice resolution was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and calls on the U.S. government to work with our global partners to promote environmental justice and climate justice for communities of color and disenfranchised communities.

"I call on my congressional colleagues to address that disadvantaged and disenfranchised communities face the most severe impacts of climate change, while they are the least responsible for its causes," said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13). "As we move forward as a legislative body to address climate change, I urge that every bill we pass must include specific protections for communities of color that face disproportionate impacts of climate change.

"We have a lot to lose in the United States and around the world if we fail to take a stand to address climate change, but the results will have a disproportionately devastating impact on communities of color as the effects of climate change will further compound existing injustices of racial and economic disparities.

"Environmental justice affects disadvantaged communities around the world, but it is acutely felt here in the United States. A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America states that Black and Hispanic individuals in the United States face 56 percent and 63 percent more exposure to air pollution, respectively, that is caused by their consumption of goods and services that generate fine particulate-matter, a fact that is further indicated in the increasing asthma rates in my district among black and brown children in Harlem, Inwood, Washington Heights and the Bronx. I have introduced this resolution for these young people and for communities of color around the world and will continue my efforts to ensure our voices are heard on issues that impact us the most."

Earlier during the 116th Congress, Rep. Espaillat successfully passed the Espaillat Amendment on Environmental Justice to the Climate Action Now Act, urging that the impact to communities of color be considered as the U.S. upholds the Paris Climate Agreement.

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