Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 9-11-18

Feature
Minority Communities Need To Be Included In Climate Justice Discussions
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
The words “climate change” can conjure up thoughts of higher-than-normal tempera- tures, ice caps melting, and sea levels rising.
Closer to home, here’s what it looks like: flooded streets, water sources polluted by stormwater runoff, and high utility bills.
About 100 people gathered Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran Church to talk about the effect of climate change on minority communities and resolutions to lessen those effects.
Sponsored by the People’s Climate Movement Tampa Bay, the event was one of hundreds taking place across the country as part of the People’s Climate Movement’s Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice Movement.
The first step: make the dis- cussion of climate change a consistent thing, said Joanne Huxter, a professor of Envi-
REP. KATHY CASTOR ... ‘Talking is the first step’
ronmental Studies at Eckerd College.
Many people are aware of the problem, but their daily ac- tions don’t acknowledge that. For example, some people drive although walking to a lo- cation is a suitable and much more practical option, she said.
But it’s only through talking about climate change that be- haviors to reduce its effects will happen. And that’s especially important for people of color, who are more affected by the
WALTER SMITH, II ...Environmental Engineer
consequences of climate change, Huxter said.
“Talk to your neighbor, talk to your friend,” she said. “There may be people who agree with you. But you won’t know if you care if you’re not talking.”
Talking is the first step; vot- ing is the next, said Rep. Kathy Castor.
Electing leaders who make climate change a priority is crit- ical to attacking the problems of climate change. And those leaders must be committing to
ridding government of a “cul- ture of corruption” that em- braces “polluters in cahoots with people of power,” she said.
“These things can be done,” she said. “But it takes the peo- ple to do it.”
Other climate change-re- lated topics were raised during a panel discussion featuring local environmental and public health activists.
Environmental justice and environmental racism are seri- ous issues that are being over- looked, said environmental engineer Walter Smith, II.
Minority communities often are not part of efforts to educate the public about envi- ronmental dangers, much to their detriment, he said.
“It’s important that we’re exposing people to that infor- mation, to communities where you don’t have that outreach,” he said.
The migrant community is affected greatly by environ- mental racism, said Nely Ro-
driguez of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
When hurricanes were moving through the area last year, finding adequate shelter became a problem. Many live in mobile homes and did not have transportation to drive to des- ignated facilities and none was provided by employers, she said.
There have been some in- stances where workers were told to continue working as storms moved in, she said.
Upgrading the infrastruc- ture is one way to resolve many of the environmental problems minority communities face, such as flooding, Smith said.
But that requires both local and statewide leaders to be on the same page with acknowl- edging those problems and committing to fix them, he said.
That requires the people “making sure they are part of the process, that you’re making sure your voice is being heard,” he said.
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