Posted on November 23, 2012
Facing the Climate Gap: How Environmental Justice Communities are Leading the Way to a More Sustainable and Equitable California
Facing the Climate Gap: How Environmental Justice Communities are Leading the Way to a More Sustainable and Equitable California
Low-income communities and communities of color are likely to be the most vulnerable to the consequences of global warming, and market-based regulatory approaches to environmental policy could have unexpected and unequal implications for these communities, a report from the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity and the UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources finds. Facing the Climate Gap: How Environmental Justice Communities Are Leading the Way to a More Sustainable and Equitable California (84 pages, PDF) highlights case studies of community-based organizations that are helping low-income communities of color adapt to and mitigate the consequences of climate change and proposes policy reforms to better maximize local health benefits. In addition to noting that low-income communities constitute a strong base of public support for forward-looking policies, the report suggests that environmental justice initiatives, successfully implemented, promote community empowerment and civic engagement, leverage community knowledge, establish clear-cut thresholds for equity in climate change policy, and encourage collaboration within and among sectors.
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