“Ensuring equitability of environmental sustainability policies" Article Reflection No. 97 (5/20/2024)

Article:  “Ensuring equitability of environmental sustainability policies”

 In the UCI News article “Ensuring equitability of environmental sustainability policies,” journalist Brian Bell reports on research titled “Nature Communications” which found that health benefits are directly correlated with decarbonization. The researchers developed two scenarios for their paper (which, when considered collectively, consisted of trucks fueled by clean energy as well as buildings with renewable electricity and renewable gas). The University’s Advanced Power and Energy Program reported that communities with lower socio-economic status actually significantly benefit from more renewable energy sources especially as they tend to live in close proximity to, for example, highways and industrial manufacturing sites.

This reinforces the recurring theme that defines environmental justice: health issues are correlated with environmental health, and their impact is especially grave for marginalized or financially struggling demographics.