Residents and activists say the project will increase air pollution and lock in reliance on fossil fuels. They claim institutional racism is involved in the decision.
“Environmental justice for me is ensuring that everybody--everybody--no matter what their race, no matter what their sex, have a healthy environment that they can live, eat and sleep in.”
DEP is adding equity principles to the draft rule to join the regional cap-and-trade program, like how to distribute environmental and economic benefits of the program.
A task force looked at how affordable, safe drinking water, effective stormwater management, and maintaining public control of the utility could be achieved to benefit all residents in Pittsburgh.
"A lot of Black communities don't really have time or the money to prioritize getting trees. And then other communities have an abundance of trees and they're large and big and healthy.”
