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It’s been nearly 40 years since American civil rights leader Benjamin Chavis coined the term “environmental racism” to address the fact that so many poor communities populated mostly with people of color had to deal with extreme pollution from neighboring industrial plants, toxic landfills and other dangerous circumstances. Locally, Barrio Logan residents have long contended with this.
Now the San Diego City Council is doing something about a related issue: the fact that low-income neighborhoods with concentrations of people of color are most affected by climate change. On Tuesday, the council’s nine members unanimously approved creation of a “climate equity fund” with an initial $4.8 million budget to help out 120 census tracts with low rankings in the city’s 2019 climate equity index. The money will be used to make areas more walkable, add exercise options, build parks, plant trees and improve public transit. The census tracts include those in Barrio Logan, Lincoln Park, Nestor, Logan Heights, Palm City, Mountain View, Stockton, Grant Hill, Southcrest, Teralta East, Shelltown and the Tijuana River Valley.
Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, who first broached the idea of a city climate equity fund, summarized its noble intent like this: “We not only accomplish the goal of increasing the equity infrastructure investment to our disadvantaged communities and addressing our Climate Action Plan goals, but we send a strong message to our underserved residents that it is a new day in the city of San Diego.”
The program does need to be shored up for the long haul. It’s potentially volatile and thus worrisome to have its funding driven by a formula allocating 1 percent of the city’s share of state gas tax revenue and the county’s Transnet sales tax surcharge, and 10 percent of the annual franchise fee it receives from its energy provider, currently San Diego Gas & Electric. But it does mark a new day. This is a strong start on an issue that will only grow in importance.
"Opinion" - Google News
March 11, 2021 at 07:33AM
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Opinion: San Diego's new ‘climate equity fund’ is an important step - The San Diego Union-Tribune
"Opinion" - Google News
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