Experts and affected communities say environmental justice must be a key component of efforts to address climate change MINNEAPOLIS- Seven years ago, this city leapt to the front of the urban climate movement when it adopted an action plan for global warming. Hailed by environmentalists, the plan- one of the first passed by a major U.S. city- included reforms on issues ranging from energy efficiency to waste management. But activists say the effort launched without a critical component: the input of Minneapolis' minority and low-income communities. Despite efforts to correct the problem, critics say the initial lack of inclusion laid the groundwork for a climate policy that doesn't adequately address the needs of these same communities- many of which will be disproportionately affected by the consequences of a warming planet. Locally, it's a situation that underscores Minneapolis' perceived shortcomings on race- a plight exposed to the world last week with the killing of George Floyd, a black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer. More broadly, the episode serves as a reminder of a long-standing racial divide within the urban environmental movement and the work that still needs to be done to bring about the societal change necessary to address climate change, experts say. 'The big picture is how do we make marginalized communities part of the solution to global warming?” asked Michael Chaney, a longtime Minneapolis activist and co-founder of the nonprofit program the Family of Trees. The group works to restore tree canopies in heat-stressed North Minneapolis neighborhoods. 'Until we do, how do you think by any stretch of the imagination that you're bending the curve?” added Chaney, whose group planted an ironwood tree in Floyd's honor. 'You don't have the numbers, you don't have the population, you don't have the communities.” A call to ‘get... |