Denise Abdul-Rahman
In the weeks since returning from Glasgow and the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, informally known as COP26, I’ve had some time to reflect on what I heard there and what international commitments to combat climate change mean for vulnerable communities back here in Indiana.
Simply put: We’re not doing enough, and we risk leaving behind those Hoosiers most in need — both urban and rural. As we begin to see more funding flowing into our state to address the climate emergency, we have to make sure that money is spent in places where there is the highest need — frontline communities like where Black Hoosiers have long been vulnerable to our unjust energy system and the dire effects of the climate emergency.
'Hotter and more humid': Dangerous extreme heat will impact Indiana in coming years
Cities like Indianapolis, Gary and Fort Wayne need to deploy those once-in-a-lifetime financial resources to ensure real, systemic change moving forward. We have to make sure those investments are tracked and their impacts are measured. As a staff and chair of environmental and climate just for the Indiana NAACP, I was fortunate to be able to travel to COP26 with a broader NAACP delegation that included the Director of Youth and College. We met with delegates from Jamaica, the Caribbean and Pan Africa, and we spent time with environmental justice leaders who serve on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
It was devastating to face how far we still have to go to mitigate what humans have done to our planet and to people who live on it. Toxic facilities, like fossil fueled power plants and incinerators, emit mercury, arsenic, lead, and other contaminants into the water, food, and lungs of communities. Many of these same facilities also emit carbon dioxide and methane, the top two drivers of climate change.
But not all people are equally impacted. Race — even more than class — is the number one indicator for the placement of toxic facilities in this country hit by climate change.
More: IDEM plans to address pollution at 'Southside stench' facility, but odor likely to remain
The NAACP has long been focused on environmental justice and equity. Our organization has called for more urgent climate action that seizes all fossil fuel extractions in order to cool the planet below 1.5 Celsius and demanded that developed nations make good on their pledge of $100 billion in climate financing to underdeveloped nations and contribute even more.
Calling a halt to deforestation and the wood pellet, biomass production that goes with it; stop the untested geotechnologies like carbon capture sequestration, and debunk the carbon market schemes that are immorally buying and selling our air.
Last year, the Indiana State conference passed resolutions opposing carbon markets, and the national NAACP did the same this year. We want deforestation and the wood pellet and biomass production that accompanies it to stop.
Taking part in COP26 was a remarkable experience getting to meet elected officials and help them learn about the effects of climate on communities of color, but now that we’re back home in Indiana, the hard work has to continue beyond mere talking points.
Our leaders need to make sure they are doing all they can with existing and new funds to prioritize reforms that will improve the lives of Black Hoosiers who have been hit hard by toxins in our air and water and poor access to clean energy and energy efficiency economic benefits.
Anything less than real, meaningful action by legislators and leaders is a true injustice to Hoosier longing for a just and equitable transition to a green economic and resilient future.
Denise Abdul-Rahman is Indiana State Chair of environmental and climate justice for the NAACP.
Simply put: We’re not doing enough, and we risk leaving behind those Hoosiers most in need — both urban and rural. As we begin to see more funding flowing into our state to address the climate emergency, we have to make sure that money is spent in places where there is the highest need — frontline communities like where Black Hoosiers have long been vulnerable to our unjust energy system and the dire effects of the climate emergency.
'Hotter and more humid': Dangerous extreme heat will impact Indiana in coming years
Cities like Indianapolis, Gary and Fort Wayne need to deploy those once-in-a-lifetime financial resources to ensure real, systemic change moving forward. We have to make sure those investments are tracked and their impacts are measured. As a staff and chair of environmental and climate just for the Indiana NAACP, I was fortunate to be able to travel to COP26 with a broader NAACP delegation that included the Director of Youth and College. We met with delegates from Jamaica, the Caribbean and Pan Africa, and we spent time with environmental justice leaders who serve on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
It was devastating to face how far we still have to go to mitigate what humans have done to our planet and to people who live on it. Toxic facilities, like fossil fueled power plants and incinerators, emit mercury, arsenic, lead, and other contaminants into the water, food, and lungs of communities. Many of these same facilities also emit carbon dioxide and methane, the top two drivers of climate change.
But not all people are equally impacted. Race — even more than class — is the number one indicator for the placement of toxic facilities in this country hit by climate change.
More: IDEM plans to address pollution at 'Southside stench' facility, but odor likely to remain
The NAACP has long been focused on environmental justice and equity. Our organization has called for more urgent climate action that seizes all fossil fuel extractions in order to cool the planet below 1.5 Celsius and demanded that developed nations make good on their pledge of $100 billion in climate financing to underdeveloped nations and contribute even more.
Calling a halt to deforestation and the wood pellet, biomass production that goes with it; stop the untested geotechnologies like carbon capture sequestration, and debunk the carbon market schemes that are immorally buying and selling our air.
Last year, the Indiana State conference passed resolutions opposing carbon markets, and the national NAACP did the same this year. We want deforestation and the wood pellet and biomass production that accompanies it to stop.
Taking part in COP26 was a remarkable experience getting to meet elected officials and help them learn about the effects of climate on communities of color, but now that we’re back home in Indiana, the hard work has to continue beyond mere talking points.
Our leaders need to make sure they are doing all they can with existing and new funds to prioritize reforms that will improve the lives of Black Hoosiers who have been hit hard by toxins in our air and water and poor access to clean energy and energy efficiency economic benefits.
Anything less than real, meaningful action by legislators and leaders is a true injustice to Hoosier longing for a just and equitable transition to a green economic and resilient future.
Denise Abdul-Rahman is Indiana State Chair of environmental and climate justice for the NAACP.
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