14 Apr 2000 Earth Day No Celebration for Black Americans; African-American Network Seeks Environmental Justice from Overregulation
While Leonardo DiCaprio and other big government environmentalists observe Earth Day on April 22, they are overlooking the suffering that some environmental regulations cause in the black community. Members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 support promoting a policy of true environmental justice that ensures government actions do not discriminate against the poor or minorities.
In promoting dubious environmental scare theories like global warming – which cannot be proven by satellite temperature data, the most accurate measure of the earth’s temperature, or long-term temperature trends – the Clinton Administration is siding with radical environmentalists in promoting policies like higher fuel taxes and further restrictions on fuel use to “protect” the environment. While making fuel use more expensive and difficult will not affect people like billionaire computer magnate Bill Gates, the additional costs and inconveniences have a substantial impact on black families that have an average income of around $25,000 a year.
“Overregulation is the new millennium’s preferred brand of institutional racism – and it is being perpetrated in the name of ‘saving’ the environment,” said Project 21 member John Meredith in a recent New Visions Commentary released by Project 21. “We need to remind the government that real environmental justice would stop people from abusing our community.”
Project 21 members support the government adopting a true policy of environmental justice – a policy that will assess how taxes and regulations will affect poor and minority communities. Current environmentalist-backed environmental justice proposals that rightly focus on stopping pollution in minority areas do not seek to also protect the financial and property-related civil rights of the American people.
“Although it is important to protect those of meager means from pollution, comprehensive environmental protection is the solution,” mused Project 21 member Kenneth Flowe. “If the government wants to create protective environmental policy, it should also evaluate how the allocation of tax money and economic development affects the surroundings of the poor.”
Project 21 has been a leading voice of the African-American community since 1992. For more information, contact David Almasi at (202) 507-6398 x106 or [email protected], or visit Project 21’s website at http://www.project21.org/P21Index.html.