Advancing Environmental Justice Through Climate Action — House Hearing (July 15, 2021)
Summary
This is the printed record of Advancing Environmental Justice Through Climate Action, a remote hearing of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis held July 15, 2021, Serial No. 117–7. Chair Kathy Castor of Florida and Ranking Member Garret Graves of Louisiana gave opening statements. The witnesses were Catherine Coleman Flowers of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice, Nikki Cooley of the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals at Northern Arizona University, Derrick Hollie of Reaching America, and Dr. R. Jisung Park of the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California Los Angeles. Castor opened by citing a western heat wave that took the lives of nearly 200 Americans and capped the hottest June in the nation's history.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
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“Advancing Environmental Justice Through Climate Action — House Hearing (July 15, 2021).”
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ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
THROUGH CLIMATE ACTION
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE
CLIMATE CRISIS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
HEARING HELD
JULY 15, 2021
Serial No. 117–7
(
www.govinfo.gov
Printed for the use of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
45–393 WASHINGTON : 2021
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SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
KATHY CASTOR, Florida, Chair
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana,
JULIA BROWNLEY, California Ranking Member
JARED HUFFMAN, California GARY PALMER, Alabama
A. DONALD MCEACHIN, Virginia BUDDY CARTER, Georgia
MIKE LEVIN, California CAROL MILLER, West Virginia
SEAN CASTEN, Illinois KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota
JOE NEGUSE, Colorado DAN CRENSHAW, Texas
VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas ANTHONY GONZALEZ, Ohio
ANA UNRUH COHEN, Majority Staff Director
MARTY HALL, Minority Staff Director
climatecrisis.house.gov
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CONTENTS
STATEMENTS OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Page
Hon. Kathy Castor, a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida,
and Chair, Select Committee on the Climate Crisis:
Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 1
Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 3
Hon. Garret Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State of Lou-
isiana, and Ranking Member, Select Committee on the Climate Crisis:
Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 3
WITNESSES
Catherine Coleman Flowers, Founder and Director, Center for Rural Enter-
prise and Environmental Justice
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 6
Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 8
Nikki Cooley, Co-Manager, Tribes & Climate Change Program and Interim
Assistant Director, Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP),
Northern Arizona University
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 10
Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 11
Derrick Hollie, Founder and President, Reaching America
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 17
Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 18
Dr. R. Jisung Park, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Luskin School of
Public Affairs, University of California Los Angeles
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 19
Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 21
SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD
Introduction to the Report from Center for Progressive Reform, Earthjustice,
and the Union of Concerned Scientists Preventing Double Disasters: How
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Can Protect the Public from
Hazardous Chemical Releases Worsened by Natural Disasters, submitted
for the record by Ms. Castor ............................................................................... 48
Article from Earth’s Future, ‘‘Widespread race and class disparities in surface
urban heat extremes across the United States,’’ submitted for the record
by Ms. Castor ....................................................................................................... 48
Republican Committee Staff Analysis of the average cost of electricity bills
in California if the Louisiana electricity rate was applied, using April
2021 data from Saveonenergy.com, submitted for the record by Mr. Graves . 49
Letter from Matthew Jewell, St. Charles Parish President; Pete Dufresne,
St. James Parish President; and Clint Cointment, Ascension Parish Presi-
dent, to President Biden regarding the industrial corridor that spans from
Baton Rouge to New Orleans, Louisiana, submitted for the record by Mr.
Graves ................................................................................................................... 50
APPENDIX
Questions for the Record from Hon. Kathy Castor to Catherine Coleman
Flowers .................................................................................................................. 52
Questions for the Record from Hon. Kathy Castor to Nikki Cooley .................... 53
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Questions for the Record from Hon. Kathy Castor to R. Jisung Park ................ 54
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ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
THROUGH CLIMATE ACTION
THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to call, at 2:34 p.m., via Zoom,
Hon. Kathy Castor [chairwoman of the committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Castor, Bonamici, Brownley, Huffman,
McEachin, Levin, Casten, Graves, Palmer, Carter, Miller, and Gon-
zalez.
Ms. CASTOR. The committee will come to order.
Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of
the committee at any time. As a reminder, members participating
in the hearing remotely should be visible on camera throughout the
hearing. As with in-person meetings, members are responsible for
controlling their own microphones. Members can be muted by staff
only to avoid inadvertent background noise.
In addition, statements, documents, or motions must be submit-
ted to the electronic repository to SCCC.repository@mail.house.gov.
Finally, members or witnesses experiencing technical problems
should inform the committee staff immediately.
Well, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us at this
remote hearing today. Today, we are looking at how we can ad-
vance environmental justice through climate action, and I recognize
myself for 5 minutes for an opening statement.
Now, during our last committee hearing, the West faced an un-
precedented heat wave, one that shattered temperature records. It
melted power cables and tragically took the lives of nearly 200
Americans. The extreme heat capped the hottest June in our na-
tion’s history and scientists warn it would have been virtually im-
possible without the influence of human-caused climate change.
This week, unfortunately, a new and dangerous heat wave is
threatening summer crops, sparking wildfires, straining power
grids, and putting more lives in danger. And on the East Coast,
commuters waded through waist-deep water to reach the New York
City subway after heavy rains flooded underground stations across
the city. There is no denying it: We are in a climate crisis, and we
must act boldly to keep temperatures in check as we help our
neighborhoods to adapt to threats that are already here.
From scorching heat waves to stronger storms, the climate crisis
affects each community differently, but its worst effects are felt by
Americans in environmental justice communities, which include
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communities of color, low-income communities, and indigenous
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communities. That is why environmental justice must be at the
center of climate action. It is why environmental justice is the cor-
nerstone of our climate crisis action plan. And it is why today we
will focus on advancing environmental justice through climate ac-
tion. Throughout our history, Black, Brown, indigenous, and low-
income Americans have been disproportionately harmed by pollu-
tion, and today they are more vulnerable to the effects of climate
change. Black American children are five times likelier than White
children to be admitted to the hospital for asthma. Latinos are
twice as likely to live in areas threatened by wildfires. Commu-
nities that have few trees or places to cool off have deadlier out-
comes when the weather hits triple digits. Tribes are watching
their way of life disrupted by climate-fueled weather extremes,
wildlife loss, and sea level rise. And in Puerto Rico, families are
still living with blue plastic tarps over their homes nearly 4 years
after Hurricane Maria blew away their roofs.
This is not a coincidence. Environmental justice communities
have long been harmed by chronic under investment and systemic
failures that make it harder for them to bounce back after disaster
strikes. They have also been subject to racist zoning codes, mort-
gage lending discrimination, and disproportionate proximity to fac-
tories, waste sites, and other sources of pollution.
Climate change acts as a threat multiplier taking existing social
and economic inequities and making them worse. That is why cli-
mate action must be centered in righting these wrongs, ensuring
we do not repeat the mistakes and injustices of the past. Solving
the climate crisis is about more than just reducing pollution; it is
about boosting resilience in vulnerable communities, and it is about
repairing the legacy of environmental racism.
And as we expand clean energy and rebuild our infrastructure,
we have to be intentional about elevating environmental justice
communities to make sure the benefits are reaching the most vul-
nerable Americans.
Thanks to the leadership of colleagues like Representative
McEachin, we have made progress on this front as we listen to the
priorities of environmental justice communities and translate them
into solutions. We passed President Biden’s American Rescue Plan,
which included critical funding for environmental justice programs
at EPA. We also passed the INVEST in America Act, which makes
record investments in mass transit, expands funding for water in-
frastructure and resilience, and creates a groundbreaking program
to reconnect environmental justice communities divided by high-
ways.
This is going to be a very important hearing for all of us, and
I look forward to hearing our outstanding witnesses.
At this time, I will turn it over to Ranking Member Graves for
his 5 minute opening statement.
[The statement of Ms. Castor follows:]
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Opening Statement of Chair Kathy Castor
Hearing on ‘‘Advancing Environmental Justice Through Climate Action’’
Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
July 15, 2021
As prepared for delivery
During our last Committee hearing, the West faced an unprecedented heat
wave—one that shattered temperature records, melted power cables, and tragically
took the lives of nearly 200 Americans. The extreme heat capped the hottest June
in our nation’s history. And scientists warned it would have been ‘‘virtually impos-
sible’’ without the influence of human-caused climate change. This week, unfortu-
nately, a new and dangerous heat wave is threatening summer crops, sparking
wildfires, straining power grids, and putting more lives in danger. And on the East
Coast, commuters waded through waist-deep water to reach the New York City sub-
way, after heavy rains flooded underground stations across the city. There is no de-
nying it: we are in a climate crisis. And we must act boldly to keep temperatures
in check, as we help our neighborhoods adapt to threats that are already here.
From scorching heat waves to stronger storms, the climate crisis affects each com-
munity differently. But its worst effects are felt by Americans in environmental jus-
tice communities, which include communities of color, low-income communities, and
Indigenous communities. That’s why environmental justice must be at the center of
climate action. It’s why environmental justice is a cornerstone of our Climate Crisis
Action Plan. And it’s why today we’ll focus on advancing environmental justice
through climate action.
Throughout our history, Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income Americans
have been disproportionately harmed by pollution. And today, they’re more vulner-
able to the effects of climate change: Black American children are five times likelier
than white children to be admitted to the hospital for asthma. Latinos are twice as
likely to live in areas most threatened by wildfires. Communities that have few
trees or places to cool off have deadlier outcomes when the weather hits triple dig-
its. Tribes are watching their way of life disrupted by climate-fueled weather ex-
tremes, wildlife loss, and sea-level rise. And in Puerto Rico, families are still living
with blue plastic tarps over their homes, nearly four years after a hurricane blew
away their roofs.
This is not a coincidence. EJ communities have long been harmed by chronic
underinvestment and systemic failures that make it harder for them to bounce back
after disaster strikes. They’ve also been subject to racist zoning codes, mortgage
lending discrimination, and a disproportionate proximity to factories, waste sites,
and other sources of pollution. Climate change acts as a threat multiplier, taking
existing social and economic inequities and making them worse. That’s why climate
action must be centered in righting these wrongs, ensuring we do not repeat the
mistakes and injustices of the past. Solving the climate crisis is about more than
just reducing pollution. It’s about boosting resilience in vulnerable communities.
And it’s about repairing the legacy of environmental racism. As we expand clean en-
ergy and rebuild our infrastructure, we have to be intentional about elevating EJ
communities, to make sure these benefits are reaching the most vulnerable Ameri-
cans.
Thanks to the leadership of colleagues like Rep. McEachin, we’ve made progress
on this front, as we listen to the priorities of EJ communities and translate them
into solutions. We passed President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which included
critical funding for EJ grant programs at the EPA. We also passed the Invest in
America Act, which makes record investments in mass transit; expands funding for
water infrastructure and resilience; and creates a groundbreaking program to recon-
nect EJ communities divided by highways.
This summer, we have an opportunity to further advance justice by passing the
American Jobs Plan, which would direct 40% of the benefits of infrastructure invest-
ments to EJ communities. The American Jobs Plan includes crucial programs to ele-
vate communities of color. And it gives us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build
an economy that works for everyone.
With that, I’d like to thank our incredible panel of witnesses for being here, and
I look forward to our conversation.
Mr. GRAVES. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I want to welcome
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Ms. Flowers, Ms. Cooley, Dr. Park, and Mr. Hollie. Thank you for
joining us today. Looking forward to your testimony.
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When we talk about environmental justice, I think it is impor-
tant that we talk about disadvantaged communities. I think it is
important that we look at policies that have been carried out and
use evidence to inform our policies, our bills, our legislation, our
strategies as we move forward to a clean energy future, a cleaner
energy future in the United States.
And I know that my friends, Mr. Huffman and Mr. Levin, are
going to be shocked to hear me cite California as an example today,
but I do. I want to cite California because I think it is an example
of how flawed policies can actually be regressive and can actually
exacerbate challenges that some of our disadvantaged communities
may be experiencing. It can cause disproportionate burdens to
those communities.
In the State of California, a coalition of civil rights leaders have
actually sued the state over the aggressive impact of climate poli-
cies on their disadvantaged communities. As a matter of fact, you
can look right now and these programs, these policies have resulted
in the State of California, Californians, paying 50 percent more, on
average, for electricity costs and about 80 cents more per gallon to
fuel their cars. And that is compared to the national average. As
a matter of fact, in the lawsuit that was filed against the State of
California, citing these regressive policies, they say: ‘‘California’s
climate change policies, and specifically those policies that increase
the cost and delay or reduce the availability of housing, that in-
crease the cost of transportation fuels and intentionally worsen
highway congestion to lengthen commute times, and further in-
crease electricity costs, have caused and will cause unconstitutional
and unlawful disparate impacts to California’s minority popu-
lations. . . .
California’s climate policies guarantee that housing, transpor-
tation and electricity prices will continue to rise while ‘‘gateway’’
jobs to the middle class for those without college degrees, such as
manufacturing and logistics, will continue to locate in other states.’’
And I think we have seen that. California’s policies have resulted
in some of actually the highest emissions growth in the United
States, and it is a disturbing trend in that you are causing dis-
proportionate impacts to disadvantaged communities and actually
resulting in higher emissions.
And I remind you, the State of California is the only state with
five severe nonattainment areas in the state. Therefore, as the
chair talked about, cases of asthma and other health challenges
that disproportionately impact our kids certainly are exacerbated
in that state as a result of policies that are purported to help to
address climate change and reduce emissions.
My home state of Louisiana if California rates applied, we would
be paying approximately double the electricity bills that we cur-
rently pay in our state. And if we are going to talk about—if we
are going to talk about disproportionate impact and environmental
justice, I want to remind the committee, my home state of Lou-
isiana, we have one of the highest African-American population
percentages in the United States. We have one of the highest per-
centages of those impoverished.
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Let’s talk about environmental justice. The justice to our state,
to our citizens whenever the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers levied
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the rivers causing the greatest loss of wetlands in the continental
United States constituting 90 percent of that loss and, unfortu-
nately, many of my friends that are on this committee that talk
about their willingness or their desire to restore the environment
and protect disadvantaged communities are repeatedly fighting our
efforts to restore our coastal ecosystem to protect these commu-
nities from dangerous storms, hurricanes, and floods.
And so it is especially concerning that, as we move forward, we
move forward based on science, based on data, based on evidence,
and building upon the success that the United States has had in
reducing emissions more than the next 12 emissions-reducing coun-
tries combined.
So, Madam Chair, with that, I look forward to hearing from our
witnesses.
And I yield back.
Ms. CASTOR. Without objection, the members who wish to enter
opening statements into the record have 5 business days to do so.
Now, I would like to welcome our witnesses. We will hear from
prominent community leaders and researchers on why it is critical
to invest in environmental justice. Catherine Coleman Flowers is
the Founder of the Center For Rural Enterprise and Environ-
mental Justice. She is an internationally recognized advocate for
the human right to water and sanitation, and she works to improve
access to clean air, water, and soil in marginalized rural commu-
nities. In 2020, Ms. Flowers received the prestigious MacArthur
Fellowship.
Nikki Cooley is the Co-manager of the Tribes and Climate
Change program, as well as the Interim Assistant Director of the
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals at Northern Ari-
zona University. Ms. Cooley leads a program to help Tribal Nations
as they address and prepare for climate impacts. She works with
Tribal and indigenous partners across the Continental United
States and Alaska on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and
resilience planning. Ms. Cooley is of the Dine Navajo Nation.
Derrick Hollie is the Founder and President of Reaching Amer-
ica, a nonprofit organization with the focus on African-American
outreach. Mr. Hollie has over 25 years of experience in advertising
and marketing.
Dr. Jisung Park is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at
UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. Dr. Park is an expert in
environmental economics, labor economics, and public finance. His
research focuses on how climate change affects social and economic
outcomes. In particular, Dr. Park studies the labor and human cap-
ital impacts of climate change, the prospects for long run climate
adaptation, and environmental determinants of economic mobility.
Without objection, the witnesses’ written statements will be
made part of the record.
With that, Ms. Flowers, you are now recognized to give a 5-
minute presentation of your testimony. Welcome.
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STATEMENTS OF CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS, FOUNDER
AND DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR RURAL ENTERPRISE AND EN-
VIRONMENTAL JUSTICE; NIKKI COOLEY, CO-MANAGER,
TRIBES & CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAM, AND INTERIM AS-
SISTANT DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR TRIBAL ENVIRON-
MENTAL PROFESSIONALS (ITEP), NORTHERN ARIZONA UNI-
VERSITY; DERRICK HOLLIE, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT,
REACHING AMERICA; AND R. JISUNG PARK, ASSISTANT PRO-
FESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
STATEMENT OF CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS
Ms. FLOWERS. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Castor, Ranking
Member Graves, and all the members of the Select Committee for
the opportunity to testify. Again, my name is Catherine Coleman
Flowers. I am the Rural Development Manager for the Equal Jus-
tice Initiative and the Founding Director of the Center for Rural
Enterprise and Environmental Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. I
also serve as a Practitioner in Residence at Duke University, a
member of the board of advisers for the Center for Earth Ethics at
Union Theological Seminary, as well as the boards of the Natural
Resource Defense Council, and the Climate Reality Project. As
Chair Castor stated, in 2020, I was awarded the MacArthur Fel-
lowship in environmental health, and I authored the book entitled
‘‘Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret.’’ In
this book, I uncovered the extent to which rural America has been
denied access to sustainable and resilient sanitation infrastructure.
I am a proud native of Lowndes County, Alabama, a rural area
located between Selma and Montgomery. Lowndes County, too, has
as a proud history of fighting for equality and the right to vote. In
addition, in the early 1900s, sharecroppers organized for jobs and
justice. Many of its sons, and later its daughters, including my fa-
ther, my three brothers, and myself, served in the United States
military. We have a deep legacy of holding up core democratic val-
ues, even when they failed us. Most of all, I stand on the values
I learned as a country girl that grew up with a healthy respect for
nature, and I appreciate what our Creator has provided for us,
which includes the knowledge to know when we are out of balance
with Creation.
That failure is exemplified through fish kills, more powerful
storms, higher groundwater tables in some areas, drought in other
areas, floods, unsafe mobile homes, high electric bills, pollution,
straight piping of raw sewage, or failing wastewater systems. I
have often taken policymakers, philanthropists and people from
both sides of the aisle, from Jeff Sessions to Doug Jones to Robert
Woodson, to Lowndes County to see the infrastructure inequalities
that exist and to hear from local people what is needed to address
them. At the height of the pandemic, Lowndes County had the
highest death and infection rate per capita for COVID in the State
of Alabama. Sadly, as one travels through Lowndes County now,
the fresh graves of the victims of COVID are a constant reminder
of what happens when poverty, inequality, failing or no sanitation
infrastructure, and climate change comes together.
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The climate crisis impacts all of us, whether one is in Louisiana,
which has been losing at least 25 square miles of land per year,
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or in Alabama where more intense tropical storms can harm hous-
ing, roads, transportation arteries, or more valuable infrastructure.
Throughout our nation, we are dealing with failing infrastructure,
and it includes the most basic infrastructure, sanitation.
Because I am a country girl, I like to speak in plain English like
I would if I was at home speaking to local people, my relatives. In
the town of Hayneville, Alabama, the county seat of Lowndes, for
more than 20 years, Ms. Charlie Mae Holcombe has been telling
people about the sewage from a nearby lagoon that has been back-
ing up into her home. Yet the failing infrastructure continues to
fail, and she continues to cry for help. She is paying a wastewater
treatment fee, yet all the town can provide is a pump truck to
pump sewage out of her yard from time to time. The failure is more
pronounced when there is a hard rain.
This is emblematic of failing wastewater infrastructure across
the United States. It is something we need to address, and our
rural communities should not be left to their own devices as they
struggle to cope with the climate crisis and the lack of investment
in sustainable infrastructure that goes back decades. Failure is re-
peating the same thing over and over again and expecting different
results.
Despite being knowledgeable of the failures of the lagoon system,
a similar design to the one in Hayneville is being planned in the
town of White Hall along Highway 80. This sewage lagoon would
sit next to an elementary school. The liability for failing septic
tanks in this system would be transferred to homeowners. This
does not consider the failures that already exist here and around
the nation, nor does it account for a changing climate producing
more rainfall in many areas nor does it consider the health and
well-being of the residents or the nation. Yet it begs the question,
how can Federal money be used to buy equipment that does not
come with any service or performance warranties, especially when
we know they fail not only in Lowndes County but throughout the
nation?
This is indicative of the sanitation inequality that exists through-
out the U.S., whether in Montgomery, Alabama, where older Black
communities are on failing septic tanks or in Martin County, Ken-
tucky, where poor White families are asking for environmental jus-
tice and good-paying jobs as well. The American Jobs Plan provides
an opportunity to deal with the climate crisis head on and for guid-
ing rural Black, Brown, and indigenous communities that are expe-
riencing the most severe job losses, untimely deaths, poor living
conditions, and health crises.
It is a chance to right some wrongs of all marginalized commu-
nities and make America a model of ingenuity where we have clean
air, clean water, resilient infrastructure, and good-paying jobs for
everyone. With this funding should come guardrails that would en-
sure that Ms. Charlie Mae will not get more sewage in her yard,
lagoons are not built next to schools, and each onsite system or in-
frastructure placed in neglected communities should come with the
same performance and parts warranties that we have come to ex-
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tem.
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These guardrails should include stringent enforcement so the
people of Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and wherever our great na-
tion needs working infrastructure will get the relief and protection
from the climate crisis. It would be neglectful not to mention can-
cer alley, which sits along the Mississippi River, where residents
combat cancer rates due to pollution and are one climate crisis
away from a catastrophic event that could overshadow Hurricane
Katrina.
We can make a difference and do something now. As a child I
learned in Sunday school that we all have the power to do good and
change our communities for the better, and we should. Therefore,
I implore our leaders and policymakers to recognize the areas out-
side of urban centers that do not have the privilege to flush and
forget, and those who are losing their homes to sea level rise, roads
that are being destroyed, and their homes do not provide safe
haven from extreme heat or storms. Change the formula for dis-
aster relief to enable all Americans to receive recovery aid and to
include people that are renters, live on heirs’ property, or rural
communities that are not densely populated, invest in clean infra-
structure for all, prioritize in communities that have been left be-
hind, and most of all, we together should confront this climate cri-
sis for our children, our grandchildren, and generations to come.
I thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today. It was
an honor, and I look forward to continuing conversation about envi-
ronmental and climate justice for all Americans. Thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Flowers follows:]
Testimony of Catherine Coleman Flowers
To the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
July 15, 2021
Thank you, Chair Castor, Ranking Member Graves, and all the members of the
Select Committee for the opportunity to testify. My name is Catherine Coleman
Flowers. I serve as the Rural Development Manager for the Equal Justice Initiative
and the Founding Director of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental
Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. I also serve as a Practitioner in Residence at
Duke University, a member of the Board of Advisors for the Center for Earth Ethics
at Union Theological Seminary, as well as on the boards of the Natural Resource
Defense Council and the Climate Reality Project. In 2020, I was awarded a Mac-
Arthur Fellowship in Environmental Health and I authored the book entitled Waste:
One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret. In this book, I uncovered the
extent to which rural America has been denied access to sustainable and resilient
sanitation infrastructure.
I am a proud native of Lowndes County, Alabama, a rural area located between
Selma and Montgomery. Lowndes County too has a proud history of fighting for
equality and the right to vote. In addition, in the early 1900s, sharecroppers orga-
nized for jobs and justice. Many of its sons and later its daughters including my
father, three brothers and myself served in the United States military. We have a
deep legacy of holding up core democratic values, even when they failed us. Most
of all, I stand on the values learned as a country girl that grew up with a healthy
respect for nature and I appreciate what our Creator has provided for us which in-
cludes the knowledge to know when we are out of balance with creation.
That failure is exemplified through fish kills, more powerful storms, higher
groundwater tables in some areas, drought in other areas, floods, unsafe mobile
homes, high electric bills, pollution, straight-piping of raw sewage, or failing waste-
water systems. I have often taken policymakers, philanthropists, and people from
both sides of the aisle from Jeff Sessions to Doug Jones to Robert Woodson to
Lowndes County to see the infrastructure inequalities that exist and to hear from
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local people what is needed to address them. At the height of the pandemic,
Lowndes County had the highest death and infection rate per capita in the state
of Alabama. Sadly, as one travels through Lowndes County now, the fresh graves
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of victims of COVID are a constant reminder of what happens when poverty, in-
equality, failing or no sanitation infrastructure, and climate change come together.
The climate crisis impacts all of us. Whether one is in Louisiana which has been
losing at least 25 square miles of land per year, or in Alabama where more intense
tropical storms can harm housing, roads, transportation arteries, or other valuable
infrastructure. Throughout our nation we are dealing with failing infrastructure,
and it also includes the most basic infrastructure, sanitation. Because I am a coun-
try girl, I like to speak in plain English like I would if I were at home speaking
to local people, my relatives. In the town of Hayneville, Alabama, the county seat
of Lowndes, for more than twenty years, Mrs. Charlie Mae Holcombe has been tell-
ing people about the sewage from a nearby lagoon that is backing up into her home.
Yet, the failing infrastructure continues to fail, and she continues to cry for help.
She is paying a wastewater treatment fee. Yet all the town can provide is a pump
truck to pump sewage out of her yard from time to time. The failure is more pro-
nounced when there is a hard rain.
This is emblematic of failing wastewater infrastructure around the United States.
It is something that we need to address, and our rural communities should not be
left to their own devices as they struggle to cope with the climate crisis and the
lack of investment in sustainable infrastructure that goes back decades. Failure is
repeating the same thing time and time again and expecting different results.
Despite being knowledgeable of the failures of the lagoon system, a similar design
to the one is Hayneville is being planned for the town of White Hall. This sewage
lagoon will sit next to an elementary school. The liability for failing septic tanks in
this system will be transferred to the homeowners. This does not consider the fail-
ures that already exist here and around the nation, nor does it account for a chang-
ing climate producing more rainfall in many areas, nor does it consider the health
and wellbeing of the residents or the nation. Yet it begs the question, how can fed-
eral money be used to buy equipment that does not come with any service or per-
formance warranties, especially when we know they fail not only in Lowndes Coun-
ty, but throughout the nation?
This is indicative of the sanitation inequity that exists throughout the US wheth-
er in Montgomery, Alabama where many older black communities are on failing sep-
tic tanks, or Martin County, Kentucky where poor white families are asking for en-
vironmental justice and good paying jobs as well.
The American Jobs Plan provides an opportunity to deal with the climate crisis
head on in forgotten in rural, Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities that are
experiencing the most severe job losses, untimely deaths, poor living conditions, and
health crises. It is a chance to right some wrongs of all marginalized communities
and make America a model of ingenuity where we have clean air, clean water, resil-
ient infrastructure, and good paying jobs for everyone.
With this funding should come guardrails that will ensure that Mrs. Charlie Mae
will not get more sewer in her yard and home, lagoons are not built next to schools,
and each onsite system or any infrastructure placed in neglected communities
should come with the same performance and parts warranty we have come to expect
from a car, a hot water heater or a heating and cooling system. The guardrails
should include stringent enforcement so the people of Alabama, Louisiana, Texas,
and wherever in our great nation working infrastructure is needed will get relief
and protection from the climate crisis.
It will be neglectful not to mention Cancer Alley which sits along the Mississippi
River where residents combat high cancer rates due to pollution and are one climate
crisis away from a catastrophic event could overshadow Hurricane Katrina. We can
make a difference and do something now.
As a child, I learned in Sunday school that we all have the power to do good and
change our communities for the better, and we should. Therefore, I implore our
leaders and policymakers to recognize the areas outside of urban centers that do not
have the privilege to ‘‘flush and forget,’’ are losing their homes to sea level rise,
roads are being destroyed and their homes do not provide safe haven from extreme
heat or storms. Change the formula for disaster relief to enable all Americans to
receive recovery aid to include people that are renters, live on heir’s property or in
rural communities that are not densely populated. Invest in clean infrastructure for
all, prioritizing communities that have been left behind. And most of all, we to-
gether confront this climate crisis for our children, grandchildren, and the genera-
tions to come.
I thank you for this opportunity to speak before you today. It is an honor and
I look forward to continuing conversation about environmental justice and climate
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justice for ALL Americans.
Ms. CASTOR. Thank you very much.
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Ms. Cooley, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF NIKKI COOLEY
Ms. COOLEY. Ya’at’eeh. Chair Kathy Castor, Ranking Member
Garret Graves, and members of the Select Committee, thank you
for the opportunity to testify before you today to speak on the sig-
nificant actions of Native Americans and Alaska Native commu-
nities in addressing the climate crisis. I acknowledge all of the
Tribal and indigenous people on whose traditional lands we are
working and living on. I acknowledge all of my relatives listening
in on this important hearing.
I am of the Towering House Clan. I am born for the Reed People
Clan. Maternal grandfathers are from the Water That Flows To-
gether Clan. Paternal grandfathers are from the Manygoats Clan.
I am from the Dine Navajo Nation, Shonto and Blue Gap, Arizona.
I reside in Flagstaff, Arizona, where I co-manage the Tribes and
Climate Change program housed under the Institute for Tribal En-
vironmental Professionals.
A recent effort by ITEP was to convene the development of the
inaugural Status of Tribes and Climate Change Report. Although,
it has not been published, I will highlight 3 of the 12 chapters, in-
cluding key messages and recommendations.
On the Dine Navajo Nation, we are seeing the drastic impacts of
the extreme aridification of our lands. My people have to haul
water for their families, their livestock, and their crops. That is
getting harder due to low water levels. Our Nation has had to im-
plement water rations, forcing families to make the hard decision
to decrease or sell their livestock, which is devastating to those
who depend on them for money and for food.
Our relatives on the coastline and in Alaska are experiencing the
consequences of coastal erosion and water rising sea levels, forcing
them to plan for relocation. In recent years, wildfires and winter
storms have caused power outages, impacting those most vulner-
able.
A key philosophy of Tribal Nations is ‘‘To ei iina,’’ water is life.
Water sustains our bodies, our environment, and our economies.
Unfortunately, many Tribal Nations do not have reliable or ade-
quate access to safe drinking water. The insufficient drinking
water infrastructure combined with aridification, decrease in
groundwater recharge contributes to the imbalance of health, of the
health of the environment and people. The report recommends
funding for not only the installation but operation and maintenance
of water—drinking water infrastructure.
The climate resilient infrastructure could potentially decrease
long-term costs and water ability to access safe and reliable drink-
ing water is a privilege, but it is also a basic human right. I recall
very vividly doing my college homework by kerosene lamps and
later using a generator and head lamps. I recall the uncertainty of
the mine shutting down because of job loss. Adding to that loss was
the failed opportunity to train former mine workers in the reclama-
tion process. There still is the opportunity for Tribes and local
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jobs—for Tribes to create local jobs and training opportunities for
solar and wind facilities.
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Our people will not have to leave the reservation. Tribal Nations
require the support in terms of financing, training, and access to
the resources. My umbilical cord is buried at my family’s home,
and I am continually reminded of where I come from and what I
have to protect. We are inherently bonded with the Earth through
our prayers, our ceremonies, and ways of life. Due to climate
change, many communities are facing the threat from rising sea
levels, coastal erosion, permafrost melt. This not only threatens the
land base, but the people’s safety, emotional, and physical well-
being.
The STACC Report highlights inadequate funding, agency coordi-
nation, local capacity, and technical capacity as significant barriers
for Tribes. Current infrastructure is at risk and if we wait any
longer to address these threats there will be significant long-term
costs.
I am the daughter of someone who worked at the Peabody Coal
Mine on the Navajo reservation for over 30 years. I know all too
well the need for a just transition to a sustainable economy that
not only focuses on cleaner energy, such as wind and solar, but
building an adequate and sustainable infrastructure that will pro-
tect the people, the environment, but also promote economic secu-
rity. I stress the importance of acknowledging the unique chal-
lenges Native Americans face.
Climate change impacts are becoming more frequent giving less
time for recovery, preparation, and increasing costs. I implore the
committee to recognize the STACC Report as an opportunity to
learn more in-depth about what Tribal Nations are doing to protect
themselves and their communities against the climate crisis while
exploring significant ways to support them. I implore the com-
mittee to include and recognize the leadership of Tribes in address-
ing the climate crisis, which is and always will be at their doorstep.
And as an elder recently said, what we do today, we do for the
next seven generations. Ahxehee. Thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Cooley follows:]
Testimony of Nikki Cooley
Co-Manager, Tribes & Climate Change Program and Interim Assistant
Director, Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP),
Northern Arizona University
Before the
U.S. House of Representatives, Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
Hearing Title:
Advancing Environmental Justice Through Climate Action
July 15, 2021
Chair Kathy Castor, Ranking Member Garret Graves, and members of the Select
Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today to speak on
the significant actions of Native American and Alaska Native communities in ad-
dressing the climate crisis.
My name is Nikki Cooley and I am Diné (Navajo) and of the Towering House
Clan, born for the Reed People Clan, maternal grandfathers are from the Water that
Flows Together Clan, and paternal grandfathers are from the Manygoats Clan. I am
from Shonto and Blue Gap, Arizona and currently reside in Flagstaff, Arizona where
I co-manage the Tribes and Climate Change Program (TCCP) housed under the In-
stitute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) at Northern Arizona Univer-
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sity. ITEP was created in 1992 to provide services and tools for Tribal environ-
mental professionals to assist in strengthening Tribal capacity and sovereignty in
caring for their own lands, natural and cultural resources. The TCCP was initiated
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12
in 2009 to provide regional and national trainings, national conference, technical as-
sistance and support for Tribes seeking to address climate impacts in their respec-
tive communities. This support includes assisting Tribal Nations with developing
their climate adaptation and mitigation plans. Since 2009, the TCCP has served and
supported over 800 individuals including 600+ Tribal representatives and over 300
Tribal Nations.
I am from the Diné (Navajo) Nation where we have been seeing the drastic im-
pacts of climate change and we are going through a prolonged dry spell. Most of
my people have to haul water for themselves and families and their livestock and
crops and that is getting harder due to low water levels. Our nation has had to im-
plement water rations forcing families to make the hard decision to decrease or sell
their livestock which is devastating to those who depend on them for food and
money. Our relatives on the coastlines and in Alaska are experiencing the con-
sequences of coastal erosion and rising sea levels forcing them to plan for relocating
their communities. In recent years, wildfires and winter storms have caused power
outages impacting those most vulnerable. These are just a few examples of what has
and is happening across the country and specifically in Native American and Alaska
Natives villages.
A recent effort by ITEP was to convene the development of the inaugural Status
of Tribes and Climate Change (STACC) report with an author team of over 40 indi-
viduals coming from a variety of institutions. The report aims to acknowledge and
celebrate the efforts of Tribal Nations who continue to find solutions using Tradi-
tional Knowledges (TK) and Western knowledge to address the increasing impacts
of climate change. Included are the efforts of Tribal communities and their partners
who come from Tribal Nations, academic institutions, federal and state agencies,
and non-profits. Although the STACC report will not be published until the end of
August, it contains 12 chapters that includes key messages and recommendations
to assist and support Tribes as they work to protect their communities, non-human
relatives and cultures from drastic climate impacts.
2021 STACC Report’s Key Messages and Recommendations
Chapter 1: History of Indigenous Peoples in National Climate Assessments
Key Message
Indigenous peoples have been substantively involved in national and international
climate assessments for decades, and this involvement has grown, including more
Indigenous engagement and authorship on the third and fourth National Climate
Assessments. There is still much work to be done to engage and include Indigenous
perspectives, knowledge, and expertise in climate assessments.
Recommendation
Future reforms to make NCAs more inclusive should acknowledge, learn from,
and build on Indigenous peoples involvement throughout the history of the US Glob-
al Change Research Program.
Chapter 2: Worldviews, Knowledges, & Social Impacts
Key Messages
Indigenous peoples have their own systems of governance that have norms of be-
havior for land use and land care.
A growing dialogue among some Indigenous peoples articulates Indigenous knowl-
edge systems through an understanding that all things are interconnected.
Legacies left by colonialism in economic, social, environmental, and educational
systems have altered lifeways, traditions, practices, customs, and values of Indige-
nous peoples, influencing their understanding of how climate change affects their
daily lives and opportunities for adaptation.
Recommendation
Climate change policy and climate science fields should respect Indigenous self-
determination in governance and knowledge exchange. Indigenous peoples should be
consulted meaningfully from the earliest stages of policy and research development.
Legal, policy, ethical, and cultural best practices and requirements should be fol-
lowed to make consultation meaningful.
Chapter 3: Actionable Science & Collaborative Climate Planning
Key Messages
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Tribes are investing efforts in adaptation planning and projects to keep their com-
munities, ecosystems, and people healthy. In doing so, they are implementing the
most cutting-edge work on climate. Tribal nations are actively creating climate vul-
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nerability assessments, adaptation plans, and hazard mitigation plans. Protecting
traditional knowledges is an important part of these processes. Locally relevant and
regionally specific information is needed to understand local climate impacts and de-
velop solutions that incorporate local, traditional, and western knowledge for holistic
solutions. Actionable science co-produced in partnership with Indigenous peoples
can support Tribal resource management decision-making.
Recommendation
Support Tribal sovereignty and self-determination through Tribally-led climate
adaptation planning to allow Tribes to prepare for climate uncertainty and associ-
ated risks. Management decision making should involve consultation with Tribes
early and often, co-production of actionable science, and the incorporation of local
knowledge.
Chapter 4: Ecosystems & Biodiversity
Key Message
Indigenous peoples’ worldviews are often explicit in their centering of
relationality, responsibility, and reciprocity as critical concepts. These concepts may
inform Indigenous responses to climate change impacts. Examples of these impacts
include increases in destructive wildfires and invasive species, and decreases in ice
cover due to warming temperatures. Indigenous actions to address climate change
are vast but some specifics include cultural burning, protection of keystone species,
and observation and evaluation of invasive species before deciding how to respond.
Recommendation
Indigenous peoples’ self-determination as practitioners of biodiversity conservation
and ecological protection should be respected and reinforced. This can be accom-
plished through collaboration across jurisdictions; consultation and consent in the
first stages of land and water planning, research, and management processes; in-
creasing support mechanisms for the exercise of Tribal sovereignty; and the removal
of barriers to Indigenous peoples’ rights to implementing land management prac-
tices. Special measures need to be taken to provide access to and management of
off-reservation areas to promote the retention of culturally valued species to the
maximum extent possible. This helps to ensure the promotion and maintenance of
Indigenous economies, traditional knowledge systems, livelihoods, meanings, and
identities. Where retention is not feasible, measures are needed to support Tribes
in making new relationships with newly arriving living beings.
Chapter 4.1: Air
Key Messages
The federal government must uphold Tribal sovereignty, authority, and co-man-
agement rights for air quality management. Impediments to exercising sovereignty
could be removed. For example, Tribes should be allowed to perform traditional fire
prevention activities on their lands, such as cultural burning of the landscape to
prevent wildland fires. Tribes experience disproportionate impacts from poor air
quality, including smoke/fine particulates, heat, and humidity, all of which can be
connected to climate change. These factors are believed to impact rates of mortality
and morbidity from COVID–19.
Recommendation
Fully engage Tribes as co-regulators in the very first stages of air quality regu-
latory planning, development, implementation, and enforcement. Adequate funding
of air quality programs for staffing, monitoring, and emergency response to air qual-
ity issues supports Tribal sovereignty, as does addressing underlying causes of envi-
ronmental, social, and health inequalities and injustices with the full participation
of Tribal peoples.
Chapter 4.2: Water
Key Messages
Climate change is negatively impacting water quality, increasing ocean acidifica-
tion, leading to an increase in the frequency and duration of harmful algae and
biotoxin events, increasing drought, negatively impacting water and food security,
and increasing both coastal inundation and riverine flooding. Each of these impacts
can threaten local economies, human and non-human health and wellbeing, and In-
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digenous lifeways. Tribes and Alaska Natives are responding to these threats by
drawing on traditional knowledge, monitoring water sources, utilizing new tools,
forming partnerships, and creating adaptation and contingency plans.
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Recommendation
Emphasis should be on early, meaningful, and sustained engagement and con-
sultation by federal and state regulatory and other agencies on both water quality
and availability, and concerning the associated food and water security impacts of
contamination, ocean acidification, hazardous algal and biotoxin events, and risks
associated with both drought and flooding. Tribes and Alaska Natives should be
supported in implementing Tribally-led planning and solutions, partnerships, and
cooperative efforts.
Chapter 4.2.1: Drinking Water Infrastructure
Key Messages
Tens of thousands of Native Americans do not have access to safe drinking water.
Climate change has the potential to exacerbate this lack in access. Operation and
maintenance (O&M) of water systems is key to sustainability, cost effectiveness, and
most importantly, the ability to supply safe and reliable drinking water. Proper
O&M requires adequate funding, staffing, and technical, managerial, and financial
training. Proper O&M may become even more critical with climate change as sys-
tems need to respond to increasingly extreme climate events and greater uncer-
tainty with respect to water quantity and quality conditions. Water infrastructure
deficiencies provide opportunities to install climate resilient infrastructure.
Recommendation
Climate change is making it more urgent to increase resources for Tribal drinking
water infrastructure and for operation & maintenance to eliminate disparities in
safe drinking water access and increase infrastructure resilience to climate-related
disasters and impacts.
Chapter 5: Health & Wellbeing
Key messages
Indigenous peoples’ health and wellbeing (HWB) is founded on mutually beneficial
relationships among humans, nonhuman relatives, and the environment, therefore
HWB is highly impacted by climate change. Social-emotional health, water security,
first foods security (includes foods, medicines, and technologies) are key aspects of
Indigenous peoples’ health and wellbeing (HWB) that merit more attention at local
scales due to Indigenous peoples’ unique cultures and worldviews. Indigenous peo-
ples’ resilience is strong; supporting community-defined climate strategies and ca-
pacity building within Indigenous communities will augment resilience
Recommendation
Accelerate incorporating Tribal Health & Wellbeing evaluations, priorities, and
action plans into government policy, laws, and decision-making.
Chapter 6: Economic Development: Renewables, Sustainable Economies, &
Carbon Offsets
Key Message
Indigenous science, knowledges, philosophies, and heritages guide Tribal self-de-
termination in rediscovering economic sovereignty through pursuing, among other
sustainable enterprises, renewable energy development, carbon sequestration via
carbon markets, water and food security, and subsistence-based enterprises.
Recommendations
Address complex land tenure, fractionation, and checkerboard jurisdictional
boundary issues that persist on reservation lands and may constrain Tribal eco-
nomic sovereignty. Invest in capacity-building that increases in-house legal, tech-
nical, vocational, and varied fields of research expertise to strengthen Tribal eco-
nomic self-determination while mitigating the effects of and adapting to a changing
climate.
Chapter 7: Energy & Just Transition
An Indigenous Just Transition is an Indigenous-led transition to an Indigenous-
based, non-extractive, regenerative economy that transforms community planning
and ecosystem restoration. Indigenous peoples have been deeply affected by extrac-
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tive industries such as the fossil fuel and uranium mining industries. Tribal lands
have tremendous renewable energy development potential which could help Tribes
achieve energy and economic independence, sovereignty, and stability.
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Recommendation
Remove barriers to renewable energy development, while supporting Indigenous
people in a Just Transition, to reduce reliance on and negative impacts from fossil
fuels and nuclear energy. The most significant barriers to the development of renew-
able energy on Tribal lands are a lack of financing, infrastructure, training in re-
newable energy careers, resources to access that training, and inadequately sup-
ported Tribal leadership and staff.
Chapter 8: Cultural Resources
Key Messages
Tribal cultural resources include intangible cultural beliefs, practices, and tradi-
tions as well as tangible physical sites, landscapes, plants, and animals. Tribal cli-
mate change mitigation strategies should include considerations of both tangible
and intangible cultural resources.
Recommendation
Integrate the tangible and intangible cultural, spiritual, and traditional signifi-
cance of plants, animals, ecosystems, and landscapes into analyses of the con-
sequences of climate change.
Chapter 9: Emergency Management
Key Messages
It is estimated that currently less than 25% of all Tribal nations have an Office
of Emergency Management, and less than 10% of those have full-time emergency
managers. Without a Tribal emergency management program, it is deeply chal-
lenging to implement and adhere to a number of federal mandates and policies. Na-
tive Americans have a long and varied history of storytelling and culturally unique
ways of communicating with one another and with other communities. When seek-
ing to communicate with Tribes, this rich tradition of storytelling and oral histories
should be incorporated.
Barriers such as a lack of effective leadership at local, state, federal, and Tribal
levels of government have prevented Tribal emergency management programs from
making greater progress on responding to and mitigating climate-driven hazards.
Recommendation
Increase resources and support at the state and federal levels to develop Tribal
emergency management programs across Tribal nations. Increase coordination with
state and federally recognized Tribal nations to respond to and prepare for climate
driven hazards.
Chapter 10: Protection-In-Place, Managed Retreat, & Relocation
Key messages
Many Tribal communities are pursuing protection-in-place, managed retreat, and
relocation responses to climate change impacts to infrastructure at increasing rates,
which profoundly impacts the well-being and safety of Tribal communities and their
lands, territories, and resources. Lack of a comprehensive policy and funding pre-
vents most communities from protecting existing infrastructure.
Recommendation
Create an all-of-government coordination structure to support Tribes in address-
ing environmental threats and provide adequate funding for proactive adaptation
projects that empowers and honors community decision-making, sovereignty, and
self-determination, consistent with the federal government’s trust and treaty respon-
sibilities.
Chapter 11: Solid Waste
Key Messages
The component of Tribal solid waste systems that is most affected by climate
change and has the farthest reaching implications is that of infrastructure. An in-
frastructure system that continues to be stressed has lasting impacts on the amount
of illegal dumping on Tribal lands, the transportation of waste in and out of Tribal
communities, and the supply and demand of local recycling markets.
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The data gaps that exist in the world of Tribal solid waste management are exten-
sive and cause a delay in responding to the demands of new conditions created by
climate change.
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Recommendation
Allocate funding through a streamlined federal funding process (perhaps an inter-
agency clearing house or memorandums of understandings) to ensure Tribal infra-
structure is prepared to withstand changes in climate and extreme weather events
and collaborate with Tribes to develop an inventory and evaluation of infrastructure
related to solid waste in Tribal communities. This should include roads, facilities,
and equipment. Focus on regional coordination to allow for idea sharing around cli-
mate change impacts, adaptations, and resources already available to help eliminate
data gaps.
Chapter 12: Emerging Topics
Key Messages
Integrating Tribal workforce development and supporting Tribal Colleges and
Universities can lead to greater climate resiliency and Tribal sovereignty, and can
create opportunities to educate and train future Indigenous generations in climate
related fields if administered additional funding and resources.
There are many climate-related cultural cascades including, economic and social,
Indigenous relationships with the natural world, and pandemics. Tribal Nations are
sovereign and the US Federal government, in meeting its intent to address climate,
environmental justice, and racial justice, should work collaboratively to support
Tribes to engage in internal diplomatic relations. Other collaborations across juris-
dictions and Tribal governments should be considered to enhance climate-planning
efforts.
Recommendation
Recognizing that climate related cultural cascades, including economic and social,
affect Indigenous relationships with the natural world, Tribes and Tribal partners
should support collaborative climate planning efforts across jurisdictions and Tribal
governments, including Tribal Colleges and Universities and other workforce devel-
opment opportunities such as prioritizing Indigenous knowledge and labor. These
practices will lead to stronger climate resiliency and sovereignty efforts.
Appendix A: Funding
Recommendation
Increase funding mechanisms that are reflective of the unique needs of Tribal na-
tions, including resources for workforce development, overall capacity building, im-
plementation of climate adaptation projects, and zero cost-share grants.
Conclusion:
I am daughter of someone who worked at the Peabody Coal Mine on the Navajo
reservation for over 30 years. I know all too well the need for a just transition to
a sustainable economy that not only focuses on clean energy such as solar and wind
power, but on a building adequate and sustainable infrastructure that will protect
the people and environment. I stress the importance of acknowledging the
unique challenges Native American and Alaska Native villages face when
it comes to the climate crisis. Many of our people live in rural and underserved
areas where they have little to no access to water, food and emergency services. The
lack of infrastructure on most Tribal communities is increasing the stress on the
people, natural environment and the costs of maintaining. Additionally, Tribes have
a unique relationship with the environment and is often closely intertwined with
their languages, ceremonies, medicines and ways of life. For example, if seasonal
subsistence practices are disrupted, a chain reaction occurs. People are stressed be-
cause the foods they consume and also store until the next season is not available.
This may force people to spend even more funds to make trips to the grocery stores
and for many rural residents, this means traveling more than 30+ plus miles or giv-
ing into high costs of shipping food to their villages. Climate change impacts are
becoming more frequent giving less time for recovery and preparation, and
increasing costs. The STACC report provides the opportunity to learn more in-
depth about what Tribal Nations are doing to protect themselves and their commu-
nities against the climate crisis. I implore the Committee to include and recognize
not only the impacts Tribes face but also their leadership in addressing the climate
crisis which is and will always be at their doorstep. As an Elder said recently, what
we do today, we do for the next seven generations. Ahxé’héé! Thank you.
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Ms. CASTOR. Thank you very much.
Mr. Hollie, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
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17
STATEMENT OF DERRICK HOLLIE
Mr. HOLLIE. Greetings Chair Castor, Ranking Member Graves,
and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity in
allowing me to speak today.
I am Derrick Hollie, President of Reaching America, an education
and policy organization I have developed to address social issues
impacting African-American communities. One of the issues I do
the most work on is reducing energy poverty. Energy poverty oc-
curs when low-income families or individuals are unable to afford
basic heating, electric, and gas needs. Some of these Americans
spend more than 25 percent or more of their total income on their
electric bill.
Now, eliminating energy poverty is a goal, I think, we all should
be interested in achieving. However, in working towards that goal,
we need to be mindful of how policies will impact the same commu-
nities that you claim to protect with this kind of proposed legisla-
tion. We all know the communities around the country, particularly
low-income, minority, rural, and senior citizen communities suffer
from a lack of access to reliable energy sources and spend propor-
tionally much more, much higher amounts on electricity costs.
Today’s hearing, ‘‘Advancing Environmental Justice Through Cli-
mate Action,’’ sounds great. However, it will be much more prudent
and productive for everyone to include energy poverty in the con-
versation. Why? Because the same communities and people that
you claim to protect through environmental justice are the same
communities and people who are struggling with energy poverty.
For the record, I do think climate change exists. However, I do
not believe there is a climate crisis. And the narrative is very mis-
leading. Also the so-called solutions are misleading as well. They
promote false hope and unrealistic outcomes for America. And here
is why. There is not a poll, a survey, or any research that would
suggest that climate change is a major issue or even a conversation
in the Black community. Because it is not, and we have the media
to blame for that. Most Black people think getting shot by a police
officer is the biggest issue, and we know that is not true either.
My sister is a devoted Democrat and just waited 7 months for
her new vehicle to be delivered because they couldn’t get the var-
ious chips needed to complete her car. Earlier this week, I had to
settle on a rental car because there is a shortage of cars due to the
lack of chips. There are solar companies right now voicing their
concerns because they can’t get the materials either that they need.
This is a supply chain issue for precious minerals like cobalt. Co-
balt is needed for every solar panel, lithium battery, cell phone,
and radiation treatment. Over 60 percent of the world’s cobalt
comes from the Congo being mined, in most cases, by little Black
kids. We have a cobalt mine right here in Minnesota that is trying
to be shut down by environmental groups, and to me, this is very
racist and a glaring example of the hypocrisy that exists.
Why is it okay for little Black kids to mine for cobalt in Africa?
Shouldn’t environmental justice be a global issue, or is it just for
us here in America? Right now, we see electric charging stations
going up everywhere, even in communities where they are not
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being used. Studies show that an estimated 90 percent of electric
vehicle owners earn over $100,000 a year, and then you get your
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18
little tax credit. Most people living in these vulnerable communities
do not make that kind of income and are not interested in an elec-
tric vehicle. It is very easy to see how these environmental justice
policies will do more harm than good to these individuals.
In closing, my grandfather was a Black coal miner in southwest
Virginia, and I had the opportunity to visit that area. The poverty
that exists in rural America is different, much different from urban
cities, and these people have never recovered from the mines that
closed decades ago. My fear, Madam Chair, is the same will happen
to healthy, thriving communities that relied on good-paying oil and
gas jobs for generations.
I know plenty of folks in Houston, Dallas, Louisiana who work
in the industry, and they are not in agreement with any policies,
new policies or regulations, that will ultimately destroy their life-
styles. I am a licensed captain. I have fished in the Atlantic and
in the Gulf, and as an environmental steward, I recognize we have
to protect our planet. However, the bottom line is we need to do
it sensibly.
I think we all would agree that the American people have gone
through enough with the uncertainty that still exists from the glob-
al pandemic of COVID–19. The last thing we need to do is take
away good-paying jobs, disrupt people’s lifestyle more than it al-
ready has, and destroy an industry that we have relied on for cen-
turies, the same industry that has allowed us to create Americans
the lifestyle that we have grown to appreciate it. From petrol-
chemicals, including plastics, fibers, pharmaceuticals, even your
yoga mat comes from fossil fuels. Roughly 80 percent of our energy
mix comes from fossil fuels; that is oil, natural gas, and coal.
It was that way at the turn of the century. It was that way when
my grandfather was a Black coal miner. It is that way today, and
we are not going to get there by a flip of a switch. We need market-
oriented policy that will allow America to keep exploring and devel-
oping our own natural resources safely while we transition to much
cleaner energy and still allow us to maintain our energy and sup-
ply chain independence.
Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Hollie follows:]
House Select Committee on The Climate Crisis Hearing
Testimony for Derrick Hollie, President, Reaching America
July 15, 2021
Greetings Chair Castor, Ranking Member Graves and Members of the Committee.
Thank you for the opportunity and allowing me to speak today.
I’m Derrick Hollie president of Reaching America, an education and policy organi-
zation I developed to address complex social issues impacting African American
communities. One of the issues, I do the most work on is reducing energy poverty.
Energy Poverty occurs when low-income families or individuals are unable to afford
basic heating, electric and gas needs. Some of these Americans spend more than
twenty five percent or more of their total income on their electric bill.
Eliminating energy poverty is a goal we all should be interested in achieving.
However, in working towards that goal we need to be mindful of how policies will
impact the same communities that you claim to protect with this kind of proposed
legislation. We all know that communities around the country, particularly low-in-
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come, minority, rural, and senior citizen communities, suffer from a lack of access
to reliable energy sources and spend proportionately much higher amounts on elec-
tricity costs.
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19
Today’s hearing ‘‘Advancing Environmental Justice Through Climate Action’’
sounds great, however it would be much more prudent and productive for everyone
to include energy poverty in the conversation. Why—because the same communities
and people that you claim to protect through environmental justice are the same
communities and people who are struggling with energy poverty.
For the record I do think climate change exist however I do not believe there is
a climate crisis, and that narrative is very misleading. Also, your so-called solutions
are misleading, they promote false hope and unrealistic outcome for America. Here’s
why, there is not a poll, survey or research that suggest climate change is a major
issue or conversation in the black community—because it is not, and we have the
media to blame for that. Most black people think getting shot by a police officer is
the biggest issue and we all know that is not true either.
My sister Dana is a devoted Democrat and just waited seven months for her new
vehicle to be delivered because they could not get the various chips needed to com-
plete her car. Earlier this week I had to settle on a rental because there is a short-
age of cars due to the lack of chips. There are solar companies also voicing concerns
because they are not able to get the materials either.
This a of supply chain issue for precious minerals like cobalt. Cobalt is needed
for every solar panel, lithium battery, cell phone and radiation treatment. Over
sixty percent of the world’s cobalt comes from the Congo being mined in most cases
by little black kids. We have cobalt mine in Minnesota right now trying to be shut
down by environmental groups. To me that is very racist and a glaring example of
the hypocrisy that exist. Why is it okay for little black kids in Africa to mine for
cobalt—shouldn’t environmental justice be a global issue or is it just for us in Amer-
ica?
Right now, we see electric charging stations going up everywhere—even in com-
munities where they are not being used. Studies show an estimated 90% of EV own-
ers earn over 100k a year and you get your little tax credit. Most people living in
vulnerable communities do not make that kind of money and are not interested in
an electric vehicle. It is very easy to see how your environmental justice policies will
do more harm than good to individuals
In closing, my grandfather was a black coal miner in southwest Virginia, and I
had the opportunity to visit that area. The poverty that exists in rural America is
different and these areas have never recovered from the mines that were shut down
decades ago. My fear Madam Chair is the same will happen to healthy thriving com-
munities that have relied on good paying oil and gas jobs for generations. I know
plenty of black folks in Houston, Dallas and Louisiana who work in the industry,
and they are not in agreement with new policies and regulations that will ulti-
mately destroy their lifestyle.
I’m a licensed captain and have fished the Atlantic and the Gulf, and as an envi-
ronmental steward, I recognize—we have to protect our planet, however the bottom
line is to do it sensibly
I think we all would agree, the American people have gone through enough and
with the uncertainty that still exists from the global pandemic of COVID 19, the
last thing we need to do is take away good paying jobs, disrupt people’s lifestyle
more than it already has—and destroy an industry that we have relied on for cen-
turies. The same industry that has allowed us to create a life that Americans have
grown to appreciate from petrochemicals, including plastics, fibers, pharmaceuticals
and your yoga mat.
We need market-oriented energy policy that will allow America to keep exploring
and developing our own natural resources safely and will allow us to maintain our
energy and supply chain independence.
Ms. CASTOR. Okay. Next, Dr. Park, you are recognized for 5 min-
utes.
STATEMENT OF R. JISUNG PARK
Mr. PARK. Great. So thank you, Chair Castor, Ranking Member
Graves, and members of the Select Committee for giving me the op-
portunity to speak today.
My name is Jisung Park, and I am an Assistant Professor at
UCLA. My training is as a Ph.D. economist, and given this train-
ing, I see my job primarily as to help us learn from data and eco-
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nomic statistics, not so much to make political statements, but in
this case, the data seems to tell an increasingly robust and compel-
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20
ling story regarding the interactions between climate change, ex-
treme heat, in particular, and economic opportunity and inequality.
So, with my time, I would like to focus on three main points. The
first is that we are only beginning to learn the full economic con-
sequences of hotter temperature in part because the effects of hot-
ter temperature are often quite subtle and may evade traditional
tools of measurement. I will tell you what I mean by that in a mo-
ment.
Second, in the research that is available, it appears to be the
case that heat has highly unequal consequences, not only across
rich and poor countries, but also within countries, within states,
and even, perhaps, within individual congressional districts, which
would suggest that climate change, without remedial investments,
could actually exacerbate recent trends in economic inequality.
And, third, the findings from this research, much of which has
really just come online the last 4 or 5 years, suggests that not only
should we be engaging in aggressive climate mitigation, that is,
transitioning away from fossil fuels, but that policymakers may
also want to think proactively about climate adaptation.
So, in the time that I have remaining, I would like to try to illus-
trate these points in the context of the effects of heat on workers.
So my colleagues at UCLA and Stanford and I were able to analyze
over 11 million worker’s compensation claims, and what we find is
that hotter temperatures significantly increases the risk of work-
place injury. For example, if you are working on a day above 90
degrees Fahrenheit, this increases injuries by up to 15 percent on
that day such that, in California alone, we estimate that heat may
be causing tens of thousands of workplace injuries per year, many
of which lead to permanent disabilities and wage loss.
Now, what is important to note here is that the vast majority of
these cases are not officially recognized as being heat related be-
cause they mainly pertain to things like falling off of a ladder,
being hit by a moving crane, getting your hand caught in manufac-
turing machinery.
Moreover, we find that heat is not only a problem for outdoor
workers in construction or agriculture, but also for many indoor
workers. Think of industries like manufacturing, warehousing, and
wholesale.
So we think this is important, given the nearly exclusive policy
attention at least to date on heat illnesses, as opposed to injuries,
and also on outdoor workers. And, again, here is where the details
really seem to matter when it comes to climate inequality. How
much heat hurts is very much a function of individual and local
factors like income, occupation, or which neighborhood you live in.
For example, we find that the effective heat on injuries appears
to be at least five times larger for workers in the bottom quintile
of the income distribution relative to the top, in part because they
are just that much more likely to work in dangerous occupations
and industries and to live and work in more extreme climates.
And these patterns of highly local climate inequality appear to
persist across a number of research settings whether that is the ef-
fect of heat on learning, which is something that I have worked on,
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heat on violent crime, or even maternal and all-cause mortality.
And, again, it is worth underscoring how this is not an issue a hun-
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21
dred years from now. These effects are occurring right now and are
likely to become much more acute, particularly given the amount
of warming we have baked into the system.
Just as an example, right, Chair Castor, voters in your district,
they can expect to experience over 60 additional days per year
above 90 degrees Fahrenheit within their lifetimes even with ag-
gressive climate mitigation. So the upshot to conclude, in my opin-
ion, is that, as policymakers, we may want to use this opportunity
to think carefully about how to build smart adaptation mechanisms
into whatever climate policies are put in place, and at least when
it comes to heat, it appears that doing so may have inequality re-
ducing benefits as well.
So, in my written testimony, I outline some important data gaps
and additional policy implications at the Federal level around in-
frastructure, racial achievement gaps, and air pollution, which
hopefully we can speak to in more detail during the Q&A.
Thank you very much, and I look forward to our discussion.
[The statement of Mr. Park follows:]
Written Testimony of Dr. R. Jisung Park
Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Los Angeles
Before the
U.S. House of Representatives, Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
Hearing Title:
‘‘Advancing Environmental Justice Through Climate Action’’
July 15, 2021
Chair Castor, Ranking Member Graves, and members of the Select Committee,
thank you for the opportunity to testify today on this important issue.
My name is Jisung Park, and I am a professor at the University of California Los
Angeles. Given my training as a PhD economist, my job is mainly to describe eco-
nomic data and its implications for our understanding of the issue, not to make po-
litical statements. Indeed, the bulk of my testimony will focus on what we can learn
about the intersection of climate, environmental justice, and economic inequality by
looking carefully at economic data.
Summary
The country has just seen two record heat waves in the West, with a third in
progress now. We are just now beginning to learn the full extent of the costs of heat:
in human lives, diminished livelihoods, and increased instability. What my research
shows in particular is how the costs and burdens of heat fall unequally, in ways
that have not been previously measured.
New work by my colleagues and me shows heat to be a much more serious prob-
lem than previously understood. Using data from over 11 million worker’s com-
pensation claims, we find that heat increases workplace injuries significantly, likely
causing tens of thousands of workplace injuries per year in California alone.
Because many of these injuries are not officially tagged as being caused by heat,
official statistics may significantly under-estimate the magnitude of heat’s effects.
We find that hotter temperature increases injuries even in many indoor environ-
ments, including manufacturing and warehousing, implying that many more work-
ers might be exposed to climate risk than previously understood.
The effects of heat fall disproportionately on low-income workers, who are more
likely to work in more dangerous industries and to live and work in already hotter
places. Heat also reduces the rate of learning and human capital formation more
for under-represented racial minorities and low income communities, which means
climate change may exacerbate recent trends in economic inequality.
These and other often hidden impacts suggest that the distribution of heat bur-
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dens needs policy attention, alongside continued efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and the ongoing rise of global temperatures. While many important data
gaps remain, acting to reduce emissions now may have inequality reducing benefits
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22
previously unappreciated. However, even if we are successful at reducing emissions,
there is likely an urgent need for more coordinated adaptation and resilience policy.
1. The Economic Costs of Climate Change
Numerous studies show that climate change could cost the US economy several
trillions of dollars in damages within the next 2 to 3 decades, and possibly tens of
trillions by the end of this century.1 Given the interconnectedness of global supply
chains and financial markets, climate shocks may already be affecting companies’
profits and putting individual wealth at risk in ways that markets have not fully
accounted for.2
My understanding is that the committee has heard from my economist colleague
Professor Michael Greenstone in a previous hearing regarding the aggregate eco-
nomic costs of climate inaction and the social cost of carbon. In my testimony, I’d
like to focus on the aspects of climate impacts that may be less familiar or front
of mind, and which may inform our understanding of the interactions between cli-
mate policy and environmental justice.
2. Extreme Heat: A Thousand Tiny Cuts
Despite the public’s greater familiarity with more visibly salient climate risks
such as wildfires, hurricanes, and drought, recent research suggests that the
stealthier and somewhat routine setbacks of a hotter climate may exact some of the
largest costs, especially in the near term. My research provides new evidence that
hotter temperature is already affecting the economy in profound and highly unequal
ways, including direct physical injuries to workers and long-term effects on student
achievement and learning.
Heat and Labor
For instance, consider the effect of heat on labor. We may all be familiar with the
way hotter temperature—particularly in settings without adequate air condi-
tioning—can affect our ability to concentrate and get our jobs done. But how often
do those of us in this room think about the consequences of hotter temperature for
our own health and safety?
New evidence suggests that extreme temperatures increase workplace safety risks
significantly, especially for workers in baseline dangerous—often manual labor-in-
tensive—occupations and industries. In research done by myself and colleagues at
UCLA and Stanford, which will be published as a working paper next week, we find
using data from over 11 million worker’s compensation claims in California that hot-
ter temperature increases workplace accidents and injuries substantially.3 Working
on a day with temperatures above 90°F leads to a 5 to 9 percent increase in same-
day injury claims: a day above 100°F leads to a 10 to 15 percent increase.
Perhaps surprisingly, the vast majority of these excess claims are for injuries that
are ostensibly unrelated to temperature: things like falling off a ladder or mis-
handling dangerous machinery. Also notable is the fact that, in addition to large ef-
fects in predominantly outdoor industries like construction, agriculture, and mining,
heat leads to significant increases in injuries even in some indoor industries, includ-
ing manufacturing, warehousing, and wholesale. This is important because over 24
million Americans work in manufacturing, wholesale, and transportation and
warehousing, which is over twice as many as work in agriculture, construction, and
mining.4
These patterns are consistent with a recent study of Texas workers which finds
that a day above 100°F increases injuries by over 8 percent 5, and with research that
1 Burke, Marshall, Solomon M. Hsiang, and Edward Miguel. ‘‘Global non-linear effect of tem-
perature on economic production.’’ Nature 527.7577 (2015): 235–239. Hsiang, Solomon, et al.
‘‘Estimating economic damage from climate change in the United States.’’ Science 356.6345
(2017): 1362–1369. Burke, Marshall, W. Matthew Davis, and Noah S. Diffenbaugh. ‘‘Large po-
tential reduction in economic damages under UN mitigation targets.’’ Nature 557.7706 (2018):
549–553.
2 Pankratz, Nora MC, and Christoph M. Schiller. ‘‘Climate change and adaptation in global
supply-chain networks.’’ Available at SSRN 3475416 (2019). Bakkensen, Laura A., and Lint Bar-
rage. Flood risk belief heterogeneity and coastal home price dynamics: Going under water?. No.
w23854. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2017. Global Financial Stability Report: Mar-
kets in the Time of COVID–19 (imf.org)
3 Park, R. Jisung, Pankratz, Nora, and A. Patrick Behrer. ‘‘Temperature, Workplace Safety,
and Labor Market Inequality’’ IZA Discussion Paper (2021).
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4 https://www.bls.gov/bls/industry.htm
5 Dillender, Marcus. ‘‘Climate Change and Occupational Health Are There Limits to Our Abil-
ity to Adapt?.’’ Journal of Human Resources 56.1 (2021): 184–224.
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23
finds hotter temperature to adversely affect cognitive performance and decision-
making in both outdoor and indoor environments.6
All told, we estimate hotter temperature currently causes upwards of 15,000 inju-
ries per year in California alone. This compares to official estimates of workplace
heat illnesses/injuries nationally on the order of 4,000 or fewer per year.7 Official
statistics rely on medical diagnoses, but it is often difficult to determine on a case-
by-case basis whether heat was a contributing cause. The National Institute of Oc-
cupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) therefore notes that official statistics are
likely to under-state true heat-related risks.8 Our estimates utilize empirical meth-
ods that measure excess injuries caused by hotter temperature within a given zip
code, and all worker compensation claims regardless of whether they are officially
recognized as being heat-related, and are therefore likely paint a more comprehen-
sive picture of heat-related workplace safety burdens than many previous studies.
In part because lower income workers tend to work in more dangerous occupa-
tions, and to live and work in places that experience more dangerous heat, they are
at least 5 times more likely to be hurt on the job due to heat than high income (top
quintile) workers.9 Many of these workers have relatively low levels of formal edu-
cation, and have seen stagnant or declining wage prospects in recent decades.
Workplace injuries not only have large direct health care costs, but lead to per-
sistent wage impacts that affect injured workers’ entire subsequent earnings trajec-
tories. For instance, research shows workers injured on the job face a subsequent
earnings penalty of 8% on average, and 30% for permanent disability. Serious inju-
ries that require hospitalization can also raise recruiting, training, and insurance
costs for employers, and can have ripple effects for society at large in the form of
increased disability payments and greater risk of personal bankruptcies. Including
both the direct medical costs and indirect costs such as time away from work, in-
creased risk of layoff, future chronic health issues, and productivity spillovers, each
workplace injury serious enough to be reported to worker’s comp costs society nearly
$50,000, which means that the total societal costs of injuries caused by heat is ap-
proximately $750 million per year in California alone.10
Heat and Learning
Another example of heat’s hidden impacts is on learning and human capital for-
mation. When we think of weather-related disruptions to schooling, we may typi-
cally think of snow days; ‘‘heat days’’ are certainly less common, or at least they
have been historically.11
Work that I have done shows that students’ cognitive performance declines signifi-
cantly on hotter days. In a study of over 4 million high school exam records, I find
that students taking an exam on a 90°F day are nearly 10 percent less likely to
pass the exam, and subsequently less likely to graduate with a high school di-
ploma.12
Hotter temperature may also reduce the rate of learning over time. In a study
of approximately 12,000 schools across the U.S., colleagues at BU, Georgia State,
and College Board and I find that a 2° Celsius (3.6°F) hotter-than-average year re-
6 Graff Zivin, Joshua, Solomon M. Hsiang, and Matthew Neidell. ‘‘Temperature and human
capital in the short and long run.’’ Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource
Economists 5.1 (2018): 77–105. Heyes, Anthony, and Soodeh Saberian. ‘‘Temperature and deci-
sions: evidence from 207,000 court cases.’’ American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 11.2
(2019): 238–65.
7 For instance, the BLS reports 2,830 nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving
days away from work in 2015:
https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/work-injuries-in-the-heat-in-2015.htm.
8 For instance, in Jacklitsch et al. (2016): ‘‘Estimating the public health impact of extreme
heat is difficult because hospitals and health care providers are not required to report heat-re-
lated illnesses, such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion, to public health agencies. In addition,
heat-related deaths are often misclassified or unrecognized.’’ Jacklitsch, Brenda L, W Jon Wil-
liams, Kristin Musolin, Aitor Coca, Jung-Hyun Kim, and Nina Turner (2016), ‘‘Occupational ex-
posure to heat and hot environments: revised criteria 2016.’’
9 Park, R. Jisung, Pankratz, Nora, and A. Patrick Behrer. ‘‘Temperature, Workplace Safety,
and Labor Market Inequality’’ IZA Discussion Paper (2021). Dillender, Marcus. ‘‘Climate Change
and Occupational Health Are There Limits to Our Ability to Adapt?.’’ Journal of Human Re-
sources 56.1 (2021): 184–224.
10 Leigh, J Paul (2011), ‘‘Economic burden of occupational injury and illness in the united
states.’’ The Milbank Quarterly, 89, 728–772.
11 This may be changing.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/nyregion/heat-day-schools-extreme-climate-change.html
12 Park, R. Jisung. ‘‘Hot temperature and high stakes performance.’’ Journal of Human Re-
sources (2020).
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24
duces learning by approximately 3 percent, with far larger effects for Black and His-
panic students, and which accumulate over time.13
Despite the fact that the US is among the most highly air-conditioned countries,
a significant fraction of students appear to attend schools without working AC. Pub-
licly available data on school AC is lacking nationally, but recent surveys suggest
that many large urban districts do not have universal air conditioning. For instance,
only 60 percent of classrooms in Philadelphia, 55 percent in Baltimore, and 17 per-
cent in Milwaukee public schools are fully equipped with AC.14 Importantly, in what
was one of the first nationwide surveys of school air conditioning, we found that the
quality of school infrastructure is highly correlated with income and race: schools
with more under-represented minorities are less likely to have AC, even controlling
for average climate.15
A growing body of evidence suggests that it may be these subtler impacts of cli-
mate change that cumulatively comprise the lion’s share of economic costs. For in-
stance, the mortality costs of heat alone may be larger than the combined costs of
agricultural losses and sea-level rise. Even in the case of wildfires, evidence sug-
gests that it may be the smoke that causes more collective suffering, simply spread
more thinly across a wider base of individuals.16
3. Climate Change May Exacerbate Inequality
It is worth taking a step back to review the broader economic context in which
these damages are occurring. Climate change hits us as a time of growing wage in-
equality, stagnant upward economic mobility, and longstanding racial gaps in
wealth and the means to accumulate it: including notable gaps in educational
achievement. Economic inequality between those with and without access to higher
education has grown enormously, particularly since the 1990’s. And while the prom-
ise of America is that every individual has a fair chance at success, persistent edu-
cational achievement gaps hamper upward economic mobility for many racial mi-
norities. Even today, the average Black student scores three quarters of a standard
deviation below the average White student on measures of standardized achieve-
ment, roughly equivalent to 3 years of formal schooling.17
Emerging evidence suggests that the hidden costs of heat in particular may exac-
erbate underlying inequalities by race and income within the US. Not only will cli-
mate change exacerbate regional inequalities,18 differences in risks due to occupa-
tion or housing characteristics may lead to divergent impacts across individuals
within districts, cities, and even households. For instance, we find that heat-related
risks on the job are far greater for lower income workers within California, particu-
larly younger men without a bachelor’s degree. Similarly, in the case of students,
we find that the effect of heat on learning is far more negative for Black and His-
panic minorities and students in lower income school districts. The effect of a day
above 80°F is 2 to 3 times larger for Black and Hispanic students than whites.19
This has important implications for racial inequality and environmental justice.
The hidden consequences of heat for workplace safety and health may imply that
headline wage statistics understate the extent of total compensation inequality,
which may be further exacerbated by climate change.20 In the context of student
achievement, we estimate that differences in the thermal environment in which
13 Park RJ, Goodman J, Hurwitz M, Smith J. Heat and learning. American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy. 2020 May;12(2):306–9.
14 https://www.the74million.org/article/exclusive-too-hot-to-learn-records-show-nearly-a-dozen-
of-the-biggest-school-districts-lack-air-conditioning/
15 Park RJ, Goodman J, Hurwitz M, Smith J. Heat and learning. American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy. 2020 May;12(2):306–9.
16 Carleton, Tamma A., et al. Valuing the global mortality consequences of climate change ac-
counting for adaptation costs and benefits. No. w27599. National Bureau of Economic Research,
2020. Burke, Marshall, et al. ‘‘The changing risk and burden of wildfire in the United States.’’
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118.2 (2021).
17 Autor, David H. ‘‘Skills, education, and the rise of earnings inequality among the ‘‘other 99
percent’’.’’ Science 344.6186 (2014): 843–851. Goldin, Claudia, and Lawrence F. Katz. ‘‘Extending
the race between education and technology.’’ AEA Papers and Proceedings. Vol. 110. 2020.
Reardon, Sean F., et al. ‘‘Patterns and trends in racial academic achievement gaps among states,
1999–2011.’’ Unpublished Working Paper. Center for Education Policy Analysis, Stanford Uni-
versity (2013).
18 Hsiang, Solomon, et al. ‘‘Estimating economic damage from climate change in the United
States.’’ Science 356.6345 (2017): 1362–1369.
19 Park, R. Jisung, A. Patrick Behrer, and Joshua Goodman. ‘‘Learning is inhibited by heat
exposure, both internationally and within the United States.’’ Nature human behaviour 5.1
(2021): 19–27. Park RJ, Goodman J, Hurwitz M, Smith J. Heat and learning. American Eco-
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nomic Journal: Economic Policy. 2020 May;12(2):306–9.
20 Park, R. Jisung, Pankratz, Nora, and A. Patrick Behrer. ‘‘Temperature, Workplace Safety,
and Labor Market Inequality’’ IZA Discussion Paper (2021).
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25
learning occurs—including school and home air conditioning—contribute up to 7
percent of racial achievement gaps. The implication is that leveling the environ-
mental playing field may close racial achievement gaps by a quarter of the total
gains achieved over the previous 4 decades.
These are just two examples. Recent research shows that hotter temperature also
increases violent crime at far higher rates in lower income neighborhoods,21 and
that it also increases the likelihood of violence among the prison population,22 who
often do not have access to air conditioning. Similarly, heat waves have been shown
to significantly increase birth complications, at far greater rates for Black mothers
than whites.23
Without remedial investments in climate mitigation and resiliency-enhancing in-
frastructure, climate change may further widen economic inequality and exacerbate
racial gaps in health, learning, earnings, and wealth. The effects of climate on
human capital inequality is particularly concerning given the growing importance
of cognitive skills in the labor market, and the well-documented correlation between
hotter local temperatures, income, and race.24
4. Policy-Relevant Data Gaps Remain
The data I’ve presented here provide some early clues regarding the potential con-
sequences of climate change for economic inequality and environmental justice: spe-
cifically, what economists refer to as the (progressive or regressive) distribution of
climate damages. But research on the economics of climate inequality is still nas-
cent, and many important data gaps remain. To start, better data collection on
workplace climate risks seems critical.
However, beyond heat, it is still not generally known how climate risk from hurri-
canes, windstorms, or wildfires is distributed across individuals by income, race, or
national origin within the US. Available cross-country evidence suggests that tor-
nado exposure is actually more concentrated in rich countries, whereas hurricane
and cyclone impacts are roughly evenly distributed across rich and poor countries.25
Even in cases where researchers have uncovered evidence of regressive damages,
there are still important knowledge gaps regarding why these inequalities arise, and
what can be done about them from a policy perspective. Not only is this potentially
important for modeling future climate damages, is it arguably critical for designing
effective adaptation policy.
Consider the effect of temperature on workers. It matters whether, in the face of
repeated climate shocks, workers are able to effectively adapt: for instance, by
switching industries, moving to cooler environments, or by communicating with em-
ployers about workplace risks and how best to reduce them. At the moment, there
are more questions than answers. Are low income workers constrained in their job-
switching or relocation decisions by limited access to credit? Does imperfect competi-
tion in the labor market—what economists call monopsony 26—make it harder for
workers to bargain for safer workplaces? How does the presence of unions affect
workplace climate adaptation?
Having a better understanding of the causes of inequality in climate impacts will
help policymakers understand where and how to target policy efforts—whether it
involves addressing clear market failures like credit or information asymmetries, or
simply providing targeted, means-tested transfers to lower income populations.
A related information gap relates to the effectiveness of existing social safety net
programs in buffering climate shocks, particularly for vulnerable populations. While
there is some evidence that automatic stabilizers such as unemployment insurance
21 Heilmann, Kilian, Matthew E. Kahn, and Cheng Keat Tang. ‘‘The urban crime and heat
gradient in high and low poverty areas.’’ Journal of Public Economics 197 (2021): 104408.
Behrer, A. Patrick, and Valentin Bolotnyy. ‘‘Heat, Crime, and Punishment.’’ Stanford Hoover
Working paper (2021).
22 Mukherjee, Anita, and Nicholas Sanders. ‘‘The Causal Effect of Heat on Violence: Social Im-
plications of Unmitigated Heat Among the Incarcerated.’’ NBER Working Paper w28987 (2021).
23 Kim, Jiyoon, Ajin Lee, and Maya Rossin-Slater. ‘‘What to Expect When It Gets Hotter: The
Impacts of Prenatal Exposure to Extreme Temperature on Maternal Health.’’ American Journal
of Health Economics 7.3 (2021): 000–000.
24 Albouy, David, et al. ‘‘Climate amenities, climate change, and American quality of life.’’
Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists 3.1 (2016): 205–246. Hsu,
Angel, et al. ‘‘Disproportionate exposure to urban heat island intensity across major US cities.’’
Nature communications 12.1 (2021): 1–11.
25 Hsiang, Solomon, Paulina Oliva, and Reed Walker. ‘‘The distribution of environmental dam-
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ages.’’ Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 13.1 (2019): 83–103.
26 https://
obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/page/files/20161025_monopsony_labor_mrkt_cea.pdf
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are effective in the wake of more salient disasters such as hurricanes,27 and that
programs like means-tested home energy subsidies may be effective at blunting the
harmful effects of heat waves for the poor,28 it is as yet unclear whether and how
existing social safety net programs perform in the context of less salient shocks such
as hotter temperature or smoke from wildfires. There is still much we do not yet
know regarding the climate resilience benefits of existing or proposed programs, and
how best to strike the delicate balance between building resilience while creating
the right incentives for individuals, communities, and companies to adjust their be-
havior in ways that minimizes personal and economic harm.
5. The Potential for Inequality-Reducing Co-Benefits
I’ve provided preliminary evidence that, in the US, damages from hotter tempera-
ture are disproportionately felt by lower income communities and racial minorities.
To the extent that such patterns hold generally, the implication would be that the
benefits from climate mitigation—reducing greenhouse gases—may be progressive.
That is, reducing emissions may be inequality-reducing, or at least lean against fur-
ther widening of inequality due to climate change.
As noted above, it is worth being clear that there is much we do not yet know
about the distribution of climate damages, and I caution against blanket statements
about climate inequality as if it is a foregone conclusion. It’s important that policy-
makers get this right. One can imagine a scenario in which funding is allocated for
climate adaptation and resiliency projects that end up subsidizing the already rel-
atively well off. Whether that’s desirable is I think a question open for debate, but
the point is that we certainly would want to have the facts right when engaging
that discussion.
But there is another more immediate way in which addressing climate change
could have outsized benefits for historically disadvantaged communities: the poten-
tial health, education, and productivity co-benefits of cleaning the air we breathe.
Studies now show that air pollution can have profound adverse consequences for
health, cognitive performance, and economic opportunity: including effects on birth
defects, student achievement, violent crime, worker productivity, and even the onset
of dementia.29 Once again, the effects are subtle but pervasive. For instance, stu-
dents taking exams on a highly polluted day (AQI above 100) experience a negative
effect on performance similar to or larger than the effect of a hot (90°F) day. Impor-
tantly, we know that local air pollution is highly correlated with income and race.
This means that, if designed properly, investments in clean energy, clean trans-
portation, and other low-carbon infrastructure would not just slow climate change
but could also reduce air pollution. Estimates suggest that if the U.S. were to reduce
emissions in a manner consistent with our prior pledges under the Paris Accords,
the resulting air quality improvements would save 300,000 premature deaths by
2030.30
Here, it is important to note that policies that increase the cost of energy have
the potential to exact higher costs (as a proportion of expenditures) on lower income
populations.31 But recent analyses suggest that smart policy design—including tar-
geted rebates—can overcome the potential regressivity of such policies. Similarly,
while market-based policies bring the possibility of ‘‘environmental justice gaps’’,
wherein shifting of emissions lead to greater concentration of existing pollution in
27 Deryugina, Tatyana. ‘‘The fiscal cost of hurricanes: Disaster aid versus social insurance.’’
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 9.3 (2017): 168–98.
28 Cicala, Steve. The Incidence of Extreme Economic Stress: Evidence from Utility Disconnec-
tions. No. w28422. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2021.
29 Isen, Adam, Maya Rossin-Slater, and W. Reed Walker. ‘‘Every breath you take—every dollar
you’ll make: The long-term consequences of the clean air act of 1970.’’ Journal of Political Econ-
omy 125.3 (2017): 848–902. Persico, Claudia L., and Joanna Venator. ‘‘The effects of local indus-
trial pollution on students and schools.’’ Journal of Human Resources 56.2 (2021): 406–445.
Ebenstein, Avraham, Victor Lavy, and Sefi Roth. ‘‘The long-run economic consequences of high-
stakes examinations: Evidence from transitory variation in pollution.’’ American Economic Jour-
nal: Applied Economics 8.4 (2016): 36–65. Bishop, Kelly C., Jonathan D. Ketcham, and Nicolai
V. Kuminoff. Hazed and confused: the effect of air pollution on dementia. No. w24970. National
Bureau of Economic Research, 2018. Graff Zivin, Joshua, and Matthew Neidell. ‘‘The impact of
pollution on worker productivity.’’ American Economic Review 102.7 (2012): 3652–73. Colmer,
Jonathan, and John Voorheis. ‘‘The grandkids aren’t alright: the intergenerational effects of pre-
natal pollution exposure.’’ (2020).
30 Shindell, Drew T., Yunha Lee, and Greg Faluvegi. ‘‘Climate and health impacts of US emis-
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sions reductions consistent with 2 C.’’ Nature Climate Change 6.5 (2016): 503.
31 Pizer, William A., and Steven Sexton. ‘‘The distributional impacts of energy taxes.’’ Review
of Environmental Economics and Policy 13.1 (2019): 104–123.
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lower-income neighborhoods, recent evidence suggests that these concerns can be
addressed with smart policy design.32
So investing in climate mitigation and clean energy infrastructure may have both
short and long term benefits that also address environmental justice concerns.
6. Proactive Climate Adaptation Policy
Even if we are successful at cutting emissions swiftly, a significant amount of
warming will still be baked in to the climate system, at least over the next 2–4 dec-
ades. For instance, within many of our lifetimes, individuals in Tampa, FL will like-
ly have experienced over 65 additional days per year above 90°F (by 2050), even
with aggressive mitigation efforts. That number is approximately 36 days in Baton
Rouge, LA, and 46 days in Birmingham, AL.33
This means that, in conjunction with aggressive decarbonization efforts (‘‘mitiga-
tion’’), policymakers may want to think proactively about climate resilience (‘‘adap-
tation’’). This is where the knowledge gaps I mentioned above present both a risk
and an opportunity.
An analogy to the Covid-19 response may be instructive. In part because the tim-
ing of the crisis was so unpredictable, policy responses to its economic fallout were
mostly reactive, and utilized relatively blunt policy instruments. Climate change is
a slower-burning crisis with far greater predictability. And we have much more data
to lean on, since many of the shocks in the near to medium term will not be quali-
tatively new—simply more frequent and stronger in intensity. This suggests that it
may be possible to engage in more proactive responses that use precision policy
tools.
Doing so may require significant investment in data collection, harmonization,
and research into the specific market failures that may hamper climate adaptation,
and in identifying key dimensions of vulnerability across individuals within the U.S.
The Federal government is well-positioned to perform crucial coordination functions.
One possibility is for the Federal government to create a Climate Adaptation and
Resiliency Agency,34 or an inter-agency working group similar to the one on the so-
cial cost of carbon, but aimed at better understanding the process of—and popu-
lation-specific barriers to—effective climate adaptation. Such efforts may help pro-
vide policymakers with the information necessary to better target adaptation and
resiliency investments so that they achieve policy objectives cost-effectively.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my views with the committee.
Ms. CASTOR. Well, I want to thank the witnesses for their very
insightful testimony, and I will recognize myself for 5 minutes of
questions. There is a common theme in all of your testimony today,
and that is how we move ahead on equitable and just climate pol-
icy, and it has got to be more than simply reducing carbon pollu-
tion. We have got to tackle environmental racism and help improve
the lives of everyday Americans, no matter who they are and where
they live.
Ms. Flowers, I heard you loud and clear about the differences you
have seen in just simple things like wastewater treatment, and,
you know, we just in the House passed the INVEST in America Act
where we made historic investments in wastewater treatment. This
is on the front burner for me here in Tampa because, when we
have these extreme rain events, our sewers overflow. It is pretty
gross. And now we have so much nutrients in Tampa Bay, we have
a massive fish kill, red tides they say—the scientists now say it is
going to last longer because the waters are warmer. I mean, this
is a toxic stew. We have got to repair and strengthen critical infra-
structure and do a better job.
32 Hernandez-Cortes, Danae, and Kyle C. Meng. Do environmental markets cause environ-
mental injustice? Evidence from California’s carbon market. No. w27205. National Bureau of
Economic Research, 2020. Shapiro, Joseph S., and Reed Walker. ‘‘Where is Pollution Moving?
Environmental Markets and Environmental Justice.’’ AEA Papers and Proceedings. Vol. 111.
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2021. https://equitablegrowth.org/a-plan-for-equitable-climate-policy-in-the-united-states/
33 http://www.impactlab.org/
34 https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/a-moon-shot-for-climate-change/
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You talked about the—you chronicled the challenges pretty well,
what opportunities do you see if we really can deliver on significant
historic investments in cleaning up the water and make sure we
target those investments to communities of color and communities
on the front line, what opportunities do you see? Get specific with
us.
Ms. FLOWERS. Well, I think there are a number of opportunities.
I think one of the opportunities we will be seeing pretty quickly in
the health outcomes. Because we did a parasite study where we
found evidence of tropical parasites in Lowndes County where peo-
ple did not have access to adequate sanitation, and the people that
had the highest parasite loads were the people like the one I men-
tioned, Ms. Holcombe, who had raw sewage coming back into their
homes.
And the second outcome would be it can provide jobs, and good-
paying jobs, to people in the community where they don’t feel like
they have to leave and go to the cities or go to other areas to find
jobs.
And then, of course, I think the third thing is the economic op-
portunities in terms of being able to recruit businesses to come. I
mean, in those communities where you don’t have adequate sanita-
tion, businesses are not going to locate there. I used to be the eco-
nomic development coordinator for Lowndes County, and one of the
things they want to know is what kind of infrastructure is there.
And without infrastructure, those communities will continue to re-
main poor, and they will not even have the opportunities to recruit
basic services that they need in those areas without functioning in-
frastructure. So those are some immediate outcomes that we could
see.
Ms. CASTOR. Yeah. And we know that the American Society of
Civil Engineers ranked our infrastructure in the U.S. with a C-
minus grade, but when it comes to wastewater, D-plus; schools, D-
plus. So I know there are enormous opportunities out there to do
better.
And, Ms. Cooley, you mentioned for Tribal Nations, you have
your eye on solar and wind power. Do you see this as a big job cre-
ator making these investments in renewable energy?
Ms. COOLEY. Yes, definitely. As Ms. Flowers mentioned that
these jobs will train former mine workers and their families and
upcoming generations for solar and wind industries, based on the
reservation, based on Tribal lands so they do not have to go off the
reservation, away from their families, and away from what they ba-
sically have known for all their lives.
So it is important that we keep these—our people on the reserva-
tions, but the jobs and the training opportunities are immense. As
a member of one of the largest Native American Tribes out there,
there is great potential for job creation. Thank you.
Ms. CASTOR. Dr. Park, your recent research is eye opening. Pre-
viously, official estimates have been that exposure to heat caused
about 4,000 workplace injuries a year, but in your review of work-
er’s compensation claims, you say that, no, it is closer to 15,000 or
more just in California. Is that correct? Why have agencies like the
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National Institute of Occupational Health or Labor Statistics com-
pletely missed this?
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Mr. PARK. Certainly. Within our estimates, I am not a physician,
but my understanding is that heat illnesses and injuries due to
heat are one of those things that are just quite difficult to attribute
definitively forensically on a case-by-case basis, and in order to ac-
tually do this, you need a vast amount of data and to look at it in
a way that allows you to look at the excess due to heat, but more
broadly, I think this is, in part, a function of lack of data collection
and interest in this issue.
Ms. CASTOR. Thank you. All right. We are going to go to Mrs.
Miller. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mrs. MILLER. Okay. Can you hear me now?
Ms. CASTOR. Yes.
Mrs. MILLER. Okay. Thank you so much, Chair Castor and for
Ranking Member Graves.
And thank you to all of the witnesses here today.
We have an awful lot in common. I want to paint a picture now
of what is happening in Appalachia. There are thousands of homes
without sanitary, sewage, or septic service. That means human
waste goes right into the creeks and the rivers. There is a high rate
of opioid use and drug overdoses. There are adverse health impacts
in our communities compared to our surrounding regions, and
much more.
But these impacts are not a result of climate change, as my col-
leagues would like you to believe, but rather they are caused by the
policies of destroying energy communities.
If justice is really what we are here to talk about today, where
is the justice for these communities that have been left behind by
these policies? Both energy poverty and poverty caused by dan-
gerous policies must be considered by this committee.
However, we are never going to have those discussions if we con-
tinue to have reports like the one out of the White House Environ-
mental Justice Advisory Council as guidance [inaudible] by the ad-
ministration.
This Council stated that projects like carbon capture, nuclear
power, research and development, or any road improvements would
not benefit communities. Are you kidding me? These findings are
against what I believe, my colleagues across the aisle generally be-
lieve, and we should all be concerned that these are the principles
that are supposed to guide this administration. If we continue
down this same radical path, we are only going to put more people
at risk.
Mr. Hollie, energy poverty is a very real and, in many commu-
nities, experience it. How can the policies of shifting solely to re-
newables increase energy poverty in the communities?
Mr. HOLLIE. Oh, simple. When you switch to solar and renew-
ables, it is going to drive up the cost of the energy, the price of en-
ergy in these communities. I am not against transitioning, but we
just got to do it slowly and sensibly.
Mrs. MILLER. I agree. What do you think the impact of that will
be on people’s health?
Mr. HOLLIE. In terms of jobs and what it is going to do in those
communities, it is going to be devastating just like—look, I had a
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chance to go back to the Appalachia, southwest Virginia, where my
grandfather was a Black coal miner, and I have seen the poverty.
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30
I have seen how people live back there. There are people right now
who have blue tarps on their house with tires holding it down be-
cause they can’t afford to get their roofs fixed. So that is how bad
the poverty is in Appalachia.
Mrs. MILLER. I just spent an entire day yesterday in McDowell
County discussing just those things with people that live there.
You probably have seen the White House Environmental Justice
Advisory Council’s Report on Environmental Justice. As I men-
tioned, the report outlines a multitude of policies that wouldn’t
benefit a community, such as infrastructure repair, procurement of
nuclear power, carbon capture, and research and development.
What do you think of these findings? I mean, how would they in-
crease energy poverty?
Mr. HOLLIE. I think it would be devastating to these commu-
nities. And one of the things we have talked about, too, is just mi-
nority impact assessments. Let’s do a study to show how these new
policies will impact these vulnerable communities. And so I think
that will be a start to help us all understand how this environ-
mental justice and these kinds of policies—what it will do to these
particular communities.
Mrs. MILLER. And we all share that. What policies should we put
in place to reduce energy poverty?
Mr. HOLLIE. Sensible energy policy that won’t harm the environ-
ment and won’t harm the people who need the energy the most.
Mrs. MILLER. Thank you very much.
I yield back my time.
Ms. CASTOR. All right. Next, Rep. McEachin, you are recognized
for 5 minutes.
Mr. MCEACHIN. Thank you, Madam Chair, for this hearing and
this opportunity to have a conversation with these knowledgeable
witnesses. The thing that I want to talk about right now is con-
sultation, and I will direct my first question to Ms. Coleman Flow-
ers.
Part of the administration’s work on this initiative and of my
work with Chairman Grijalva on EJ For All has centered on discus-
sion in coordination with an outreach to EJ communities. Meaning-
ful participation in this process from impact to the EJ communities
can help make sure that we are truly addressing the needs of these
communities.
As you have worked in this space, can you share with us what
is the benefit of this type of consultation? What ills can befall these
communities if they are not consulted with?
Ms. FLOWERS. Thank you for that question, Representative
McEachin.
One of the things that—first of all, I come from an EJ commu-
nity, and I have lived in rural communities, and I have lived in
poverty. And oftentimes people that try to craft well-intentioned so-
lutions don’t know what it is like to deal with it on a day-to-day
basis. And that is why I try to take people to see it firsthand. See
people like Pamela Rush, who died last year in July from COVID
because her home, which was not energy efficient and had been
that way for quite some time because it was a mobile home, where
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she got a mortgage that she shouldn’t have received, but her family
was suffering from a lot of the issues that we talk about today that
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31
most people have never even dreamed about. We have taken people
there who couldn’t stay in the house for more than 5 minutes be-
cause they had never seen anything like that before.
And when we don’t consult with communities, you don’t go and
see for yourself, oftentimes people are doing more harm than good,
and I always invite everyone who is involved in policy—some peo-
ple oftentimes are trying to use an urban lens to solve these prob-
lems, but the same thing is true for environmental justice. If you
have to live down in St. James Parish and smell that stuff day in
and day out and then have to, you know, deal with it on a regular
basis, I think that people will have a different kind of perspective
on it.
So we have to consult with the community because oftentimes
they know what the solutions are. They have never been asked. It
is usually being crafted by people that are creating the problems
instead of people that want to be part of the solution.
Mr. MCEACHIN. Would you agree that we in Washington have to
resist the temptation to try to find one solution that tries to fit all
EJ communities rather than consult with them? Because as you
just suggested, oftentimes they have the answer; someone just
needs to ask the right question.
Ms. FLOWERS. That is correct. I mean, I think that I am not an
expert on Flint because I didn’t grow up in an urban area, but I
can certainly tell you about living in Lowndes County and what it
is like going to an outhouse, et cetera. So I think that we have to
consult with people in communities because they have different
problems in different communities, but I also think it is important
to note that the people in the community often times have the solu-
tion; they just haven’t been asked.
Mr. MCEACHIN. Right. I couldn’t agree more, which is one of the
challenges of implementing this program, is that we need to make
sure that we are consulting with these folks, letting them come up
with their solutions, helping them implement those solutions, and
then get out of their way while they fix their communities.
Ms. Cooley, again, I want to thank you for participating in to-
day’s hearing. Along a similar line, you note in your testimony that
indigenous people should be consulted thoughtfully from the ear-
liest stages of policy and research development, legal policy, ethical
and cultural best practices and requirements should be followed to
make consultation meaningful.
While this practice has tragically not always been followed by the
Federal Government in its interactions with indigenous people, can
you tell us what it looks like when it goes right?
Ms. COOLEY. Thank you for that question. Well, I think it has
been outlined that when you provide meaningful partnership, ade-
quate financing, access to resources, that a community thrives. And
you provide that support in the long term. There is a statistic out
there where it said that Native American communities receive $3
per person for disaster emergency funds, where the average U.S.
citizen receives $26 per person, and there is a big difference in
that.
So you are giving them not just a seat at the table and not just
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checking off a box, but you are taking that meaningful action to en-
gage them, to remove that barrier, and also strengthen Tribal sov-
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32
ereignty. You are also honoring that trust responsibility that the
government, that they have to Native American Tribes and what-
not.
So thank you for that question.
Mr. MCEACHIN. Thank you.
Madam Chair, I just want to reiterate, again, that we must in-
vest in environmental justice in disadvantaged communities that
have seen historical underinvestment. We need to listen to them as
we look forward to reaching a carbon-zero society. I appreciate the
witnesses weighing in on how we might do so. I look forward to
working with my colleagues and the administration to ensure that
we follow through on our promises with meaningful investments in
these communities and not just a one-size-fits-all response.
Madam Chair, I yield back and, again, I thank you for your cour-
tesy.
Ms. CASTOR. Well, thank you for your leadership Rep. McEachin.
Next, we will go to Ranking Member Graves. You are recognized
for 5 minutes.
Mr. GRAVES. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to thank all the
witnesses for your testimony. That was helpful input and I appre-
ciate it very much.
Ms. Flowers, I want to ask you a question. You were on the
White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, I believe,
and there was a recommendation in that report. It was on page 55,
and it said: ‘‘It would be unreasonable to have any climate invest-
ment working against harmed communities.’’
So, it would be unreasonable to have any climate investment
working against harmed communities. With that in mind, should
the United States be pursuing any policies that support, directly or
indirectly, forced labor or slave labor or child labor anywhere in the
world to advance clean energy goals in our country?
Ms. FLOWERS. Well, that is a good question, but, first of all, I
can’t speak on behalf of the WHEJAC, but I can give you my per-
sonal opinion. I think that the United States should support
human rights no matter where it is, but I also believe that we
shouldn’t do any kind of harm. I have seen it, you know, when I
went to St. James and St. John’s Parish myself.
I am just, you know, FYI, when I trace my family history, I can
trace it back to Louisiana, actually to some of the original cages
that came from Canada and went back to Canada.
Mr. GRAVES. Oh——
Ms. FLOWERS. So I have—my interest in what happens in Lou-
isiana is more than as an activist, but also with having family
there in Sicily Island and Catahoula Parish.
Mr. GRAVES. Oh, yeah. We are having our family reunion in De-
cember. You should come.
Ms. FLOWERS. We might be cousins. But anyway, I would love
to—I think that what we have to do is find solutions as we—as the
previous question that was asked. There is no one-size-fits-all solu-
tion to this problem; however, I think that what the intended state-
ment was—and this is my opinion, not an official statement—is
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that we should do no harm in communities that have already been
harmed.
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Mr. GRAVES. Thank you. I appreciate that. There was another
issue that we have kind of been trying to work through on the com-
mittee a bit, and it has to do with carbon capture. So capturing or
pulling greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. In a recent report
by the Biden White House, they endorse carbon capture and utili-
zation, and they talk about the important role. It says, quote:
‘‘There is a growing scientific consensus that carbon capture, utili-
zation, and sequestration, and carbon dioxide removal will likely
play an important role in decarbonizing efforts globally; action in
the United States can drive down technology costs, accelerate
CCUS deployment around the world,’’ and they say they are com-
mitted to accelerating it.
The Environmental Justice Report appeared to take a little bit
different approach. Do you have an opinion on whether or not you
believe that using carbon capture, removing greenhouse gases from
the atmosphere, should be a solution as we move forward?
Ms. FLOWERS. Well, in my opinion, I think we shouldn’t put the
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in the first place. I am con-
cerned about the livelihood of my 5-year-old grandson and seven
generations to come, but I also feel that when we look at solutions,
again, we have to go to the communities. There is some commu-
nities that might support carbon capture and some that might not.
So I think the solution lies with consulting with those commu-
nities that will be greatly impacted by it.
Mr. GRAVES. So, if the communities are on board, do you think
we should just have local consultation, which I believe Ms. Cooley
cited at one point as well? You think that is the way we should
handle how to perhaps use that technology or not?
Ms. FLOWERS. Well, if that community is open to the technology,
yes. If they are against it, I think, again, you have to have con-
sultation because, at the end of the day, I think you mentioned,
someone mentioned we can’t force people to do things. We see that
with the COVID vaccine, but I think we can find ways in which
we can come to some kind of common ground on how we are going
to address these problems, whether it is through carbon capture or
some other way.
Mr. GRAVES. The report makes note and, again, the White House
Environmental Justice Advisory Council report, it says that there
should be an end to subsidies to investor-owned utilities. The big-
gest incentive or subsidy that the investor-owned utilities benefit
from is actually the incentives for wind and solar, the production
tax credit and the investment tax credit.
Does that—is the task force opposed to those subsidies as well,
and do you think we should remove those?
Ms. FLOWERS. I do not speak for the task force, but I think that,
you know, you may want to ask for a consensus. You got to remem-
ber people represent places from around the country, so I don’t
speak on behalf of the task force, and I don’t have an opinion on
that.
Mr. GRAVES. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. CASTOR. All right. Next up, Rep. Levin, you are recognized
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for 5 minutes.
Mr. LEVIN. Well, thank you, Chair Castor.
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I do have questions for the panel, but first I want to briefly ad-
dress, frankly, the disappointing and inaccurate comments about
my state, the great State of California, made by my friend and my
colleague, Mr. Graves, who seems to often confuse electricity rates
with electricity bills. He is fond of talking about electricity rates,
but our constituents, his and mine, we ultimately all pay bills, and
more impacts those bills than solely rates.
So if we take a look at the facts, as I know my friend likes re-
minding colleagues to do, we find that Louisiana has significantly
higher electricity bills than California. In fact, Louisiana ranks
41st with some of the highest electricity bills in the nation.
And let us not forget another important point. Clean energy
sources are now generally cheaper than fossil fuels. In fact, in
2020, the EIA published an analysis that found that solar power
is 20 percent to 50 percent cheaper than it had projected just the
year before. The analysis goes on to say this: Solar is now the
cheapest electricity source in history. I will repeat that. Solar is
now the cheapest electricity source in history.
The bottom line is that every few years, we hear about the pre-
dicted death of California. I have been involved in California public
affairs and politics for my entire adult life, and every once in a
while we hear, oh, California is dead. And every few years when
we hear that, we know that it is only a matter of time before those
prognosticators are proven completely wrong once again.
So my standing invite to my friend, Mr. Graves, exists to visit
our great State of California anytime. Meet with our policy leaders.
Ask them tough questions. Bring your fossil fuel industry talking
points, whatever you want to do. Let’s actually have a good discus-
sion, rather than reciting tired talking points.
And I will also say this: This past year, we found that California
is head and shoulders above any other state when it comes to cre-
ating jobs and growing our economy. We have added more than 1.3
million jobs since April of last year. That is equal to the entire
workforce in Nevada, and it is larger than the growth in Texas and
New York.
Of course, we have challenges. No state is perfect. We have got
a ton of work to do. We have problems that have to be solved, but
let’s stay in the realm of facts.
So I am going to turn now to UCLA’s Dr. Park. And, Go Bruins.
I wanted to ask about grid reliability. How could an unreliable
electric grid worsen the impacts of extreme heat on low-income
workers and students?
Mr. PARK. Thank you, Representative Levin. Go Bruins indeed.
So grid reliability would be a terrible issue, especially in light of
when extreme tends to hit. If your electricity is failing when the
demand is high, which in the summer tends to be right when the
temperature is high and people are running their air-conditioning,
given what we know about heat’s detrimental effects on student
learning—and by the way, very divergent and unequal affects by
race on student learning, as well as on worker safety and health,
I think it would be a big problem.
Mr. LEVIN. Thank you for that.
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Ms. Cooley, I want to turn to you. What kind of access do Native
American communities have when it comes to clean energy genera-
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35
tion? And are there resources that we can provide to help make
sure that our Native communities have access to clean electricity?
Ms. COOLEY. Thank you for that question, Representative Levin.
Native American communities do have access to the resources, such
as wind and solar, that are required to develop clean energy facili-
ties. What they don’t have is the adequate or reliable financing, the
training resources, or access to those renewable energy careers,
and also the infrastructure. They could greatly help in reducing the
reliance and negative impacts on fossil fuels and nuclear energy.
As I come from a nation who has heavily relied on, in the past,
on fossil fuel in extractive industry, the potential is great. We just
have to tap into it. We need that support in the form of financing
and access.
So I just want to also say that if you invest in this type of infra-
structure for Tribal communities, they also have the opportunity in
the future to help other non-Tribal communities if there were ever
to be some type of natural disaster. And I think a good example
is the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe in northern California. During
the wildfires in the past couple of years, when PG&E shut off the
electricity to reduce wildfire threats, their microgrid actually sup-
ported surrounding non-Tribal communities and also patients that
were most at risk.
And so with that, thank you for the question.
Mr. LEVIN. Well, thank you.
And I am out of time. So, Chair Castor, from the great State of
California, I yield back.
Ms. CASTOR. Thank you, Rep. Levin.
Next, we will go to Rep. Carter. You are recognized for 5 min-
utes.
Mr. CARTER. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank all of the
panel members for being here today.
Mr. Hollie, I would like to ask you a couple of questions. And I
want to thank you, first of all, for testifying today and sharing
what I believe is an important view on the issue of environmental
justice.
We, you and I, share many of the same concerns about the poli-
cies that my colleagues and I have been discussing, and it also ap-
pears we share a passion for fishing. And as the Representative of
the entire coast of Georgia, over a hundred miles of pristine coast-
line, I love fishing. In fact, this is my home. It is where I have lived
all my life, and some of my fondest memories are fishing with my
dad as I was growing up, and I want to make sure that my sons
and grandsons have that same experience as I had as well.
You and I have engaged before, Mr. Hollie, on an issue pre-
viously in an Energy and Commerce Environmental Subcommittee
hearing, and I want to revisit some of that. It had to do with the
lessons that we learned from the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast
Pipeline and the harm that it did to communities.
In your testimony for today’s hearing, you echo some of those
thoughts when you say that you fear the same will happen to
healthy thriving communities that have relied on good-paying oil
and gas jobs for generations.
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Can you just—for my reference and for the reference of my col-
leagues, can you speak just for a little bit about the effects of re-
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36
moving good-paying jobs in industries from environmental justice
communities?
Mr. HOLLIE. Absolutely. But first I want to tell you, I docked in
Savannah when I took the boat to Florida, so I was there.
Mr. CARTER. Thank you. I appreciate that. Our economy appre-
ciates it.
Mr. HOLLIE. Like I said, I had a chance to go back to southwest
Virginia, where my grandfather was a Black coal miner. I am tell-
ing you, I saw the poverty that exists there, and it is a shame. And,
again, I know a lot of folks who live in Louisiana, live down in
Texas, and all those places, who are right now, they have jobs
within the oil and gas industry, and they are very, very concerned
about what is going to happen if their jobs go away. Their lifestyles
will be completely disrupted. And, again, these people have been
working—one of my guys has been working there for 27 years. And
so to try to train someone who is 54 on another job at that age I
just think is a little unrealistic.
Mr. CARTER. Absolutely. So what would you say that—where are
the areas that are most at risk for this, this kind of energy poverty,
as you described?
Mr. HOLLIE. Energy poverty exists—see, the thing about energy
poverty, it is not a White or Black issue; it is an American issue.
And it is—and these people are in these vulnerable communities.
It is rural. It is senior citizens. It is minority and low-income com-
munities. Those are the ones right now who are struggling the
most. Those are the ones right now that this environmental justice
is supposed to protect, but these are the ones right now who are
struggling with energy poverty, and you can’t have a conversation
without including both of them.
Mr. CARTER. And when you talk about energy poverty and how
some of these Americans are spending more than 25 percent or
more of their total income on their electric bill—it has been re-
ported that the price of gas has gone up over 48 percent from a
year ago.
With these price increases in gas and nearly all other goods, as
we know inflation is going up as well, what is the effect going to
be on environmental justice communities? And will they see—and
will this increase energy poverty in our country?
Mr. HOLLIE. Absolutely, because energy is a fixed price. When
the price goes up at the pump, you experience it everywhere. Even
the cost of a head of lettuce, a gallon of milk. Everything goes up
when the cost of energy goes up. When you go out to dinner, if you
have got a couple of dollars to spend out in a restaurant, your meal
is going to go up, because it costs more to cook the food on natural
gas. So these people will be impacted more so than anybody else.
Mr. CARTER. You know, you touched a little bit in your testimony
when you note that we are encouraging greater adoption of electric
vehicles. And I think that is great, and we all think it is great, but
90 percent of electric vehicle owners earn over $100,000 a year. If
energy prices and gas continue to go up, what groups are going to
have to end up bearing the higher cost? Will it be those making
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over $100,000 or is it going to be the environmental justice commu-
nities?
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37
Mr. HOLLIE. It is going to be the environmental justice commu-
nities for sure.
Mr. CARTER. Obviously, it is.
Mr. HOLLIE. Yes.
Mr. CARTER. And, you know, that is what really frustrates me
sometimes, because I just don’t think that some of my colleagues
understand that the impact of higher energy prices impacts the
lowest incomes the most.
Look, I—you know, I have got 18 seconds left, and I always have
to mention that Georgia is the number one forestry state in the na-
tion, and I am proud of what we are doing in the way of energy
costs. But we have got to address this and we have got to address
climate change, but we have got to address it with an all-of-the-
above type energy policy that includes stable, reliable, affordable
energy.
So thank you, Mr. Hollie. I appreciate it.
And I yield back.
Ms. CASTOR. All right. Thank you, Mr. Carter.
Next up, Rep. Casten, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. CASTEN. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to all our wit-
nesses.
And I feel like I have got to be the broken record because I feel
compelled to say this every time. And I know you have heard it be-
fore and I know you all know it is true; you just don’t like to ac-
knowledge that it is true. If you can heat your home, if you can
keep your lights on, if you can drive your car without burning fossil
fuel, you don’t have to pay for fossil fuel. It is freaking awesome,
saves a lot of money. Stop this nonsense that it is expensive. We
have to invest capital in order to save money, and that is in invest-
ments, period, full stop. Stop pretending it is not true.
It is a problem if you are in the business of extracting fossil fuel
or you are paid by people who are in that business. I get it. We
need to make sure that those people are protected and make it
through this transition, but please don’t show for that. We are look-
ing out for the American people here.
To that end, Ms. Flowers, I would like to start with you because
you mentioned energy efficiency, which is, of course, the way we do
this. And you mentioned some of the challenges that some of the
folks in your community have had getting access to energy effi-
ciency in their homes, which, of course, is going to give them hotter
showers, colder beers with less money.
A lot of utilities, a lot of states have tried to provide resources
to provide the upfront capital, to amortize that capital. It clearly
hasn’t worked as well as it should have to make sure that the
neediest among us get access to those more efficient homes.
Any suggestions on what we can or should do federally to accel-
erate the access to capital for people who, as my friend, Mr. Carter,
says, may not be able to afford that initial investment, but, man,
they will save a lot of money once that investment is made?
Ms. FLOWERS. Well, I think among the many things—thank you
for the question. It is not my area of expertise, but I will say this:
Just as a consumer and what I have seen talking to people who
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have issues with having access to capital, I think, first of all, we
should make sure that there are green banks that are set up in the
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38
communities, that in communities, these EJ communities, that cap-
ital is available so that the businesses there can benefit. Because
oftentimes what happens, no matter who is responsible or where it
comes in, the communities don’t benefit from it, and somebody
comes in from the outside, takes it and leaves, and leaves the com-
munity poor. And we need to change that.
We also need to make sure that the homes are energy efficient.
In Alabama, for an example, my home state, which I love dearly,
we are now tornado alley. And a lot of people are living in mobile
homes, and one of the reasons why we have had a high rate of peo-
ple dying has been because they lived in mobile homes, but they
are also not energy efficient, a lot of them.
Pamela Rush, who I mentioned before, her power bills were eas-
ily $400 and $500 a month, and she was living off approximately
$900 to $1,000 a month.
So we have to make sure that our homes are more energy effi-
cient, but make the capital available in those communities that
need it the most.
Mr. CASTEN. Well, thank you. And I hope in our infrastructure
plan we are able to make sure that that capital is available, be-
cause it is an investment, makes all Americans wealthier, and let’s
do it for good and selfish reasons.
Dr. Park, your testimony was fascinating, and I am particularly
interested in some of what you mentioned about some of the re-
gional differences in how these costs are borne. They particularly
brought to mind of one of our prior witnesses, Michael Greenstone
from University of Chicago and some of his work. I see you nodding
your head, so hopefully that means you are, in fact, connected, be-
cause I sure hope you folks are collaborating.
As you know, he has been, you know, dedicated a long time to
calculating the social cost of carbon and now trying to understand
the regional differences.
Can you give me some sense of these differences that you talked
about? Are we talking about, you know, a 2X difference between re-
gions? Is it a 10X difference? What is that disparity in your math
which we have seen, and how should we be thinking about that?
If we are to embrace markets and market solutions to pricing
externalities, how much does it vary regionally?
Mr. PARK. Great. Well, thank you. That is a great question.
Michael Greenstone’s work is sort of like the trunk of the tree
of knowledge that I am branching off of, certainly something I am
familiar with.
And if I may, just in 10 seconds on a point you made that I think
is really important about costs. We have been talking a lot about
the potential for clean energy policy to be regressive in terms of
who bears the cost. That may in theory be true, but that is sort
of like saying that you could die from heart surgery. Yes, but it de-
pends on how you do it and how well you do it. And I really—I
think—you know, I won’t speak on behalf of all of my economist
colleagues, but I certainly think that, you know, many would agree
that it really comes down to smart policy design. There is nothing
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inherent to clean energy policy that needs to necessarily be regres-
sive in terms of the realized outcomes for low-income individuals.
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To your question about regional disparities, I think the honest
answer is that we are still learning. Is it 2X? Is it 10X? Is it, you
know, 15X? Because I think in part we know a lot about the phys-
ical impacts of climate change and how they vary. You know, I
could give you a table—and, in fact, maybe I will after our testi-
mony—you know, with each of the members here and how many
extreme heat days your constituents can expect in the next 20, 30
years with quite a bit of precision now. But what we don’t yet know
very well is just how much individuals in particular areas, depend-
ing on their occupation, their industry, their housing stock, the age
of their housing stock, how these things affect—you know, the ef-
fect of heat on electricity bills, your health, your learning, your pro-
ductivity, et cetera.
And so my guess would be that the regional disparities are very
large, which implies—the last point I will make is that—which im-
plies that the Federal rule probably will have an important—Fed-
eral Government will have an important role to play in spreading
out these risks as climate shocks manifest moving forward.
Mr. CASTEN. Thank you so much. I would love to see that data
if you have it.
I yield back.
Mr. PARK. Sure.
Ms. CASTOR. There is no doubt that Rep. Casten would like to
see any and all of the data, and we all would.
Next, we will go to Rep. Palmer. You are recognized for 5 min-
utes.
Mr. PALMER. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
I just want to make a point here in regard to things that have
been said by Ms. Flowers. I grew up in northwest Alabama. My
dad had maybe an eighth grade education. He was a logger. He
logged with a pair of mules and a chain saw. That is what I grew
up doing. Later, he started building roof trusses. I have actually
been on the roofs of homes putting new roofs on. So I understand
what it is to work in extreme heat, especially considering that I
was on the football team for the University of Alabama and we had
practices twice a day on artificial turf that, I am not kidding, the
temperature on that turf was 110 degrees.
So, Dr. Park, wouldn’t you agree that physical health and condi-
tion is a factor in how people respond to extreme heat or heat, pe-
riod?
Mr. PARK. Is physical health a factor? Absolutely, absolutely.
Mr. PALMER. Absolutely. Thank you.
And I just wanted to point out that my grandparents, my dad’s
parents, lived in a house that was not only heated by a wood-burn-
ing stove, they cooked on it.
Ms. Flowers, I would put her blackberry cobbler up against any-
body from Lowndes County, or anywhere else, including Garrett
Graves’ district. I don’t know if they know how to make it in Lou-
isiana.
But I want to go on and I want to—Ms. Cooley, though the Nav-
ajo people did not arrive in the southwestern United States until
around 1400, 1450, migrating from Canada and Alaska, I assume
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your research has shown you and made you aware that there were
mega droughts between 900 and 1300 A.D. that had an enormously
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negative impact on the indigenous peoples who were in those re-
gions at that time.
Are you aware of those droughts?
Ms. COOLEY. Well, first of all, that is what the archeologists say
where my—where they say my people are from, but I have a dif-
ferent viewpoint on that, but that is another session.
These disturbance regimes, such as these mega droughts that
you are talking about, are happening more frequently. And maybe
back in my ancestors’ days, they didn’t happen as much, but, yes,
they did happen, but there have been more —
Mr. PALMER. Well, actually, they were more frequent then and
lasted much longer. Some of them lasted over a hundred years at
that time. And the science says that it was more arid during that
period than any subsequent century. So the droughts were longer
and worse during that time, and it was because of warming. It was
climate change.
Mr. Hollie, I appreciate you being here as well. I want to touch
on something about lowering energy costs and what has happened
with hydraulic fracturing and how it brought down the cost of nat-
ural gas. It not only makes heating costs go down, it also lowers
cooling costs, which should make it more economically feasible for
lower-income households to keep their homes cooler.
There is a study out—I have got a paper here from Lancet, the
British Medical Journal. It says there is 17 times more people die
from cold than from heat. I have also found that there is enough—
it says that the cost of the lower natural gas cost, that it is esti-
mated that it has saved about 11,000 Americans from dying during
the winter every year.
I think of this in the context—and I brought this up many times,
and the other witnesses may have been notified that I would bring
this up, but Pembroke Township in Illinois, a town of 2,100 people,
85 percent African American, they don’t have a natural gas pipe-
line. They are heating their homes with wood-burning stoves and
propane because they can’t afford their utility bills.
Would you agree that we—that it would be a good thing to get
a natural gas pipeline into that township? That is what Jesse Jack-
son is trying to do and other civil rights leaders.
Mr. HOLLIE. Yes, sir, absolutely. And the thing about it is most
times people don’t understand that there are more pipelines run-
ning under a city or state than anything. There is pipelines in
there. Another pipeline that is generating natural gas is not going
to hurt anyone.
Mr. PALMER. Well, I just want to point out too that even though
the recommendations from the White House was no road improve-
ments and no new pipelines, that that is going to be very detri-
mental to low-income people who desperately need additional infra-
structure.
My time has expired. I thank the chairman and the witnesses,
and I yield back.
Ms. CASTOR. All right. Thank you.
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Next up, Rep. Huffman, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. PALMER. Jared, you are muted.
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Mr. HUFFMAN. There we go. It was telling me that I was having
trouble with the host unmuting me. So I think I am audible now.
Am I okay?
Oh, good because I can now talk about my friend —
Mr. PALMER. Well, Kathy is the host; blame her.
Mr. HUFFMAN. I can now talk about my friend, Garrett Graves’
stubborn case of California envy. We have corrected him a few
times now on some of these anti-California canards, and I thank
my colleague, Mike Levin, for doing a great job of, once again, ex-
plaining the difference between electricity rates and electricity
bills.
But today, we heard a new creative set of allegations drawn from
a lawsuit, not an actual court decision, but a lawsuit, which is easy
enough to file. So I will just state the obvious. In California, like
everywhere else, we have industry-funded astro-turf groups and in-
dustry-funded lawsuits aimed at blocking climate reforms. But if
filing a lawsuit and lobbying a bunch of provocative allegations was
enough to make them true, then Rudy Giuliani would still have a
law license and Donald Trump would be President.
With very few exceptions, the people and experts who have dedi-
cated their lives to environmental justice and protecting disadvan-
taged communities are not hostile to clean air, to clean water, to
clean energy. They don’t worship at the altar of fossil fuels. Most
of them agree fossil fuel pollution is a huge problem, a really bad
thing. The climate change impacts are a huge problem. And if we
care about EJ communities and disadvantaged communities, then
we need more bold climate action, not less.
And so that is why I am really pleased that President Biden’s
American Jobs Plan commits 40 percent of the benefits of climate
and clean energy investments to disadvantaged communities. And
just last week, I had a chance in my district to see what that kind
of investment could look like: a new renewably powered microgrid
at the Redwood Coast Airport. This is a partnership that includes
local Indian Tribes, and it will provide clean renewable power and
flexible power that eliminates greenhouse gas emissions and builds
resilience to climate impacts. That is the kind of thing we are doing
in California.
And, Ms. Cooley, you mentioned this. You mentioned the Blue
Lake Rancheria, which is in my district. That was a previous
microgrid that I was pleased to support, but they are one of the
partners on this new microgrid. And I want to give you a chance
to respond to Mr. Hollie’s claims.
He is a very effective witness. He has become a bit of a frequent
flier for our Republican friends in these hearings, but his views are
really an outlier among those who have dedicated their lives to
serving disadvantaged communities, this notion that maintaining
our dependency on dirty fossil fuels is somehow good for low-in-
come people of color because it provides cheap energy and jobs.
So I wonder if you could speak to what you think of that view
and what you have seen happening in California, where I believe
the opposite is happening, where our climate programs are gener-
ating revenue that is being used for weatherization and any num-
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ber of other things that are actually helping disadvantaged commu-
nities.
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Ms. COOLEY. Thank you, Representative Huffman, for that ques-
tion. As someone who was invited here to talk about the findings
of the staff report, I will tell you that the Tribal Nations have the
opportunity, like you said, not to be so reliant on the central grid,
on extractive, detrimental, the fossil fuel industry. I come from a
community that has seen and felt the impacts of positive but most-
ly negative.
And I guess decreasing the reliance also increases the resilience
against climate extremes, such as power outages, and also will de-
crease the long-term costs on less—and less reliance off of energy
sources off the reservation. This could help Tribes really achieve
that energy and economic independence, sovereignty, and also the
stability.
So that is what I would answer with. Thank you.
Mr. HUFFMAN. Okay. Dr. Park, same question for you on the job’s
side. And by the way, you know, I love UCLA too, because not ev-
eryone can get into UC Santa Barbara and they need a second
choice. So thank you for being part of our hearing.
And please speak to Mr. Hollie’s testimony as it pertains to the
upside economically of clean air and new jobs from clean energy.
Mr. PARK. Thank you for that. I guess maybe I will start with
a general point, which is that, again, we have been focusing a lot
on the potential costs of clean energy, but there are a lot of hidden
benefits that research shows will benefit environmental justice
communities, low-income communities, possibly the most, particu-
larly in terms of reduced air pollution, which we now know has
very detrimental effects, not only on health but student cognition,
even onset of dementia, worker productivity, all of these things.
The oil and gas workers, you know, Mr. Hollie referred to, yes,
they may rely on that industry for their jobs, but the work that
they are doing is also silently poisoning them and affecting their
health as well. So, you know, these are things that we need to bear
in mind as we talk, have a holistic conversation, I think, about the
costs and benefits of climate policy.
Mr. HUFFMAN. All right. Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
Ms. CASTOR. Thank you.
Next, we will go to Rep. Gonzalez. Good to see you. You are rec-
ognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. GONZALEZ. Thank you, Chairwoman Castor and Ranking
Member Graves, for holding this hearing today, and to our distin-
guished witnesses for their testimony.
I think it is fair to say advocating for environmental justice is
relatively easy to just say it. What is not easy is facing politically
inconvenient facts about the feasibility of some of the policies pro-
posed or, in some cases, recognizing that aggressive advocacy may
direct community attention away from problems that pose a great-
er or certainly more immediate public health threat on the commu-
nities in question.
I would argue this political dilemma has been on full display over
the last few weeks, despite the Biden administration setting ambi-
tious climate targets, labeling carbon emissions as an existential
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threat that will disproportionately hurt low-income and minority
Americans. They are lobbying OPEC openly to pump more oil,
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knowing that this will bring down the high gas prices currently
hurting low-income families.
Mr. Hollie, I don’t want to spend a ton of time on California. I
have lived there before. It is a beautiful state, but it is run hor-
ribly. In my view, Ohio is run much better, which is why I live
there. But, in any event, after California implemented their cap
and trade policy, researchers found it did not deliver local emission
reductions, public health, or air quality benefits to residents in low-
income communities. What it did do is it raised their utility bills,
which we know are already more than 8 percent of their income.
Four times higher than what wealthy American families pay.
Again, I have a lot of fond memories of my time in California,
but emulating their climate policies is not something that I think
we should be doing nationally and certainly not in Ohio.
My question is, how important is it to low-income minority fami-
lies that we keep their energy prices affordable?
Mr. HOLLIE. It is very important. And the thing about it, it is not
just me saying this. You have Reverend Jesse Jackson, Al
Sharpton, and the president of—God, I can’t—Mark Mauriello all
saying right now that we need natural gas as we transition to
clean energy. If we don’t, it is going to raise the cost for low-income
individuals, period.
Mr. GONZALEZ. Yeah. And I think that that is the really impor-
tant point is, again, I—maybe there are some folks who are saying
we shouldn’t address this at all. I am not hearing that in this com-
mittee, on either side of the aisle, but I think there is a question
of how do we do it and how do we do it in a way that is thoughtful
and isn’t going to hurt the very communities that we are trying to
help.
And, with that, I want to turn to Ms. Coleman Flowers. I would
like to touch on the report you worked on with the White House
Environmental Justice Advisory Council. There were some things
that you advocated as nonbeneficial to environmental justice com-
munities, and I just found them perplexing. So one is nuclear en-
ergy, which I am a huge fan of; second, carbon capture, road im-
provements; and the final one, R&D, which is probably the one
thing all of us on this committee agree on, I think.
Can you explain the thinking that led to suggest that Congress
and the White House should eliminate funding for these projects
moving forward?
Ms. FLOWERS. Again, I can’t speak—and thank you for the ques-
tion, but I can’t speak on behalf of the White House Environmental
Justice Advisory Council. There were about 26 of the members who
gave their opinion, and they had various reasons for doing that,
and I am only one person. But I think that everyone that is on that
council is trying to find a way to address the problems in their
communities.
I would like to say and to offer that whatever we ultimately do,
I think all of us believe that there should be a just transition, be
it for people in environmental justice communities or those people
that are going to be impacted by the changes that we have to
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make, so that we can make sure that my grandson has a future
in terms of a livable planet.
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Mr. GONZALEZ. Can I ask you, do you personally think we should
eliminate R&D funding?
Ms. FLOWERS. Research and development? Personally, no, I don’t.
Mr. GONZALEZ. Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Hollie, I don’t know if I will get this question in, but in your
testimony, you highlighted that over 60 percent of the world’s co-
balt is extracted from Congo and, in most cases, mined by Congo-
lese children who are forced into slave labor. It is atrocious.
Earlier this month, a group of more than 40 progressives—40
progressive groups signed a letter addressed to President Biden
and Members of Congress that we should prioritize environmental
concerns and access to affordable clean energy over issues such as
human rights abuses, which includes Congolese children in slavery.
As you know, China has been detaining hundreds of thousands of
Uyghur Muslims in interment camps.
How should global human rights injustices figure into our think-
ing on environmental justice?
Mr. HOLLIE. We need to include that, and that is my whole
thing. I am like, how can we talk about environmental justice and
just be us here in America? It has got to be a global issue. If not,
then we are hypocrites ourselves.
Mr. GONZALEZ. Yeah. I couldn’t agree more. I think it high-
lights—look, there is important tradeoffs, there are difficult trade-
offs, not an easy issue, and I hope that we can get to a place where
we start to recognize the inherent tradeoffs that are required to ac-
tually make progress.
And, with that, I yield back.
Ms. CASTOR. Okay. Next up, Rep. Brownley, you are recognized
for 5 minutes.
Ms. BROWNLEY. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I apologize for
being late to the hearing. I was tied up with a constituent who has
had a tragic death in their family, and I just couldn’t get away in
time for the hearing. But thank you for having it.
My question goes to Dr. Park. I represent Ventura County in
California. Ventura County is not the hottest county in our coun-
try, but it is heating faster than any other county in the country.
So this is a very important issue to farmworkers, to our ag commu-
nity, to our community at whole.
Oxnard is a city in Ventura County. Oxnard is a working class
family with a lot of EJ impacts and, you know, home to several
Superfund sites, et cetera. One thing that the City of Oxnard has
done locally is that they offer free fruit trees to their residents to
plant in their front yards, not only for food, but for shade.
So I guess my question, you had been—in your comments, in
your testimony, you talked about we need to look at smarter adap-
tation policies. Shade is, you know, certainly something that comes
to my mind quickly when we think about heat, heat equity, and,
you know, adaptation. What are some of the other, what you would
consider, smart adaptation policies that you would suggest?
Mr. PARK. Great. Thank you for that question. Just a quick story
on that note. I will never forget driving back from a workshop in
UC Santa Barbara through Oxnard on a hot day where we had
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wildfires, and the smoke was billowing through, and we had agri-
cultural workers still working in the heat and the smoke, just to
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45
kind of give you a visual of the kinds of pressures that I imagine
your constituents are facing.
In terms of smart adaptation policy, I mean, you mentioned
trees. I am not as familiar with the efficacy of trees, but I do know
that they have cooling benefits, particularly in urban areas, though
you want to be careful about the water stress, right, in a state like
California. So there are tradeoffs certainly.
This may sound a little mundane, but even something as simple
as making sure that our schools, right, and homes in low-income
communities have reliable grids and access to air-conditioning
when they need it. You know, air-conditioning sometimes gets a
bad wrap in environmental circles because if the electricity grid is
not clean, it can lead to more greenhouse gas emissions; but if it
is a clean electricity grid, we know that air-conditioning can have
lifesaving benefits, particularly, again, for disadvantaged commu-
nities.
So those are just two suggestions, but I think there are many
more if we start to look more carefully under the hood in terms of
what kinds of investments and policies would be good to pursue
there.
Ms. BROWNLEY. So California has, you know, laws with regards
to protecting our farmworkers, particularly from heat, making sure
that they have water and shade, et cetera. Is there—can you make
any determinations about the impacts of those laws and, you know,
a quantifiable improvement?
Mr. PARK. That is another great question, and I am—you know,
I am going to be the typical researcher who says we need more
data and we need to do more research. But in this case, I think
we really do need more data to know exactly what kinds of policies
will be most effective at protecting workers from climate risks,
whether that is heat or something else, in part because as we have
learned from, I think, the COVID pandemic, there are difficult
tradeoffs involved when you are trying to regulate the workplace
from environmental hazards to make sure that the economic costs
are reasonable.
I tend to be an optimist and believe that there are ways to do
this. And, certainly, in our data we observe that the heat—the im-
pact of heat on injuries appears to be declining over time in Cali-
fornia, which may have something to do with the fact that Cali-
fornia was the first state to implement mandatory workplace heat
standards. But as a researcher, I do think there needs to be more
data collection and more research to really understand what kinds
of policies we want to be supporting at a Federal or local level in
terms of energy.
Ms. BROWNLEY. So there is not any comparative data that you
have for other states that haven’t implemented rules in the work-
place compared to California? I would assume that since California
is one of very few states that have, that the risks that you spoke
of in your testimony have got to be greater across—when you think
of the whole country.
Mr. PARK. I hesitate to make extrapolations, but that kind of
comparative analysis is certainly on my wish list of things that we
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should do urgently, yes.
Ms. BROWNLEY. Thank you very much.
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Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
Ms. CASTOR. Thank you.
Next, we will go to Rep. Bonamici. You are recognized for 5 min-
utes.
Ms. BONAMICI. Thank you so much, Chair Castor and Ranking
Member Graves. And to the witnesses, I have read all your testi-
mony, and I very much appreciate your being here today.
The record-breaking heat wave across the Pacific Northwest last
month was one of the deadliest natural disasters in my home state
of Oregon. And my heart goes out to the families of the 116 Orego-
nians who lost their lives. Those are those we know of so far. There
were many more across the region.
I want to repeat and emphasize this fact. Last week, the extreme
temperatures claimed more than a hundred lives in my home state
of Oregon. People died in their homes because of the heat. And as
temperatures surged to unprecedented triple digits, low-income
neighborhoods became heat islands. They are surrounded by con-
crete, excessive emissions from highways. Many seniors lacked air-
conditioning or even fans. Communities of color live on streets with
fewer trees and green spaces to provide shade. And that is, as we
know, because of historic redline policies from the past.
Dr. Vivek Shandas from Portland State University has been
studying these disparities for decades, and during the heat wave,
he and his son actually used a thermal camera and they went
around and measured temperatures in different neighborhoods
across Portland. In southeast Portland, Dr. Shandas recorded an
air temperature of 124 degrees. That was 25 degrees higher than
the measurement around the same time in more prosperous neigh-
borhoods.
So we can’t ignore the consequences of urban heat islands for
communities of color and low-income communities, and scientists
have already found that the deadly heat wave would have been vir-
tually impossible without human-caused climate change.
We have to take this bold comprehensive action to protect our
communities from similar disasters in the future.
So, Dr. Park, I want to follow up on Rep. Brownley’s questions.
Far too many lives were lost during the heat wave. And I am on
the Education and Labor Committee, and I am particularly con-
cerned about workplace conditions. Tragically, Sebastian Francisco
Perez, a 38-year-old farmworker, died at his work site in St. Paul,
Oregon, when temperatures were 115 degrees in the Willamette
Valley on June 26. This is unacceptable.
We know that the climate crisis means that more people like Se-
bastian are working in hazardous conditions. And Oregon followed
California and implemented standards, but it was after Mr. Perez
passed.
Dr. Park, so what steps should Congress take to make sure peo-
ple have access to workplace protections in the—with the threats
of extreme weather, but also we have the wildfire smoke that is be-
coming more and more prevalent?
Mr. PARK. Yeah, Representative, thank you for that question.
And just, you know, the case—the tragic case that you just men-
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tioned is something that is consistent with our data. You know, one
of the surprising things that we found is that the effect of heat on
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injuries actually appears to be larger for younger workers, workers
in their twenties and thirties and forties, as opposed to workers in
their fifties and sixties. We still can’t say definitively why, but it
may have something to do with the kinds of occupations or indus-
tries and the dangerous work environments that they are working
in when the extreme heat hits.
In terms of policy responses, you know, again, I hesitate to make
blanket policy recommendations, but I think the research clearly
shows that this is an issue that official statistics historically may
have understated the importance of. And, again, I know we have
been talking a lot about the inequality and the environmental jus-
tice submission of this, but these are costs that are borne by society
as a whole as well. You know, the worker suffers in terms of pain
and medical bills and lost wages, but employers suffer lost produc-
tivity, retraining costs, hiring costs. We all pay into insurance sys-
tems, et cetera.
So, again, it is just—I think it is important to think of the issue
of heat and climate risks in general as affecting all sectors.
Ms. BONAMICI. Absolutely.
And I wanted to get a question in to Ms. Cooley as well. I appre-
ciate in your testimony you reference ocean acidification, harmful
algal blooms, hypoxia, and the consequences for indigenous liveli-
hoods. We know that warmer temperatures in the Columbia River
are further endangering salmon, which are a fundamental part of
the identity, culture, and treaty rights of our Northwest Tribes.
And in our region, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commis-
sion partners with NOAA’s Integrated Ocean Observation System
to manage a network of observation stations and buoys in the Co-
lumbia River.
So, Ms. Cooley, how can Congress better support partnerships
with Tribes to advance climate science, and what are some of the
existing barriers for Tribes in accessing funding for resilience ef-
forts?
Ms. COOLEY. Thank you, Representative. I think one of the main
things the U.S. Government can do is remove barriers to that Trib-
al sovereignty. As you mentioned, salmon and other subsistence
foods are absolutely critical. Actually, many Tribes call them crit-
ical infrastructure for their ways of life, and they use that to re-
spect, include, and also, you know, protect the Traditional knowl-
edges.
So the investment in funding, again, access to the resources for
the training of Native Americans to keep jobs on the reservation,
I think, is critical to the livelihoods in terms of their traditional
ways of life and their foods that they depend on.
Thank you.
Ms. BONAMICI. Thank you so much.
Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. CASTOR. Well, thank you very much.
You know, listening to our witnesses today here as we close out
the hearing, I think, I really appreciate your perspectives, and that
of the members who are coming from different parts of the country.
Everyone is kind of suffering through the escalating impacts of the
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climate crisis. But the witnesses today really bolstered the need to
enact our recommendations in our Climate Crisis Action Plan re-
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leased last year into law, and we have an opportunity to do that
this summer through the American Jobs Plan, where we want to
direct 40 percent of the benefits of infrastructure investments to
environmental justice communities. They have been carrying a dis-
proportionate burden for too long, and that is hopefully what we
will be able to do.
So thanks again to our terrific witnesses.
Without objection——
Mr. GRAVES. Madam Chair.
Ms. CASTOR [continuing]. I would like to enter into the record
two reports. First, the introduction from a July 2021 report by the
Center for Progressive Reform, Earthjustice, and the Union of Con-
cerned Scientists, titled, ‘‘Preventing ‘Double Disasters’: How the
U.S. EPA Can Protect the Public from Hazardous Chemical Re-
leases Worsened by Natural Disasters.’’
The second is a July 2021 paper titled, ‘‘Widespread Race and
Class Disparities in Surface Urban Heat Extremes Across the
United States.’’
And I would also, in the interesting exchange of Ms. Cooley with
Representative Palmer over droughts in the Southwest, I just en-
courage everyone to go back to the most recent National Climate
Assessment that really made it clear through a scientific consensus
here that lower precipitation, increasing temperatures are ampli-
fying droughts, especially in the Southwest. And the National Cli-
mate Assessment states specifically that disproportionately is bur-
dening our Tribal communities.
So I encourage you all to refer back to that as well.
So, without objection, we will enter those into the record.
[The information follows:]
Submissions for the Record
Representative Kathy Castor
Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
July 15, 2021
ATTACHMENT: Flores, D.; Kalman, C.; Mabson, M.; & Minovi, D. (2021 July).
Preventing Double Disasters: How the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Can Protect the Public from Hazardous Chemical Releases Worsened by Nat-
ural Disasters. Center for Progressive Reform, Earthjustice, and the Union
of Concerned Scientists.
The report is retained in the committee files and available at:
http://progressivereform.org/our-work/energy-environment/preventing-double-disasters/
ATTACHMENT: Benz, S. A., & Burney, J. A. (2021). ‘‘Widespread race and class dis-
parities in surface urban heat extremes across the United States.’’ Earth’s
Future, 9, e2021EF002016.
The article is retained in the committee files and available at:
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021EF002016
Ms. CASTOR. And, Ranking Member Graves, do you have any
unanimous requests?
Mr. Graves. I have a UC request.
Ms. CASTOR. Go ahead.
Mr. GRAVES. Yes, ma’am. Madam Chair, we have a UC request
to submit a letter from the three river parish presidents to Presi-
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dent Biden regarding some of the employment activities and indus-
trial activities in their three parishes. I have a document indicating
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that electricity rates in California, if the Louisiana rate applied,
would go from an average of $124 to $58.
And, Madam Chair, most importantly, I have a document from
the James Beard Foundation showing that Louisiana restaurants
far surpass those in Alabama, just to get back and document
against Mr. Palmer’s underhanded comment about our ability to
cook.
Ms. CASTOR. Is there any objection to that?
Okay. Then, without objection——
Mr. PALMER. I object that he is trying to enter that false report
from Louisiana restaurants.
Ms. CASTOR. Well, thank you all again for your very insightful
testimony. We have a lot—we have our work cut out for us. Thanks
again.
And we are adjourned.
[The information follows:]
Submissions for the Record
Representative Garret Graves
Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
July 15, 2021
ATTACHMENT: Republican Committee Staff Analysis of the average cost of elec-
tricity bills in California if the Louisiana electricity rate was applied, using
April 2021 data from Saveonenergy.com.
Based off of this data, if electricity rates in California were the same as electricity
rates in Louisiana, the average monthly electric bill in California would be reduced
by 52.7%—falling from $124.33 per month to $58.73 per month.
The analysis is retained in the committee files and data used is available at:
https://www.saveonenergy.com/learning-center/post/electricity-bills-by-state/
ATTACHMENT: Letter from Matthew Jewell, St. Charles Parish President; Pete
Dufresne, St. James Parish President; and Clint Cointment, Ascension Par-
ish President, to President Biden regarding the industrial corridor that
spans from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, Louisiana.
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The letter is retained in the committee files and is available at:
https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/letter-to-potus-final-6-2-21-
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1623420088.pdf
[Whereupon, at 4:20 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
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52
United States House of Representatives
Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
Hearing on July 15, 2021
‘‘Advancing Environmental Justice Through Climate Action’’
Questions for the Record
Catherine Coleman Flowers
Founder and Director
Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice
THE HONORABLE KATHY CASTOR
1. Ms. Flowers, the impacts of the climate crisis are not distributed equi-
tably, and we see many ways that climate impacts, from worsening
heatwaves to floods, hurt low-income households and communities of color
first and worst. What steps should Congress take to accelerate and ensure
disaster recovery reaches low-income and rural communities following dis-
asters?
According to a 2009 University of California report, floods, air pollution and ex-
treme heat are among the climate events that result in higher death for African
American and low-income individuals. This study also cited the economic factors as
determinants in this uneven distribution. In my view, systemic racism is also a fac-
tor.
A recent Washington Post article stated: A growing body of research shows
that FEMA (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/climate/FEMA-disaster-money-
climate.html), the government agency responsible for helping Americans recover
from disasters, often helps white disaster (https://www.nytimes.com/article/tropical-
storm-danny-hurricane.html) victims more than people of color, even when the
amount of damage is the same. Not only do individual white Americans often re-
ceive more aid from FEMA; so, do the communities in which they live, according
to several recent studies based on federal data.
How do we change this? First, Congress should accelerate disaster recovery in
low-income or BIPOC communities by making sure that the current formulas for
provide for equitable distribution of disaster relief. Regulations should allow for re-
covery aid to families living on heir’s property especially in rural communities.
Scorecards should be made public to show who received aid, how much and where
it was distributed. Also supporting the guidance offered in Justice 40 will also a
roadmap for equitable recovery.
https://data.globalchange.gov/report/uca-climategap-2009
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/11/fema-black-owned-property/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/climate/FEMA-race-climate.html
2. Ms. Flowers, in your written testimony, you note that climate-fueled
extreme weather events may exacerbate existing risks to frontline commu-
nities living near industrial and chemical facilities along the Mississippi
River. What are the existing risks to these communities, how could climate
change make things worse, and what should Congress do to help frontline
communities?
In accessing some of the risks to these communities and how climate change
makes things worse, I will reference a 2016 EPA publication entitled, What Climate
Change Means for Mississippi. ‘‘Coastal homes and infrastructure will flood more
often as sea level rises because storm surges will become higher as well. Rising sea
level is likely to increase flood insurance rates, while more frequent storms could
increase the deductible for wind damage in homeowner insurance policies. Many cit-
ies, roads, railways, ports, airports, and oil and gas facilities along the Gulf Coast
are vulnerable to the combined impacts of storms and sea level rise. People may
move from vulnerable coastal communities and stress the infrastructure of the com-
munities that receive them.’’ Testimony from others have already indicated the im-
pacts seen in places like Mississippi, but all along the Mississippi especially in Can-
cer Alley.
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The Justice40 Initiative is a significant part of that commitment. For the first
time in our nation’s history, the Federal government has made it a goal that at least
40-percent of climate and clean energy investment benefits flow to disadvantaged
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53
communities. The Justice40 Initiative has the potential to deliver tangible, positive
benefits to disadvantaged communities across the country; by investing in legacy
pollution cleanup, clean energy and transportation, quality housing, and more, the
Biden administration will help begin to address our nation’s legacy of injustice. This
will be strengthened by Congressional action.
Congress should pass the infrastructure plan and reconciliation package to pro-
vide good paying union jobs, as well as addressing overburden and underserved
communities that are greatly impacted by climate change.
https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/climate-
change-ms.pdf
3. Ms. Flowers, in your testimony, you referenced the pollution burden on
environmental justice communities in St. James Parish and St. John the
Baptist Parish in Louisiana. In March 2021, United Nations human rights
experts condemned environmental racism in this area. Could you please
describe the kinds of health, environmental, and socio-economic challenges
these environmental justice communities are experiencing? How can Con-
gress help these communities? Please feel free to supplement your response
with any statements from environmental justice leaders and studies docu-
menting ongoing health, environmental, and socio-economic challenges.
The best way for me to respond to this question is to enter into the record the
following: Letter to President Biden from Sharon Lavigne, President, RISE St.
James
https://labucketbrigade.org/letter-from-sharon-lavigne-to-pres-biden-on-cancer-alley-
formosa-plastics/
Letter to Michael Regan, EPA Administrator: RE: Urge Consideration of Esca-
lating Hazards to Chemical and Industrial Facilities Due to Climate-Fueled Ex-
treme Events, Particularly on Environmental Justice Communities
https://cpr-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/house-select-cmte-climate-crisis-ltr-
epa-rmp-rule-improvements-072921.pdf
Finally, I am also including a recent study from Tulane University:
https://
law.tulane.edu/sites/law.tulane.edu/files/u1286/LTR%20Cancer%20Rates%20v%20Pollution-
Related%20Risk%202021-6-21%20rev.%202021-6-23.pdf.
Congress can help these communities by providing funding for the communities
to do the type of air quality monitoring needed to hold the manufacturers account-
able; enacting or enforcing laws that will protect these communities now, and cli-
mate action because the emissions from these industrial sources are creating the cli-
mate catastrophes that are impacting all of us and generations to come.
Questions for the Record
Nikki Cooley
Co-Manager, Tribes & Climate Change Program,
and Interim Assistant Director,
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP)
Northern Arizona University
THE HONORABLE KATHY CASTOR
1. Ms. Cooley, the impacts of the climate crisis are not distributed equi-
tably, and we see many ways that climate impacts, from worsening
heatwaves to floods, hurt low-income households and communities of color
first and worst. What is the experience of Tribes and Indigenous commu-
nities working to recover from disasters and tap federal funding and re-
sources?
To the Honorable Kathy Castor:
Thank you for your question. Tribes and Indigenous communities have been ad-
dressing and responding to climate impacts and practicing emergency management
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for hundreds of years. They have had a long and varied history of storytelling and
culturally unique ways of communicating with one another and with other commu-
nities. When seeking to communicate with Tribes, this rich tradition of storytelling
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54
and oral histories should be incorporated. With the addition of forced relocation, cul-
tural assimilation and increasing climate change impacts, they have had the addi-
tion of learning and framing their emergency responses within a Western, non-Trib-
al and Indigenous paradigm.
Barriers such as a lack of effective leadership at local, state, federal, and Tribal
levels of government have prevented Tribal emergency management programs from
making greater progress on responding to and mitigating climate-driven hazards. It
is estimated that currently less than 25% of all Tribal nations have an Office of
Emergency Management, and less than 10% of those have full-time emergency man-
agers. Without a Tribal emergency management program, it is deeply challenging
to implement and adhere to a number of federal mandates and policies. It is impera-
tive that there is an Increase resources and support at the state and federal levels
to develop Tribal emergency management programs across Tribal and Indigenous
nations. Additionally, the increase in coordination with state and federally recog-
nized Tribal nations is needed for the Tribal nations to respond to and prepare for
climate driven hazards.
References Page
Zambrano, L., Byrne, S., Cedeno, J., Pastos, N., Nutter, R., Walsh, W., Akelerea,
J., Gutierrez, M., Zendejas, J., Gutierrez, P., McCabe, M., Sundown, E., Pennington,
J., Dent, L., Jones, W., Johnson, R., Ostenberg, R., & DesRosier, R. (2019). Building
Cultures of Preparedness with Tribes. Green Bay, WI.
Questions for the Record
Dr. R. Jisung Park
Assistant Professor of Public Policy
Luskin School of Public Affairs
University of California Los Angeles
THE HONORABLE KATHY CASTOR
1. Dr. Park, you have just completed new research on the extent of heat-
related injuries. Previously, official estimates have been that exposure to
heat causes 4,000 workplace injuries a year. But by reviewing worker com-
pensation claims, you have found that there are 15,000 or more workplace
injuries every year just in California. Why have agencies like the National
Institute of Occupational Health and the Bureau of Labor Statistics under-
estimated the dangers of exposure to heat in the workplace?
It’s worth taking a step back here. Agencies including the ones mentioned have
been noting that official statistics likely underestimate heat-related safety risks for
quite some time. I’m not a physician, but my understanding is that it is very dif-
ficult to forensically attribute a particular illness or injury to heat illness or other
heat-related factors on a case by case basis.
One difference between our study and many other previous analyses is that we
do not limit the analysis to incidents that are officially recognizable as heat ill-
nesses, but include in our analysis all injury types, and let the data tell us how even
those ostensibly unrelated injuries—which are vastly greater in number on aver-
age—vary with daily temperature.
2. Dr. Park, there are heat waves occurring across our country this sum-
mer. When temperatures increase to 100 degrees or more, how much does
the chance of injury increase and is this a significant increase in risk for
workers?
At least in our data, which covers the State of California, a day with maximum
temperature in the 100’s or higher leads to a roughly 10 percent (or higher) increase
in injury claims relative to milder days in the 50’s or 60’s.
3. Dr. Park, your data is from California, one of the few states with state
rules protecting workers from heat exposure. Does this suggest that the
risks might be even higher in other states without protective laws, and do
you believe we need stronger federal standards to protect workers from
heat exposure?
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My co-authors and I hesitate to make strong claims regarding other states, given
the many potential differences in settings. We are also cautious not to interpret our
data as necessarily showing that the California heat standard was what caused the
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55
decline in heat-sensitivity of injuries documented during our study period. That
said, it seems unlikely that the general relationship between hotter temperature
and workplace safety is limited only to California. In fact, another recent study that
uses similar worker’s compensation data from the state of Texas (Dillender, 2019),
finds a similar relationship between extreme temperature and injuries.
Whether we need stronger federal standards to protect workers from heat expo-
sure, and what form of regulation that would ideally take, are important questions
for which I believe we still need better data to decide. A useful analogy may be that
our study is more like an MRI or CT scan that helps reveal the scope of the problem
than a blueprint for the ideal treatment regimen moving forward. When it comes
to regulating the workplace, I think we should be cautious not to impose extra costs
that are ultimately born by workers, firms and the rest of society. It may also be
worth considering broader factors—including labor market concentration and mo-
nopsony generally—that may affect workers’ bargaining power, and which may ulti-
mately affect the likelihood that effective safety measures are put in place even
without specific regulation or oversight.
4. Dr. Park, a striking aspect of your findings is that it is not just farm
workers and construction workers who work outside who are at risk from
exposure to heat. You are finding that workers who work inside in ware-
houses, factories, and food processing facilities also are in danger when
temperatures rise. If you add these outdoor workers with at-risk indoor
workers, that is over 30 million Americans who can be at risk when our na-
tion is facing heatwaves like we are seeing this summer. Should we be con-
cerned about their safety? How serious were the heat-related injuries you
observed in the data? Did they cause workers to miss work and lose in-
come? Did they lead to serious injuries? Do we need stronger laws to pro-
tect Americans from the dangers of exposure to heat in the workplace?
Yes, our study finds that hotter temperature increases injuries not only in outdoor
settings, such as agriculture or construction, but also in some indoor settings as
well. These include industries like warehousing, manufacturing, and wholesale,
where there are many more potentially exposed workers. Data from occupational
surveys suggest that many of these workers often work in indoor environments that
nevertheless become very hot on warmer days, either because there is little to no
air conditioning, or because they are also contending with indoor sources of heat,
such as stoves and kilns or manufacturing machinery.
We know based on previous studies that injuries and illnesses serious enough to
be reported to worker’s compensation—which still only captures a subset of the to-
tality of injuries and illnesses on the job—end up causing significant economic dam-
age to workers, their families, and to society as a whole. This comes in the form
of direct costs such as medical expenses and lost wages due to missed work, as well
as indirect costs including adverse consequences for injured workers’ likelihood of
securing well-paying employment in the future (studies find that, on average, hos-
pitalizations lead to persistently lower wages) or employers’ costs of lost productivity
and retraining/recruitment.
5. Dr. Park, your findings are a stark illustration that the people who suf-
fer the most from the climate crisis are not the wealthy; they are low-in-
come workers and low-income communities. How much greater are the
risks for a low-income worker than a higher income worker? Why are low-
income workers at greater risk than upper income workers?
Emerging research suggests that climate change affects the rich and the poor in
different ways—not only across rich and poor countries, but also across individuals
within countries, even within individual states, cities, and neighborhoods. We are
still learning about the exact nature and extent of these differences, and what can
be done to better insulate the most vulnerable from climatic shocks.
In our study, we find that the average worker in the bottom quintile of the income
distribution experiences a five times greater risk of workplace injury due to heat.
This is in part because lower income workers are more likely to work in dangerous
work environments to begin with, and also because they are more likely to live in
hotter places due in part to housing costs.
6. Dr. Park, when people think about environmental justice, they think
about the extra pollution burdens that disadvantaged communities have to
bear. This is clearly a serious problem. But your research shows there is
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another significant dimension to this problem. Not only do low-income
communities face heavier pollution burdens and live in neighborhoods
with fewer trees and higher temperatures, workers from these commu-
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56
nities face much greater risks from heat exposure when they go to work.
You have also done work showing that exposure to heat stunts learning in
schools and that minority children are the most affected. Your work shows
why justice and the environment are inseparable issues. If we want our
disadvantaged communities to live in safe environments, if we want low-
income workers to work in safe workplaces, if we want children from low-
income communities to thrive at school, we have to take our environmental
threats—and especially climate change—seriously and urgently. Do you
have any recommendations for how we can address these issues?
Our work and others’ is beginning to show how climate change may exacerbate
underling economic inequalities. In other work my colleagues and I have done on
heat and learning, we find that hotter temperature is far more problematic for
learning for Black and Hispanic minorities and lower income students, in part be-
cause they are significantly less likely to have modernized school facilities that have
adequate ventilation and air conditioning. This points to an immediate area in
which policymakers may help to address the threats that climate change pose for
low-income communities: by investing in school infrastructure.
More broadly, the Federal Government could play an important role in getting
ahead of the climate adaptation curve: by investing in information-gathering and
policies that help prevent the climate shocks that are at this point inevitable from
further exacerbating economic inequalities. In particular, the Federal Government
could help engage in coordinating better data collection, as there is still much we
do not know regarding who is most vulnerable to various climate shocks and why.
Furthermore, research on risk mitigation and social insurance suggests that the
Federal Government also will need to play a role in helping to spread the risk of
climate shocks—which manifest differently across different parts of the country, hit-
ting some harder than others, and on time frames that may also vary by region—
across a wider pool of taxpayers.
Æ
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