Testimony
of
Jean Stewart
Sierra Club DC Chapter
to the
DC Council Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization
on the
Public Oversight Roundtable on the DC Housing Authority’s Transformation Plan for Public Housing
Thank you, Chairwoman Bonds and members of the Committee, for the opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the Sierra Club concerning the proposed Public Housing Transformation Plan. My name is Jean Stewart, and I am a member of the Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest and largest environmental advocacy group. We have 3,000 dues-paying members in DC.
The Sierra Club supports affordable housing and stands in solidarity with public housing residents. Affordable housing is a policy of the national Sierra Club; we support equity and justice for low- and moderate-income residents throughout the nation. We have concerns over plans to address the serious deterioration in DC’s public housing stock by demolition and rebuilding many of the public housing communities, often relying on private partnerships. This approach could displace over 2,500 families both temporarily and permanently, since they will not have affordable places to live while housing is rebuilt, and because the plan does not appear to include construction of enough family-sized units in the new buildings.
We urge that public housing transformation be done in a way that any families moved from public housing are moved into comparable units without issue and can return to their previous neighborhoods after redevelopment. We also strongly recommend that DCHA ensure that any units that are demolished be replaced with units of the same sizes during redevelopment. In the past, we’ve seen public housing demolition contribute to the permanent displacement of large numbers of the city’s limited income African-American residents.
As construction for new public housing buildings takes place, the Sierra Club recommends that the new buildings be all electric. Use of gas for residential heating and cooking adds carbon to the atmosphere. Fracked gas is largely methane, an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Research also shows the considerable interior pollution caused by gas appliances. Like any fossil fuel, gas gives off pollutants when burned. The resulting mix of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and other pollutants can have serious health ramifications. A large body of evidence shows that NO2 exposure results in increased respiratory symptoms, asthma attacks, and hospital admissions in people with asthma. Research also suggests that long-term average NO2 exposure can increase the risk of diabetes, cancer, and premature mortality.
Since many low-income residents already have serious health problems like asthma and heart disease, it is especially important that all new public housing units be all electric. Attached is a Sierra Club fact sheet with more information on the health hazards of gas appliances.
Committing to making these new buildings all electric will add to this city’s already strong leadership role in clean energy and carbon reduction.
Please feel free to contact me and the Sierra Club DC Chapter if you have any questions. Thank you again for the opportunity to submit testimony.
Attachment: “Gas: A Major Source of Indoor Air Pollution”