Blog post by Jack Darin, Sierra Club Illinois Chapter Director
It seems automatic, breathing in and out. Most of us do it about 22,000 times every day, without thinking, and assume the air we breathe is healthy and safe. It’s probably the most fundamental, urgent need we all share, all the time.
We all have the right to breathe clean air, but for many, and especially Black and brown communities, this right isn’t guaranteed. That has to change now, and on this Earth Day, we need to align our work to save the Earth with the fight against racism, economic inequality, and environmental injustice.
We’re now in the second year of a respiratory health pandemic that has most of us taking precautions to protect our ability to breathe. But tragically, many communities that have been hardest hit by COVID-19 also face additional threats to their lungs. George Floyd was murdered by a police officer sworn to protect him, and the weapon was a knee to the throat denying him oxygen. The Little Village community on Chicago’s southwest side, now grieving the killing of Adam Toledo at the hands of police, suffered a dangerous, intense respiratory threat when the smokestacks of a coal plant they had defeated were demolished without adequate warning or protection, sending toxic plumes of dust into the neighborhood. Chicago’s Southeast side is faced with serial air polluter General Iron, having been chased out of its Lincoln Park site, looking to move its pollution to a largely Black and brown community.
This Earth Day, let’s recommit to the right for all to breathe clean air. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the City of Chicago should reject environmental racism and General Iron’s proposal to move what was unacceptable for the lungs of Lincoln Park residents to the southeast side. Governor Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly must pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act to get Illinois off of the fossil fuels that hurt the health of communities like Waukegan, and create wealth and jobs in clean energy for those that need it most. Illinois must increase protection for environmental justice communities, to ensure that any new increase in pollution considers what area residents are already suffering. And all communities must consider investing police funds into community solutions so no residents will fear their lives may be taken by those sworn to protect them.
The Earth itself is struggling to breathe, as the forests known as the lungs of our planet are under assault, and rising carbon dioxide levels are throwing our climate dangerously out of balance. Solving these global threats is the challenge of our time, but our solutions must be grounded in approaches that guarantee each and every one of us the right to breathe and live freely and safely.