FACT
SUMMARY FOR RESOLUTION ON SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND LOW-INCOME AND
MINORITY COMMUNITIES
by Virinder Singh, Renewable Energy Policy Project*
The following fact summary provides
background information on the preamble clauses in the Resolution on Sustainable Energy and Low-Income
and Minority Communities, which is supported
by over 50 groups from groups across the nation.
* To view end
notes for the fact summary, please click here.
"WHEREAS
our children's future, including their health, climate, water
and air face serious consequences from
our continued dependency on fossil fuels and nuclear power"
- Electric utilities are responsible for 26%
of the nation's nitrogen oxide emissions and 64% of sulfur dioxide
emissions. The electric utility sector ranks first among U.S.
industries emitting toxics as listed in the federal Toxic Release
Inventory, releasing 1 billion pounds of toxics in 1998, more
than the chemical, paper, plastics and refining industries combined.
Many of these emissions are known carcinogens, neurotoxins, and
acid gases that contribute to respiratory problems such as asthma
and emphysema. 1
- Utilities are the leading source of mercury
emissions (32.8% of the nation's total). The National Academy
of Sciences recently found that mercury causes developmental
defects in 60,000 American children in utero each year. Its impacts
are similar to those of lead, and include impaired mental development,
learning disabilities and delayed development or deficits in
language, deficient motor function, attention and memory. Since
mercury can accumulate in fish, Native American and low-income
and minority fisherfolk and their families are most at risk.2
- U.S. electric utilities accounted for 36%
of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 1997, and over 8% of
the world's greenhouse gas emissions in 1997.3 Plants fueled
by coal, natural gas, and oil make up the vast majority of these
totals.
- Coal mines have produced 95% of the total
acid mine drainage in the U.S. Acid drainage harms 12,000 miles
of American rivers, and damages and eliminates aquatic life.4
- Coal mining has disturbed 2.4 million hectares
of American land. Mountaintop removal in West Virginia (in which
the tops of mountains are cut off and dumped into adjacent valleys)
and surface mining in Wyoming are the two most prominent examples
of land disturbance by coal mining today. 7
- All 6 low-level nuclear waste dumps ever
used in the U.S. have leaked material into surrounding groundwater
and vegetation. (Unshielded nuclear waste can deliver a lethal
dose of radioactivity in as little as 30 seconds.) 5
- Waste "tailings" from uranium mining
represent the vast majority of low-level radioactive waste in
the U.S. The principal radioactive component, thorium-230, has
a half-life of 75,000 years. 6
"WHEREAS
low-income, minority and tribal communities suffer disproportionate
health and ecological impacts from the energy industry and from
energy users, including coal and uranium mining, oil extraction,
oil refining, power plant siting, dirty and unsafe industrial
practices, and vehicle pollution"
- Indian Country holds one-third of the uranium
mining and milling waste in the U.S. Mines on the Crow, Hopi
and Navajo nations yielded more coal than the state of Illinois
in first quarter of 1998-all from surface mining. In Navajo nation,
over a third of all homes do not have access to electricity.
8
- Oil extraction threatens the autonomy of
a number of local peoples throughout the world, including the
Ogoni in the Niger Delta of Africa, the U'wa of Colombia, and
the Gwichin of northern Alaska. All of these groups have protested
the presence or plans of major oil companies, due to negative
environmental, economic, and political impacts. For example,
in one of the most extreme cases of oil extraction impacts, Human
Rights Watch found that foreign oil companies in Nigeria have
habitually spilled oil with no threat of penalty. Government
and quasi-government security forces, some of whom have received
funding from foreign oil companies, have beaten and killed local
citizens who have demand compensation for spills on their property.
Oil companies have failed to protest or even monitor the repression
of local citizens. 9
- While statistics remain difficult to obtain,
refineries located in low-income communities of color present
serious environmental health threats. On March 25, 1999, Richmond,
California (a predominantly low-income, African-American community)
witnessed two explosions caused by valve failures at an oil refinery
that sent 350 people to the hospital with breathing difficulties
and vomiting. Emergency shutdowns, leaks and substantial "business-as-usual"
emissions have occurred in low-income communities of color from
Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania to Norco, Louisiana. 10
- The poverty rate of communities located within
one mile of coal-fired power plants-20%-is almost double that
of the general population (11.3%). Such communities are 21.5%
non-white, compared with 17% in the general population. 11
- Families with annual incomes below $10,000
suffer more than twice the incidence of asthma, a respiratory
illness partly attributable to air pollution, than families making
more than $35,000. This makes low-income families more vulnerable
to pollution-related illness. African-Americans are 2 to 6 times
more likely than whites to die from asthma. 12
"WHEREAS low-income families disproportionately
spend more of their income on basic energy services"
- Low-income households spend 14.5% of their
annual income on energy, compared to an average of 3.5% for all
other households in the U.S. 13
- Households making less than $25,000 per year
spend on average $1,155 per year on energy bills. For the wealthiest
families in this group (those making $24,999), that comprises
4.6% of annual income. That compares with $1,696 spent per year
on energy for households making $50,000 or more per year, which
translates to only 3.4% spent on energy for the families making
the least in this group (that is, $50,000). 14
- Households in Indian Country pay 8.7 cents
per kWh for their electricity, which is 7% higher than the average
rates paid by all American households (8.1 cents per kWh). 15
"WHEREAS
homes in low-income, minority and tribal communities severely lack energy efficiency features that ensure
heating, cooling, and lower bills"
- Since energy efficiency measures such as
insulation, better building materials, efficient appliances,
lighting, and water heating reduce energy use and therefore energy
bills, low-income citizens in particular will save an important
portion of their income from energy costs. In addition to energy
costs, energy efficiency benefits low-income households through
reduced housing loss and abandonment, reduced loss of service
due to terminations, improved property values and reduced health
effects.16
- Twenty million eligible, low-income homes
still await energy weatherization installations to reduce energy
use and improve comfort. 17
"WHEREAS
rising energy demand and the restructuring of the electric industry is unleashing more fossil fuel power plants
and extending the operating hours of existing nuclear and fossil
fuel plants in low-income and minority communities-thereby degrading
the air, displacing other uses of community space, and lowering
local property values"
- Americans are expected to use 27% more energy
in 2020 compared to 1998. Energy consumption should increase
for all primary sectors-residential, commercial, industrial and
transportation. Electricity use is the top driver for greater
energy use in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors.
Without a significant commitment to energy efficiency and renewable
energy, high electricity consumption could result in 1,000 new
power plants in 2020, the vast majority (97%) powered by fossil
fuels. 18
- The volatile price of electricity in electricity
markets in the Midwest in 1999 and in California in 2000 has
prompted many electric utility officials to assert the need for
more power plants rather than cutting energy use. Electricity
restructuring, once legislated in individual states, provides
the rules of the road for power companies to embark on building
new power plants. For example, one estimate found that the mid-Atlantic
states (New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania) are
the target for over 30,000 megawatts-worth of new power plants,
none of which were likely to be renewable. 19
- Many energy planners today are calling for
siting new, large power plants near where the power is consumed,
thereby foregoing transmission line constraints and reducing
power lost in transit along the grid from source to consumer.
Consumers of electricity are predominately located in cities.
Power plants will be sited in neighborhoods that resist them
the least. However, by locating large industrial facilities in
neighborhoods, energy planners and companies can degrade the
visual qualities of the neighborhood, attract high volumes of
vehicle traffic related to plant operations, and occupy space
such as waterfronts that are increasingly attractive sites for
commercial, residential and recreational development that have
benefited cities such as Baltimore, Providence, San Francisco,
and New York.
- There are many examples of power plant operations
targeting low-income and minority communities. Recently, in response
to calls for more secure power supplies in California's Bay Area,
a California utility attempted to install an oil-fired power
plant on a barge next to Hunter's Point, a low-income community
of color in San Francisco. After substantial protest the project
was dropped. However, similar issues face other cities. In New
York City, a utility has proposed to ramp up operations in a
power plant located in Manhattan's Lower East Side, a low-income
community of color, to compensate for a plant closure in midtown
Manhattan. 20
"WHEREAS
the current state of electric industry restructuring may create higher and more volatile electric rates for
residential customers, excessive payoffs to dirty power plants,
and inadequate support for cleaner energy options, despite its
potential to advance cleaner, more affordable energy"
- Unfortunately, San Diego, California, the
first city in the U.S. to experience unregulated pricing for
electricity, endured a doubling in electricity prices in the
summer partly due to high demand for power in nearby regions.
Such volatility may spread to other states, particularly in the
summer when demand for power is often greatest, unless restructuring
policies do the following, among others: offer sufficient incentives
or requirements to curb electricity consumption; encourage new,
appropriate supplies of power; and contain sufficient consumer
provisions to guard against extreme price volatility.
- Throughout the U.S., state deregulation bills
have included some form of support for renewable energy and energy
efficiency. However, given the importance of moving to a clean
energy future, it is unlikely that the current amount of support
for these cleaner energy options will lead to an ambitious transition
within our energy system. For example, the total amount of money
for renewable energy and energy efficiency in all state deregulation
programs up to September 2000 was roughly equal to $1.5 billion.
While this will contribute to clean energy development, it is
just one-fifth of the money to be raised by California utilities
alone to pay off the remainder of their nuclear power plants
($7.3 billion). The trend for funding nuclear energy more than
renewable energy is not new-since 1943 nuclear power has received
120 times more federal money than wind energy, and 33 times more
federal money than solar energy. Nuclear energy has also received
more money than both wind and solar during comparable periods
of early technological development. 21
"WHEREAS
transportation policies that promote urban sprawl, encourage greater reliance on gasoline and diesel
fuel, and neglect mass transit seriously affect low-income, minority,
and tribal communities through air pollution, increased health
problems and fewer job opportunities"
A study by the Environmental Justice Resource Center found the
following trends in Atlanta, which has the lowest population
density of any U.S. metropolitan area:22
- The average Atlantan drives more miles per
day than any other population in the world, even 50% more than
the average Los Angeleno. While 34.9% of Atlanta's black females
and 24.3% of black males use public transit, 5.2% and 4.2% of
their respective white counterparts use public transit.
- Increased driving due to Atlanta's sprawl
has contributed to four counties in the region nonattainment
of U.S. EPA standards for ground-level ozone. Two of the four
counties have the largest share of people of color. A disproportionately
large share of the childhood asthma cases-90.1%-in the Atlanta
nonattainment area occur in Fulton and DeKalb counties-two counties
with the largest share of people of color.
- Sprawl in Atlanta has separated minorities
from new jobs. The core city of Atlanta's share of regional jobs
dropped from 40% in 1980 to 29.5% in 1990, while Atlanta's northern
suburbs share of jobs rose from 40% to 52% from 1980 to 1990.
One third of the region's people of color live in the city of
Atlanta, compared to 6.3% of the region's whites.
"WHEREAS
increased energy efficiency, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, new energy technologies such as
fuel cells, and cleaner transportation fuels such as natural
gas offer significant yet virtually untapped potential to improve
the environment; supply affordable energy to meet diverse needs;
foster energy independence; create jobs in low-income, minority
and tribal communities; and lessen global warming"
- According to a study by five clean energy
organizations, a significant national commitment to renewable
energy and energy efficiency up to 2010 would cut electric sector
NOx emissions by 48%, SO2 emissions by 77%, particulates by 38%,
and CO2 emissions by 27% below 1990 levels. This would save $530
per U.S. household. 23
- The study mentioned above estimates that
energy efficiency could actually cut national energy use from
2000 to 2020.
- Installing 3,000 MW of wind power in Texas
would add just 75 cents to average family's monthly electric
bills. A national wind program that installed 10,000 MW of wind
over 10 years would create $7 billion in direct economic activity,
or 52 cents per American household per month over 10 years. 24
- Wind, solar, biomass and geothermal technologies
have all exceeded published expectations of cost reductions from
1975 to the present. Wind is the fastest growing energy source
in the world, driven by efforts in Germany, Denmark and Spain.
25
- A study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration
found that Indian nations containing 50% of the U.S. Indian population
have renewable resources (such as wind, solar and biomass) that
could be developed for less than 2 cents above average wholesale
electricity prices in their respective regions. Indian nations
can even become exporters of green power, earn revenue, and create
new jobs. These Indian nations are located throughout the U.S.
26
- Fuel cells provide power by cleanly processing
hydrogen and oxygen to produce power, heat, and water. If a fuel
cell user harnesses both power and heat, then fuel cells offer
energy with lower emissions of nitrogen oxide and other regulated
air pollutants than any large fossil fuel power plant. 27
- Natural gas buses emit 90% less particulate
matter than diesel buses. They also reduce emissions of volatile
organic compounds and nitrogen oxide, two key contributors to
smog, and of certain toxic chemicals such as benzene. 28
- Fuel cells, solar photovoltaics, and other
small clean energy technologies are relatively unobtrusive compared
to large power plants. Therefore, they are appropriate "neighborhood
technologies" for urban areas facing energy shortages, since
they do not carry negative impacts on property values and neighborhood
quality-of-life. And if they are installed and maintained by
local businesses and workers, they will contribute to new jobs
and capital investments in communities. For example, a new photovoltaic
facility in Chicago is expected to create 100 new jobs in the
city. 29