Climate Policy, Environmental Justice and Local Air Pollution

CEPP Executive Director David Wooley published the report Climate Policy, Environmental Justice and Local Air Pollution in the Brookings Institution. Oct. 20, 2020

Left unmitigated, climate change will have increasingly large negative impacts throughout the U.S. economy. Climate change has become a defining economic issue and is also, fundamentally, a social justice issue. At this very moment, thousands of low-income communities and communities of color throughout the United States are exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution. The current regulatory framework designed to safeguard air quality often fails to adequately address these local air pollution problems.

A changing climate will disproportionately impact low-income communities and communities of color. Investments in climate change mitigation and adaptation could reduce – or increase – social and environmental inequalities.  This paper explores linkages between U.S. climate policy, environmental justice (EJ), and local air pollution control. Recent state and federal policy proposals place EJ concerns at the heart of the climate policy agenda. To gain insight into how this policy imperative could be implemented, we draw lessons from recent legislative and regulatory experiences in California. In 2006, California began a path-breaking experiment to incorporate EJ concerns into an ambitious climate change mitigation agenda. We review this experience to date, noting some early pitfalls and subsequent course corrections. 

Concerns about air pollution hotspots and the marginalization of disadvantaged communities are not unique to California. These EJ concerns span all 50 states and the California experience could guide policy innovation in other states and at the federal level. In the context of federal policy, there are several potential avenues to address systemic pollution exposure burdens in marginalized communities.  This is the unfinished business of the Clean Air Act.  A more effective and inclusive response to air pollution hotspots in  disadvantaged communities will be politically important for any serious federal or state climate policy initiative.