By: Katie Brown
What responsibility do we have to the places we visit—just 'passing through'? Places that are not our homes, that we have no roots in or deep connection to, where we are just travelers, tourists. While not typically considered a peak travel month, February provides opportunities to travel for winter sports, Valentine’s Day and family gatherings – oftentimes in our personal cars. During a month when we lift up Black history and celebrate love, what does it mean for us to be driving gas-powered, pollution emitting cars through neighborhoods not our own, especially those facing discriminatory zoning, forced to breathe in a disproportionate amount of our nations air pollution?
The transportation sector is the largest source of direct greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, making up nearly 30% of all U.S global warming emissions. Motor vehicles in particular are the leading sources of cancer-causing air pollution, which is especially dangerous for children, elderly people, and people living with lung disease. Approximately 72 million Americans live near major trucking routes, putting them at risk for the many health impacts of both chronic and acute exposure to toxic levels of air pollution. Exposure to pollution from vehicles is associated with respiratory diseases, cancer, cognitive function problems, preterm birth, blood pressure and hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and lung cancer. What’s more, residents in ‘fenceline’ communities who are exposed to high levels of air pollution are disproportionately likely to be people of color or come from low-income households.
We are instructed to love our neighbor, to always consider the needs of our brothers and sisters, particularly the most vulnerable. Our faith calls us to responsibly steward the resources of the earth God created, to not take more than we need, and to be mindful of those who come after us. This responsibility towards the other does not only apply to our direct neighbors, the people we see and interact with daily; but for people of faith, our neighbor is all life created by God.
When I drive my gas-powered car through fenceline communities forced to breathe in the air pollution I leave behind, am I really loving my neighbor?
Individual consumer choice does matter, and when it comes time for my family to purchase a new or used car (we currently drive a car passed down from my grandmother) it will be electric, out of love for our neighbor and earth. But we must not resort to blaming the individual alone, we must look critically at the system and structures that shape the individual. Why is it that low-income communities and communities of color are located near major trucking routes in the first place? What role does the oil and gas industry play in influencing the price and availability of the cars on the market? How do federal pollution and fuel economy regulations (or lack thereof) shape the efficiency of cars that are available to us? It is important that we ask these questions and confront them honestly.
Government should exist to serve the common good. To make it easier to live a life of love and respect for our neighbor and for God’s creation, not harder. When I consider a public policy, I like to ask: is this an act of love? Is this grounded in justice?
Unfortunately, actions taken by policymakers recently have been resoundingly not acts of love. They were callous towards the injustices that marginalized communities face and unabashedly ignorant of the suffering of God’s sacred creation. When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed the endangerment finding, which served as the foundation for federal regulations of greenhouse gas emissions, it also removed foundational clean cars and trucks rules which, if left alone, would have saved US consumers over $2 trillion, eliminated 12 billion tons of climate pollution, and protected the health and wellbeing of our communities. Instead, this new path could lead to an additional 58,000 premature deaths and 38 million more asthma attacks.
As we leave the month of February, it is important to also seek out and embrace moments of love and joy – we must continue to celebrate examples of true love for neighbor and earth. For our part, The National Religious Partnership for the Environment sent Valentines to faith communities who have installed electric vehicle (EV) charging stations on their property to support their neighbors driving EVs and plug-in hybrids. It’s a way of saying: we see your commitment to creation and to community, and we support you. See our e-valentines below, and consider sharing your own #EVLoveStory with us by emailing [email protected]. How do your transportation choices reflect your faith values and embody your love for creation?
The transportation sector is the largest source of direct greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, making up nearly 30% of all U.S global warming emissions. Motor vehicles in particular are the leading sources of cancer-causing air pollution, which is especially dangerous for children, elderly people, and people living with lung disease. Approximately 72 million Americans live near major trucking routes, putting them at risk for the many health impacts of both chronic and acute exposure to toxic levels of air pollution. Exposure to pollution from vehicles is associated with respiratory diseases, cancer, cognitive function problems, preterm birth, blood pressure and hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and lung cancer. What’s more, residents in ‘fenceline’ communities who are exposed to high levels of air pollution are disproportionately likely to be people of color or come from low-income households.
We are instructed to love our neighbor, to always consider the needs of our brothers and sisters, particularly the most vulnerable. Our faith calls us to responsibly steward the resources of the earth God created, to not take more than we need, and to be mindful of those who come after us. This responsibility towards the other does not only apply to our direct neighbors, the people we see and interact with daily; but for people of faith, our neighbor is all life created by God.
When I drive my gas-powered car through fenceline communities forced to breathe in the air pollution I leave behind, am I really loving my neighbor?
Individual consumer choice does matter, and when it comes time for my family to purchase a new or used car (we currently drive a car passed down from my grandmother) it will be electric, out of love for our neighbor and earth. But we must not resort to blaming the individual alone, we must look critically at the system and structures that shape the individual. Why is it that low-income communities and communities of color are located near major trucking routes in the first place? What role does the oil and gas industry play in influencing the price and availability of the cars on the market? How do federal pollution and fuel economy regulations (or lack thereof) shape the efficiency of cars that are available to us? It is important that we ask these questions and confront them honestly.
Government should exist to serve the common good. To make it easier to live a life of love and respect for our neighbor and for God’s creation, not harder. When I consider a public policy, I like to ask: is this an act of love? Is this grounded in justice?
Unfortunately, actions taken by policymakers recently have been resoundingly not acts of love. They were callous towards the injustices that marginalized communities face and unabashedly ignorant of the suffering of God’s sacred creation. When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed the endangerment finding, which served as the foundation for federal regulations of greenhouse gas emissions, it also removed foundational clean cars and trucks rules which, if left alone, would have saved US consumers over $2 trillion, eliminated 12 billion tons of climate pollution, and protected the health and wellbeing of our communities. Instead, this new path could lead to an additional 58,000 premature deaths and 38 million more asthma attacks.
As we leave the month of February, it is important to also seek out and embrace moments of love and joy – we must continue to celebrate examples of true love for neighbor and earth. For our part, The National Religious Partnership for the Environment sent Valentines to faith communities who have installed electric vehicle (EV) charging stations on their property to support their neighbors driving EVs and plug-in hybrids. It’s a way of saying: we see your commitment to creation and to community, and we support you. See our e-valentines below, and consider sharing your own #EVLoveStory with us by emailing [email protected]. How do your transportation choices reflect your faith values and embody your love for creation?
