The effects of climate change reach each and every one of our lives. However, the impact of environmental issues on the day-to-day reality of some groups in our population runs much greater and deeper than that of others.

There is an intersection between race, economic status, and impact of environmental injustice. Your zip code should not drastically drive your relationship with the natural world around you. 

The idea of environmental justice promotes a lack of satisfaction until every person, regardless of race, class, gender, nationality, etc., has the right to a safe and clean environment. It is the intersection of social justice and environmental health.

Accessibility to a clean environment should be a basic human right. And yet, that right is not currently being granted to everyone. In Connecticut, across the United States and across the globe, marginalized communities are faced with the brunt of climate injustices, and are impacted disproportionately with the reality of natural disasters at rates grossly higher than those of other communities around them. 

​Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are among those disproportionately affected by pollution from various sources, such as power plants, private transportation, and heavy industrial activity.

AIR POLLUTION & Emissions

• The American Lung Association ranked the Hartford area the second worst in the Northeast (28th in the country) for Ozone pollution, and also found that Fairfield county has the worst Ozone on the East Coast. 45% of the state's poorest zip codes are within these regions. 
• When taking a look at statewide emissions, the following constitute the top 3 sources: transportation (42 percent), residential heating with fossil fuels (21 percent), and commercial building heating with fossil fuels (13 percent). 
• In 2021, Connecticut’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions were 34.7 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
• Here, we can see in real time the effect of climate change on historically disadvantaged groups within our population. 

NATURAL DISASTERS

• According to a 2021 EPA study, Black individuals are 40% more likely to live in areas with the highest projected increase in mortality rates due to extreme temperatures and sea level rise caused by climate change. Native Americans are 48% more likely to live in areas where the highest percentage of land is expected to be inundated due to sea level rise. 
• Across the country, communities are suffering at the hands of natural disasters tipped off by the rising effects of climate change. As global surface temperatures rise, sensitive environments find themselves more susceptible to disasters such as wildfires and droughts. With increased evaporations from water and soil on the surface, droughts are becoming not only more frequent, but are lasting longer than decades prior. The combination of heat and dry conditions also paves the way for optimal wildfire conditions in numerous parts of the country.
• In the inverse, increases in precipitation yield conditions for a number of other natural disasters. Rising sea levels increase the likelihood of floods, landslides and even tsunamis. ​

BROWNFIELDS

Brownfields are areas of land that have been abandoned due to pollution and toxic waste that has leached into the ground. 

​In the 1940s and '50s, near Niagara Falls in New York, a company buried drums containing 21,000 tons of hazardous chemicals into an abandoned excavation site known as Love Canal. These drums started to leak, and as groundwater levels rose, the water became contaminated. In the late 1970s, after complaints from households near the site, the EPA and New York State began investigating the contaminants. This resulted in President Carter establishing the Love Canal Emergency Declaration Area (EDA) in 1980. Of 1,050 families living near Love Canal, 950 were evacuated, and the evacuated homes were destroyed.

The severity of the site's consequences led to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) being passed in 1980. This act is also known as Superfund due to the funds that have been set aside for site cleanup and regulation enforcement. Hazardous waste sites that have been officially recognized by the EPA are known as Superfund sites.
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Today, BIPOC make up over half of the population surrounding brownfields and Superfund sites.

Flooding

• Flooding is a major climate issue in the state, resulting primarily from the frequency of severe storms and a failure of proper drainage following them. 
  
• This issue has gotten so severe that some regions of the state have enacted flood relief fund programs through the comptroller’s office. These programs have provided financial relief to hundreds of people from damage from flooding, especially in areas like Hartford’s North End who experience these disasters with disproportionate frequency. However, 2024 saw a loss of federal funding and a waning in the ability for these programs to provide community relief. 
  
• These floods are part of the striking 90+% of natural disasters which are water-related. 
  

WASTE

• Mount Trashmore is a local landmark, but what does a mountain of garbage off I-91 in Hartford really symbolize? Even in Connecticut, we see the reality of throwing environmentally distressing conditions at low-income communities, communities that historically have proven less likely to resist or push back against these conditions. Having a pile of trash in your backyard not only leads to polluted water and soil, but also leaves a lingering stench that keeps people from wanting to mill about their own community. Higher income populations almost never see these issues around their neighborhoods.
  
• Mount Trashmore served as home to 6 million tons of garbage before being converted to a “recreation site.”

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Educate

Our briefing papers provide foundational knowledge on a number of environmental topics, including environmental justice. CTLCV also recommends that our members conduct their own research on the history of environmental racism and disproportionality in the United States. Knowledge makes us better advocates.​

Briefing Papers

Advocate

You can contact your legislators about environmental concerns and stay engaged in the legislative session. Resources, like CTLCV's Legislative Watchlist, help inform CT citizens of legislation currently before the state government that could impact environmental justice efforts.
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Watchlist on CTLCV.ORG

Vote

Voting is essential for the advancement of environmental justice. Electing leaders who prioritize clean air, water, and equity is the most powerful way to shape policies that protect our vulnerable communities. 



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Voting Rights info

HISTORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM IN CT

Zoning plans and regulations reflect the deeply rooted nature of environmental racism across the state. In attempts to “optimize property value,” exclusionary zoning practices serve as the functional equivalent of modern segregation. As a result, more advantageous populations maintain more stable access to public transportation, affordable housing, and public education systems. What does this have to do with the environment? 

Segregative zoning and environmental protection go hand-in-hand. The emergence of mainstream zoning practices saw to the delegation of land use (particularly for schools and business development) with the intent to exclude minority populations from communities with potential for upward mobility.

Though the Fair Housing Act in 1968 banned discriminatory practices in mortgages and real estate, the effects of redlining and housing injustice are still seen today. In many areas, especially in cities, residential areas are still racially segregated, and BIPOC communities still tend to be nearer to areas of high environmental risk due to the established communities there and lower housing costs.

“Asthma is an environmental justice issue. Because of Connecticut’s history of red-lining, exclusionary zoning, and other racially-motivated policies, traffic and industrial pollution is concentrated in communities of color. This leads to asthma hospitalization rates that are 2 to 3 times higher among Black and Latinos in Connecticut and asthma death rates that are 8 times higher among Black children when compared to white children. We must adopt policies that improve health for all, address climate change and also reduce health disparities. We must set specific statewide pollution reduction targets and allow our state environmental agency to deny permits for new pollution sources in overburdened communities.”

​- Mark Mitchell MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Climate Change, Energy, and Environmental Health Equity at George Mason University and Co-chair of the Connecticut Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Council

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN CONNECTICUT

1993: DEEP adopts Environmental Equity Policy: This yielded protections for the framework of future laws surrounding the notion that communities should have equal access to environmental benefits with no variance based on racial composition or socio-economic status. This was the first major attempt in the state at protecting historically disadvantageous populations from suffering disproportionate consequences to environmental pollution.
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2020 and 2023 Environmental Justice Law Expansions (including the following): 

• Mandated posting of a sign printed in all languages spoken by at least 15 percent of the population residing within a one - half mile radius of an affecting facility during the public participation process; notices must also be posted electronically

• Required a good faith effort to provide accurate and complete information about the proposed facility or proposed expansion

CT Legislation Promoting EJ: 
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 22a-201d. Zero-emission School Buses and Alternative Fuel School Buses: grant program for the purchase or lease of zero-emission school buses.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 8-240a. Housing Environmental Improvement Revolving Loan and Grant Fund: Pilot program for retrofitting projects for multifamily residences located in environmental justice communities or alliance districts. Goals include: improving their energy efficiency, remediating health and safety concerns and increasing energy efficiency.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 22a-246c. Beverage Container Recycling Program Account and Program.

Organizations Supporting EJ:
Hartford Environmental Justice Network (HEJN): Formed in response to concerns about a fossil-fueled power plant in South Hartford 
Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice (CCEJ): Formed by Mark Mitchell, Hartford's former Director of Health, in 1997, in advancement of efforts to prevent toxins in local neighborhoods!