Peggy Shepard is co-founder and executive director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice and has a long history of organizing and engaging Northern Manhattan residents in community-based planning and campaigns to address environmental protection and environmental health policy locally and nationally. She is a national leader in advancing environmental policy from the perspective of environmental justice in urban communities. Previously, she was named co-chair of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council as well as chair of the New York City Environmental Justice Advisory Board, and was the first female chair of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She serves on the executive committee of the National Black Environmental Justice Network and the board of advisors of the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

Shepard has been awarded the Jane Jacobs Medal from the Rockefeller Foundation for Lifetime Achievement, the 10th Annual Heinz Award for the Environment, the William K. Reilly Award for Environmental Leadership, the Knight of the National Order of Merit from the French Republic, the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and honorary doctorates from Smith College and Lawrence University.

PND asked Shepard about the importance of organizing to build healthy communities, sustainable policies that would bring about change, the root causes of environmental racism, the benefits of science and community partnership, nonprofit climate change strategies, the legislative response to environmental justice, and the need for climate migrants from South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa to receive equal attention to the impact of climate change migration in their regions.

Philanthropy News Digest: The lack of power and representation in political and economic systems makes it difficult for communities of color to build climate resilience. What is the importance of organizing low-income people of color to build healthy communities for themselves, and how does your background inform the support communities need in advocating for the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment?

Peggy Shepard: I discovered the power of a well-organized community early on in my career. I had the opportunity to experience the communities that had resources and strong advocacy and those that did not, such as the community in which I lived. I was a Democratic district leader in West Harlem when the North River Sewage Treatment Plant was built in our neighborhood after originally being rejected by other communities that were whiter and more affluent.

Once the plant started operating, the odors and emissions were unbearable. At that time, the facility had open sewage pools, so the odor of raw sewage filled the air in West Harlem. It was so bad that residents had to keep their windows shut, even on hot days. Even motorists along the West Side Highway would roll up their windows as they drove by.

A core group of us began to organize people and develop a plan of action. We learned that the emissions coming out of its smokestacks failed to comply with federal clean air standards and that the air pollution was having an adverse impact on people’s health. We began to share this information with people throughout the community and invited them to join our campaign to force the city to address these issues. It took longer than we expected, but after we sued the New York City Department of Environmental Conservation in 1992, the city committed $55 million to retrofit the facility, and our lawsuit was settled for a $1.1 million West Harlem Environmental Benefits Fund. We decided to create West Harlem Environmental Action, aka WE ACT for Environmental Justice, to institutionalize advocacy in underserved communities of color with low income.

Our theory of change is to organize, mobilize, and train the most affected residents to engage in environmental decision making. We are a base-building organization where our members provide direction to and engage with our campaigns through membership meetings, trainings, and working groups on Climate Justice, Healthy Homes, and Worker Training. As a result, they are able to testify at legislative hearings, lead rallies, and attend lobby days to educate their elected officials. With their support, WE ACT has been successful in contributing significantly to the passage of a dozen or more bills at the New York City Council and the New York State legislature, laws that protect the health of children from toxins, and that support decarbonization and electrification. WE ACT started a 501(c)(4), WE ACT 4 Change, to engage our members and community residents in civic and political engagement through trainings, briefings, and candidate forums. Community-based planning has been a hallmark of WE ACT, and we mobilized 400 of our members and community residents to engage in developing the Northern Manhattan Climate Action Plan, which prioritized energy security and democracy. We maintain an active and well-organized membership who inform and support our work at the city, state, and federal levels.

PND: As the NAACP reports, people in Black communities in Detroit, Ohio, Chicago, Memphis, and Kansas City have died or become chronically ill because of exposure to toxins. Severe storms, like hurricanes Sandy and Isaac, have also devastated communities. What kinds of policies would work best to address these issues to bring about sustainable, cooperative, and regenerative communities?

PS: We need to revise our permitting and regulatory process. After all, a permit is permission to pollute a regulated amount of pollution into the air, water, or soil. We need equitable policies. Communities of color are disproportionately exposed to air pollution, and other toxins, which studies show have an adverse impact on their health. And when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does examine the impacts of a petrochemical facility, power plant, major highway, or other source of pollution applying for a permit to be built in these communities, they rarely take into consideration the cumulative impacts of the other sources of pollution to which the residents are already being exposed. As a result, communities of color often become sacrifice zones, dumping grounds for bus depots, waste incinerators, sewage treatment plants, landfills, oil and gas refineries, petrochemical plants, and other sources of pollution.

Environmental justice and frontline communities are the first and worst hit by the impacts of climate change. These communities are disproportionately impacted by storms and flooding. Heat is the most frequent and deadly impact of climate change, and we know from New York City’s reporting that Black New Yorkers are twice as likely to die from heat stress as other New Yorkers.

Last summer, to help illustrate the disparate impacts of climate change, we took a New York Times reporter on our “heat tour” of East Harlem, a community of color that has suffered from decades of disinvestment. The reporter found that the temperature on East 125th Street, East Harlem’s main thoroughfare, was 31 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than Central Park West, a tree-lined avenue across from Central Park that is home to some of New York’s wealthiest residents. So, we have worked to achieve an increase in the funding to the Low Income Heat Assistance Program and to advocate for its funds to be also used for cooling.

So, now that you understand the inequity these communities face, what are equitable policies, and how can they address these disparities? Let’s take energy efficiency, for example. Residents of East Harlem tend to live in older and often undermaintained buildings, which means their homes are less energy-efficient than those in more affluent areas. Fortunately, there are government programs available to help residents of communities like East Harlem weatherize their homes and make them more energy-efficient, which makes them more affordable to heat and cool.

But the current programs don’t allow these funds to be used for mold abatement or lead removal, two common issues found in older, affordable housing. And weatherization improvements cannot be made until the mold and lead issues are addressed. As a result, residents and landlords in these communities often can’t take advantage of these energy efficiency programs.

That is why we drafted the New York State Energy Efficiency, Equity, & Jobs Act, which will ensure that weatherization funding will include mold abatement and lead removal so that these communities can improve the energy efficiency of their homes. And the bill will help ensure that the jobs created by these home improvements will stay in the community, providing some economic justice and environmental justice. We also have strong community support as we have successfully influenced the passage of a new law in New York City called Gas Free NYC, which bans the use of gas in newly constructed buildings. WE ACT strongly supports the transition from fossil fuels to electrification to reduce indoor air pollution from gas stoves and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We need equitable and sound solutions.

PND: The BBC reports that people of color across the Global South may have carbon footprints that are generally very low but still suffer the most from climate change—due to a stark divide between who has caused climate change and who is suffering its effects. What are the root causes of environmental racism, and in what ways do we see it happening worldwide?

PS: It's not just in the Global South. We know that white people in the United States produce disproportionate amounts of air pollution through their consumption, while over 70 percent of Blacks and over 80 percent of Hispanics have to breathe disproportionate amounts of it because they tend to live in sacrifice zones and areas that are in non-attainment of clean air standards. The same is true for the emissions that cause climate change. The more energy-efficient white households generate more emissions per capita than communities of color living in less energy-efficient homes.

As for the root cause of environmental racism, it’s systemic racism. In American cities, government policies and practices such as redlining created isolated, segregated communities that experienced systematic disinvestment, with banks refusing to provide loans for homeownership and many types of businesses. Why? Because the people in power had no regard for the humanity or well-being of communities of color and intentionally divided robust neighborhoods of color with highways and targeted those communities for noxious and industrial facilities. This is what led to these communities becoming environmental sacrifice zones. Those racist policies have had an enduring effect that continues to plague those communities.

We have seen this play out on a global scale as well. Wealthy nations generate the most emissions and other forms of pollution through their consumption, while poorer nations are forced to deal with the impacts—from being economically exploited and stripped of raw materials to serving as dumping grounds for everything from toxic products that are banned in the United States to the garbage and polluting industries.

PND: Social justice and environmentalism can take on many forms, from intersectional feminism and theory creating intersectional environmentalism, to youth or BLM-led movements creating environmental justice platforms, to Indigenous ecological and economic justice and community activism. What approaches should organizations engage in to bring more awareness to their causes and the overarching goals of mitigating the climate crisis and stamping out environmental racism?

PS: Environmental justice is a civil rights analysis of environmental decision making. WE ACT has embraced and will always promote the National Environmental Justice Movement and the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice, which I helped develop and ratify at the first People of Color Environmental Justice Summit in 1991. I am committed to expanding the capacity and resources of that movement, which was the first to confront me with the sad but energizing notion that my community and I were not alone, that this form of racism was rampant throughout the country and the world, and that we were called to take action, to speak for ourselves, and to be the change we need.

WE ACT’s theory of change involves organizing the most affected community residents and building a base of support through coalitions, networks, and strategic partnerships. Our methods are community-based research, education, training, organizing, litigation, advocacy, and policy. Over the years, our partners have included academics, housing groups, law schools, national green groups, government agencies, public health departments, and labor. We have developed an Environmental Health and Justice Leadership Training Program (EHJLT) to educate and engage members of the community as well as the elected officials that represent them. An organized community pressures those in power to take action, engage with the advocates, and develop policies and practices that equitably address the issue. That is essential for the final step, which is to advocate for and effectively influence the changes we seek.

PND: Studies show that more attention and funding are needed to respond effectively to egregious health disparities by race, ethnicity, and economic class nationwide. What would benefit scientists and communities partnering in environmental health research?

PS: WE ACT has worked since the late ’90s with two research centers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Our partnership has benefitted the research process and data crucial to policy success, and WE ACT translated that research into policies that protect the environmental public health of New York communities. As the co-director of the Community Outreach and Engagement Core of the NIEHS Center For Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan, WE ACT works with center researchers to advise on the research process, questions, and dissemination, and coordination with community residents and organizations. Their data on the diesel impacts on maternal and children’s health helped us achieve cleaner hybrid and electric buses that are housed in uptown neighborhoods. Our work is to translate the research into policy and community education. It has been a mutually beneficial partnership that has enhanced our evidence-based campaigns and contributed to a dozen city and state legislative bills passed into law regarding toxins in consumer and children’s products, an asthma-free homes bill, and several lead poisoning prevention laws.

The lack of scientific literacy and data is a challenge that has held many communities back from engaging in environmental policy that impacts their neighborhoods and lives. This community-academic partnership has produced a trove of data that was collected in West Harlem and the South Bronx that has improved community understanding of the environmental exposures that impact their health and advanced policy and legislation that improves our health and well-being.

PND: Climate Justice Alliance states that "foundations give a tiny fraction—just 1.3 percent—of their U.S. climate dollars to support environmental justice organizations." Those organizations are led primarily by Indigenous Peoples and Black, Latinx, Asian American/Pacific Islander, and poor white communities, who share legacies of social justice organizing and power building at the intersection of racial justice and climate justice. How can organizations strategize to receive more of those dollars earmarked for climate action?

PS: Environmental justice groups have been addressing the impacts of climate change for many years. When WE ACT hosted the nation’s first Climate Justice conference at Fordham Law School in New York City in 2009, we brought national environmental groups, policy makers, and frontline communities together to address the issues of climate and the economy, public health, and the environment. Historically, environmental justice groups have worked together in regional and identity networks to share knowledge, resources, and presence. At one time, those dozen or so networks raised funding, regranted to their affiliates, and mobilized the voices and presence of the most affected community residents in protests and testimony to the toxic exposures and conditions in their communities.

Then there was a drought of support for the networks, and many closed their doors, but that did not dampen the hubs of activism that had been developed and nurtured. Finally, due to the evolving public discourse on Black Lives Matter and social justice, the growing awareness of the changing demographics of America, and the disproportionate number of deaths from COVID of Black residents who live in air polluted communities, there has developed an escalating interest in and consideration of conditions in communities that are frontline to pollution. There is also a realization that we need diverse residents educating and influencing their elected officials to support strong climate legislation, which surveys indicate that people of color poll highest on concern about the environment and climate change. All of us are needed to vote for and support the transformational transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy and to address the 30 million households nationally that are energy insecure. How do we decarbonize in a way that is equitable for all communities? How do we infuse equity and justice into all government policies and into our policymaking considerations? I believe that philanthropy and donors are asking those questions and realize that solutions also come from the most affected communities. They are ready to take the opportunity they take with the national green groups and see what the grassroots organizations have to say, hear their stories, see their reality, and understand that we cannot have an effective transition that lifts all boats without investing in the most affected communities and their perspective on addressing the climate crisis and its impacts on communities.

Climate justice groups are developing new formations such as networks, coalitions, and climate platforms that meet with other platforms to seek alignment, resources, and discourse on the way forward to decarbonize equitably. Some of these coalitions are diverse and include national green groups that have coalesced with environmental justice groups on certain climate and justice initiatives. They are fundraising together around key outcomes. More groups are beginning to create their own opportunities to meet and outreach to donors and foundations that are newly interested in supporting their leadership in impacted communities. There are a dozen new intermediaries that have formed to provide capacity-building grants to base-building groups. They are receiving donor and foundation funds to regrant to small grassroots organizations doing this climate work. Given the opportunities, these groups are stepping up to state their needs, tell their stories, and organize their communities for new policies that will distribute needed investments like the Biden administration’s Justice40 initiative. There are collaborations between groups where they come together and raise funding to achieve specific initiatives or policies.

PND: Studies have revealed the potential for higher COVID-19 infection and mortality rates in areas with higher air pollution levels, which can be a factor in higher death rates for BIPOC communities. What approach would you use to alert those at the federal, state, and local levels that environmental justice should be integrated into public health responses?

PS: The fact that COVID-19 infection and mortality rates have been higher in communities with the highest level of air pollution, which are communities of color, was no surprise to us. Residents of these communities are exposed to so much more air pollution throughout their lives, resulting in what became known as “underlying conditions” that make them more susceptible to adverse COVID-19 outcomes. By early April 2020, our staff was already talking to any journalists who would listen, explaining the connection between environmental racism and vulnerability to the pandemic.

The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color helped raise awareness of the impacts of environmental racism, and we have since leveraged that awareness to advance legislation to address it. For example, we are currently advocating for New York State legislation to address the cumulative impacts of air pollution on communities of color, which will make it more difficult to put sources of pollution in these communities.

We have also advocated for decades that state departments of health should be engaged in the permitting process to ensure that the negative health impacts of environmental exposures are better considered when decisions are made by regulatory agencies to grant permits for new facilities or to renew permits for facilities that are regularly out of compliance and exceed emission standards. Unfortunately, we have not made that happen yet, but we continue to promote that perspective.

PND: We know that large-scale human migration due to resource scarcity, increased frequency of extreme weather events, and other factors, particularly in developing countries, is already happening, yet are not receiving the same attention as the refugee crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine. What would need to occur for climate migrants from places like South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa to be met with the same kind of reception?

PS: That’s a great question. The immediacy of the atrocities we are seeing in Ukraine has rightfully sparked outrage. Every night we watch the unfolding horrors and impacts of war on women, children, and families. Yet there has been an 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi River in Louisiana that has been known as Cancer Alley for more than 30 years, where entire families over time are being decimated by cancers. Hundreds of petrochemical plants have been built in communities of color, where some towns are experiencing cancer rates 50 times the national average. Where is the outrage there? We talk a lot currently about equity. Yet there is no equity in what the media decides to reveal and the stories it decides to highlight. We have become addicted to sensationalism from the media. Unless a boat full of migrants capsizes and sinks with a great loss of life, there is little coverage of what they are trying to escape. We have decided to live with people starving, losing their homes and livelihoods. That has become an everyday occurrence that we have become used to, just as we are becoming used to monthly mass shootings that barely make the news anymore.

This country has returned to the Paris Accord, a binding treaty on climate change. Through this accord, we must develop strong international climate policies and agreements that address the disparate impacts of climate change on island states due to sea level rise and in countries experiencing starvation due to drought, another impact of climate change. The more affluent countries like the United States emit significantly more greenhouse gases than developing countries that are experiencing serious extreme weather events that propel migration. I have also advised our climate activists here in the U.S. that our climate policies should address climate migration as more migrants seek refuge here in our country. We need to have a policy that addresses this evolving and escalating cycle of migration due to climate change.

—Lauren Brathwaite

(Photo credit: Allie Holloway)