Resource Center

This report looks at the intersection of pollution from refining and burning fossil fuels, repiratory diseases caused or exacerbated by this pollution, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and race and racial inequality in the United States. It makes the case that the CARES Act constitutes a bailout of the dirty energy sector that spent more to prop-up the fossil fuel industry than it did on health care supplies and investments, even as this industry contributes to the adverse health outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic in communities of color. The report’s key findings also link large financial sector players like big banks, asset management companies, private equity and insurance companies to the chain of carbon and chemical emissions that have disproprotionately negative impacts on communities of color and low-income communities.            

Dystopian plots focusing on a catastrophic future caused by climate change often immobilize rather than spur action. But decades of evidence and experience from health communication shows that techniques of entertainment-education are effective at changing behaviors. But these are rarely used for climate change (a notable [and hilarious] exception).

In an effort to address political inequality and encourage greater election participation, Seattle, Washington enacted an innovative democracy voucher program to provide each registered voter four $25 vouchers each election cycle to contribute towards local candidates. A field experiment in 2017 examined the effects of outreach to underrepresented communities to encourage participation in the voucher program. The experiment found that outreach increased the use of vouchers, particularly among high-propensity voters; however, deeper organizingmay be needed to reach the voucher program’s redistributive goals.