Environmental Justice: How social determinants affect health disparities by Congresswoman Donna M. Christensen

7/28/2019 Environmental Justice: How social determinants affect health disparities by Congresswoman Donna M. Christensen

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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: HOW SOCIALDETERMINANTS AFFECT HEALTHDISPARITIES.

PLACE MATTERS:ZEROING IN ONPOVERTY

CongresswomanDonna M. Christensen

April 4, 2013


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THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS


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WHERE POVERTY DEFINES THE PLACE

COUNTLESS SCIENTIFIC STUDIES HAVECONSISTENTY SHOWED A DIRECT

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POVERTY AND

POOR HEALTH AND PREMATURE DEATHINDEPENDENT OF ANY OTHER FACTORS

OR INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORS;

AND POOR SCHOOLS, POLLUTINGINDUSTRIES, SUBSTANDARD HOUSING,

HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT AND OTHER

DISPARITIES


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U.S. POVERTY RATE BY RACEPercent

Overall U.S.

Poverty Rate

Data: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2011


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As Poverty Rates Increase, Health

Access Decreases:

During 2009, 3.7 additional people fell into

poverty.

The number of people without health

insurance rose by 4.3 million in 2009, to a

total of 50.7 million, while the percentage of

people who are uninsured rose from 15.4percent to 16.7 percent.

NOTE: These are the largest single-year

increases on record in data going back to 1987.


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GAPS AND CHANGES IN HOUSEHOLD

WEALTH BY RACEIn dollars per year


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PLACE MATTERS: ENSURING OPPORTUNITIES

FOR GOOD HEALTH FOR ALL JCPEC, SEPTEMBER 1012

San Joaquin Valley, California:

Focusing on ramifications ofenvironmental degradation

Lowest life expectancy in zip codes with

lowest income and largest percentage of

Hispanic residents. Premature deaths 2X

that of highest income zip codes


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New Orleans:

Life expectancy in the poorest zip code is25.5 years lower than life expectancy in

zip code with the lowest amount of

poverty. African Americans live

disproportionately in those areas


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Cook County, Illinois:Looking at access to healthy foods

At least 20% of residents living in poverty for 5decades

Income over 53,000 life expectancy 14 yearslongerthan those with under 25,000

With least access to chain supermarkets haveaverage life expectancy 11 years shorterthan

those who do. Premature death for African Americans nearly

2.5X that of White residents


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CBC ANTI-POVERTY INITIATIVES

111th and 112th Congress

Themed: Creating Pathways Out Of Poverty

H. Con. Res.198 - Expressing the sense of

Congress that poverty should be cut in half in10 years.

112th

Congress H.R. 3300Half in Ten Act of 2011 (Lee)

Establishment of the Out Of Poverty Caucus

Lee/McDermott)


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CBC ANTI-POVERTY INITIATIVES

CBC Poverty and the Economy Task

Force

Spurred formation of a Dem CaucusAnti-Poverty Task Force

The 10/20/30 initiative (Clyburn) First applied in ARRA remains a priority for

all funds and programs


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10/20/30

474 counties where 20 percent or more of thepopulation has been living below the poverty line for the

last 30 years. They lack access to quality schools,

affordable quality health care and adequate job

opportunities. In 2009, these counties were represented by 43

Democrats and 84 Republicans in the Congress.

Democrats represented 149 of them, with a total

population of8.8 million; Republicans 311, with a total population of8.3 million;

and

14, with a total population of5. 3 million, were split

between Republicans and Democrats.


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CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUSALTERNATIVE BUDGET FY 2014

PRO-GROWTH. PRO-PEOPLE.

PRO-AMERICA.


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CBC 2014 BUDGET WOULD HAVE:

Ended the Sequester

Protected and strengthened Social Security,

Medicare, Medicaid, all safety net programs

Invested in health, education, housing,

economic development, job creation, and

applied the 10/20/30 formula

Created public health option

AND reduced the deficit


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OF THE SEQUESTER

IMPACT


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CDC PROGRAMS PROMOTING

HEALTH, PREVENTING DISEASE

SEQUESTRATION WOULD RESULT IN 25,000 FEWER BREAST AND CERVICAL

CANCER SCREENINGS FOR LOW - INCOME, HIGH - RISK WOMEN


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COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS424,000 FEWER HIV TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED BY HEALTH DEPARTMENTS


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EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND

EDUCATIONUNDER SEQUESTRATION, ROUGHLY 70,000 CHILDREN NATIONWIDE WOULD LOSE

ACCESS TO HEAD START, THEREBY LOSING COMPREHENSIVE EARLY CHILDHOODSERVICES


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SEQUESTRATION WOULD REDUCE WIC FUNDING BY $353 MILLION,RESULTING IN OVER 600,000 LOW INCOME, NUTRITIONALLY AT RISK,

PREGNANT, POSTPARTUM AND BREASTFEEDING WOMEN, INFANTS, AND

CHILDREN LOSING SERVICES

SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITIONPROGRAMS FOR WOMEN, INFANTS,

AND CHILDREN


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCYSequestration would delay environmental clean up

efforts and hamper enforcement of environmentallaws.

More than nine million people are estimated to live inneighborhoods with commercial hazardous waste facilities,

including more than 5.1 million people of color.

Over half of residents (56%) of communities with commercialhazardous waste facilities are people of color. AfricanAmericans, Hispanics/Latinos and Asians/Pacific Islanders 1.7,2.3, and 1.8 times more likely than whites to live in these

neighborhoods, respectively.

More than two - thirds of residents of neighborhoods withclustered facilities are people of color.


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EJ RELATED IMPACTS OF SEQUESTRATION:

Eliminate or significantly reduce air quality datasystems. Americans that have or care for individualswith respiratory and cardiac health issues rely on

AIRNow for information about when to take action toavoid health impacts from air pollution.

EPA would eliminate upgrades for the EmissionsInventory and Air Quality Systemsthe Agencywould only fund operations for thesesystems. Without this monitoring data, futureimprovements in air quality would be hampered ordelayed. (SA)


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EJ IMPACTS OF SEQUESTRATION

Limit EPAs capacity to identify toxic airemissions, water discharges, and other sourcesof pollution that directly affect public health andthe environment. (SA)

Hinder tribal governments ability to ensureclean air and clean and safe waterby cutting EPAtribal funding. This funding supports environmentalprotection for 566 tribes on 70 million acres of triballands. (SA)

Reducing funding to understand the effect ofnanomaterials on human health and dispose ofrare earth minerals used in electronic, therebylimiting innovation and manufacturing opportunities

with these materials in the US. (SA)


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EJ RELATED IMPACTS OF SEQUESTRATION

Sequestration cuts to State Revolving Funds(SRFs) would deprive communities fromaccess to funding to build or repair decayingwater and wastewater infrastructure that

provides safe drinking water and treatssewage.[1] (SA)

Eliminate more than 100 water qualityprojects and restoration projects through cuts

to the Water Program State ImplementationGrants. Examples of projects include:

[1] Seehttp://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/cwsrf/uploa

d/CWSRF-FY12allot.pdffor state-by-stateim acts.
http://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/cwsrf/upload/CWSRF-FY12allot.pdfhttp://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/cwsrf/upload/CWSRF-FY12allot.pdfhttp://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/cwsrf/upload/CWSRF-FY12allot.pdfhttp://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/cwsrf/upload/CWSRF-FY12allot.pdfhttp://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/cwsrf/upload/CWSRF-FY12allot.pdfhttp://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/cwsrf/upload/CWSRF-FY12allot.pdf


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EJ RELATED IMPACTS OF SEQUESTRATION

Discontinue funding for two joint EPA/NIH Centers ofExcellence for Childrens Health Research. Thesecenters are providing a greater understanding of howthe environment impacts todays most pressing

childrens health challenges, including asthma,autism, attention deficit disorder, neurodevelopmentaldeficits, childhood leukemia, diabetes, andobesity. Eliminating funding would negatively impact

graduate students and faculty who would have to lookfor new funding to keep their research going andultimately slow down the pace of scientificresearch in these important public health areas.(SA)


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FROM E&C COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT PLAN:

The Committee will continue to monitorinternational negotiations on efforts to controlgreenhouse gas emissions in connection withconcerns about global climate change. Inaddition, the Committee will examine the EPAsefforts to regulate domestic greenhouse gasemissions under the Clean Air Act based on its

endangerment finding. The Committee willconsider whether such agreements andregulatory efforts are scientifically wellgrounded.


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FROM E&C COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT PLAN

The Committee will continue to reviewsignificant rulemakings under the Clean Air

Act and the potential economic and job

impacts of those rulemakings on the energy,manufacturing and construction industriesand other critical sectors of the U.S.economy, as well as any public health and

environmental benefits of the regulations.The Committees review will includeoversight of the Environmental ProtectionAgencys (EPA) decisions, strategies andactions


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2014 BUDGET BATTLES

Sequester Affordable Care Act

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

SNAP, WIC, other safety net programs Education

Infrastructure

Jobs

Innovation/research Regulation pollution, banks, corporations


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Its the people of color who are

disproportionately affected by bad food, bad air,and bad water. People of color are also

disproportionately unable to escape the negativeconsequences of global warming. Look at

Hurricane Katrina. People of color need equalprotection from the worst environmentaldisasters and equal access to the best

environmental technologies. We should bespeaking out ourselves on these issues, because

we are going to be hit first and hardest byeverything negative, and we will benefit last and

least from everything positive unlesseverybody works to solve this problem.

-- Van Jones


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PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

THIS IS OUR MOMENT


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President Barack Obama

30


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SPRING HEALTH BRAINTRUST

HEALTH EQUITY, HEALTH CARE QUALITY

AND THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT: THENEXT CHAPTER

April 22, 23, 2013RITZ CARLTON, DC

www.nmqf.org

PLEASE J OIN US


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SUGAR BAY HOTEL

ST. THOMAS US VIRGIN ISLANDS

November 13-16, 2013

www.buildinghealthycommunties2013.com

AND

THE SEVENTH NATIONAL HEALTH

DISPARITIES CONFERENCE


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CONGRESSWOMANDONNA M. CHRISTENSEN

www.donnachristensen.house.gov

THANK YOU

Documents

Environmental Justice: How social determinants affect health disparities by Congresswoman Donna M. Christensen