These days, environmental justice is a buzzword, a key phrase that gets thrown around in backroom meetings and political ads. But what does it really mean? Currently, environmental justice is paid a lot of lip service, but our elected leaders and the boards and commissions delay meaningful action or implement half-measures that do nothing more in the long term than maintain the status quo.
But these days, something else is happening: the communities that have always shouldered the burden of perpetual and generation-spanning environmental injustice, are not waiting passively for action.聽 We are demanding that our voices and stories are heard.
For our children and our children鈥檚 children, we are fighting for a future where all Coloradans have clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, and a thriving planet to call home. As a Denver native and mother, I fight to make sure my future grandchildren enjoy the same beauty of Colorado that I experienced as a child.
We are almost at the end of Colorado鈥檚 legislative session, so why did the legislators push the ozone bill — — until the very end? What games are they playing and do they realize that is our lives at stake?
Leaders in the General Assembly and in Gov. Jared Polis’ administration will have had multiple opportunities to demonstrate their real and tangible commitment to climate equity action and environmental justice. The NAACP is working closely with Rep. Jennifer Bacon on her bill to reduce ozone emissions by making it easier for Coloradans to use public transportation during 鈥渙zone seasons,鈥� which now occur for longer periods of time throughout the year, especially during the hottest summer months. This bill has received support in both the House and the Senate, but will need the governor鈥檚 signature to become law.
Reducing ozone emissions is one of the most critically important things that we can do to combat environmental injustice in marginalized communities in Colorado. The transportation sector is the highest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the state, with cars and trucks spewing harmful chemicals into the air almost constantly.
As a result of generations of housing discrimination and environmental racism, Black, Brown, and Indigenous people are far more likely than other Coloradans to live near busy highways, shipping warehouses, and railyards. This is disastrous for lower-wealth citizens. That means more truck traffic, more pollution, and more health challenges; rates of premature death, childhood asthma, and other respiratory diseases and heart conditions disproportionately impact our communities.
This is why, in addition to our efforts at the legislature, we are also closely following upcoming votes at the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC). Hopefully, the AQCC will, after a series of needless delays, make a decision on the (ACT) in the right direction. Beginning in the year 2027 and running through 2035, the ACT rule would require manufacturers of trucks, buses, and vans to ensure that a certain percentage of their new sales are zero-emission vehicles. It is a good step forward.
The NAACP is the nation鈥檚 oldest, largest, and most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization. It has been working to fight racism in all its forms since 1909. In my role as the president of the Rocky Mountain NAACP, I鈥檝e worked with my colleagues and the communities that we represent to establish a Sustainable and Equitable Environments Program (SEEP).
SEEP will help us do more to advocate for climate-focused legislation in the state house, that not only accelerates Colorado鈥檚 progress towards significantly reduced carbon emissions but also prioritizes the needs of the folks who have suffered and are suffering as a result of pollution, climate change, and environmental racism.
This is an evolution of the work that the NAACP has done for over a century, and we are proud to partner with other Colorado organizations like Green Latinos, Womxn from the Mountain, Protegete, Mi Familia Vota, Colorado Conservation, and WRA because we know that we are most powerful when we work together. The old African proverb, 鈥渋t takes a village,鈥� is an adage that we must sustain if we plan to really save our planet.
From transportation to building electrification, Rocky Mountain NAACP and our many partners and allies are boldly, confidently leading the way in Colorado, making sure that our communities have the information they need to make empowered choices and that their voices are amplified and respected.
There is truly no better way for Colorado to honor necessary environmental justice strides than to do more than make pretty-sounding statements online and in the press. Let抖阴ap work together to take action, make progress and unite around a future where everyone has the chance to thrive.
As we now say at NAACP, 鈥渓et抖阴ap keep thriving!鈥�
Portia Prescott is the president of the NAACP CO-WY-MT State Conference. She has been an advocate and community organizer, as well as a small business owner, for more than 30 years in the interior west.
