Poll Shows African Americans Support Clean Power Plan and Climate Action, But Not Exxon-Funded National Black Chamber of Commerce

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One tactic of the fossil fuel industryโ€™s attack on the proposed Clean Power Plan is to say it unfairly targets minority communities when in fact the opposite is true. Industry-funded groups like the National Black Chamber of Commerce are among the groups making theseย claims.

In the past National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) president Harry Alford dismissed climate change by quoting Stevie Wonder, saying, โ€œWhen you believe in things you don’t understand; you suffer. Superstition ain’t theย way.โ€

And while Alford may equate science to superstition, there is no doubt that he understands one thing very well โ€“ collecting oil industry money. The NBCC has received over $1 million from ExxonMobilย alone.

A new poll released by the Natural Resources Defense Council reports the reality that 83% of African Americans support the Clean Power Plan. And 67% of African Americans say that action should be taken to reduce the threat of globalย warming.

Which shouldnโ€™t be that surprising as African Americans are more likely to feel the impacts of environmental pollution and risk than other communities inย America.

The 2012 report โ€œCoal Blooded: Putting Profits Before Peopleโ€ revealed that of the 6 million people living in proximity to coal-fired power plants, 39% were people of color and that seventy-eight percent of African Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired powerย plant.

And research shows African Americans are nearly three times as likely as whites to be hospitalized or killed byย asthma.

In addition to the findings of the new NRDC poll, leaders of major black churches recently presented over 10,000 pastorsโ€™ signatures to Congressional Black Caucus members in support of President Obamaโ€™s Clean Powerย Plan.

As reported by the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, Rev. Jesse Bottoms, vice president of the National Baptist Convention, explained what was driving thisย effort.

โ€œEnvironmental concerns are not abstractions for African Americans,โ€ Bottoms said. โ€œThey are real, and they affect us in very real ways, particularly our children andย seniors.โ€

However, despite the polling and the efforts of the black church leadership, one critical group is not leading on the issue โ€” the politicians representing many of theseย communities.

In September, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, an ad appeared in a Spanish-language newspaper targeting five Latino and African American lawmakers posing the question, โ€œWould these politicians be willing to confront the petroleum industry and fight for Latinoย families?โ€

Of course, the reality is that the five politicians who were targeted have received at least $260,000 combined from oil companies. That might explain statements like the one from Assemblyman Jim Cooper saying that solar panels and electric vehicles โ€œare great, but they don’t come to ourย neighborhoods.โ€

As far as the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), they do not even list climate change as an issue on their Issues page. The CBC is notorious for its ability to raise funds from corporations, including polluters in the fossil fuelย industry.

A 2010 article in the New York Times about the CBC noted that โ€œlobbyists and executives from coal, nuclear and power giants like Peabody Energy and Entergy helped draft a report in the caucusโ€™s nameโ€ and that a โ€œpolicy document issued by the Black Caucus Institute last year asserted that the financial impact of climate change legislation should be weighed before it is passed, a major industryย stand.โ€

A 2014 article in Grist ran with the headline, โ€œThis ambassador for black politicians argues that solar drags down African Americans.โ€ This is another favored industry talking point that claims that rooftop solar will result in higher electricity costs for low-income communities and unfairly target Africanย Americans.ย 

Mark Davis, CEO of minority-owned WDC Solar, was part of the group discussing the new NRDC poll results and has a very different view on the opportunity solar represents for low-incomeย communities.

โ€œI am a Green For All Climate Champion, and renewable energy and energy efficiency are two pillars of our plan for low-income communities to lower the cost of energy, create green jobs for low-income residents, and improve the environment,โ€ Davis said. โ€œThe Clean Power Plan can accelerate an increase weโ€™ve already seen in African American participation in clean energy and can enhance economic empowerment in low-incomeย communities.โ€

Image credit: Energyย Collective

The new NRDC poll reports that 87% of African Americans support using more solar over coal or nuclearย power.

So while it is clear that African Americans support the Clean Power Plan, solar power, and acting on climate change, it remains to be seen if the politicians representing those communities will do their jobs and go with the will of the people over the will ofย polluters.

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Justin Mikulka is a research fellow at New Consensus. Prior to joining New Consensus in October 2021, Justin reported for DeSmog, where he began in 2014. Justin has a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University.

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