作为我们的机构下的应变the uprising in cities across the country, I’ve been struggling to comprehend the depth of racism in America.
我明白了为什么警察暴力的这些时刻，黑体的浩劫古灵精怪，会引发火灾的是在这个国家肆虐。我也知道火种已经建设好几代，是一个比这可怕的时刻了这么多。每一个部门扮演一个角色。包括清洁能源。
It's no secret that there are grave inequities in clean energy. In the spirit of this moment, I turned the microscope on my own sector to ask, how does racism manifest in clean energy?
表现1：“我不能呼吸”
“I can’t breathe" refers to more than police violence. Black communities have been struggling to breathe for decades.
“The right to breathe isn't just related to surviving interactions with police," said Alexis Cureton, former electric vehicle fellow at网格的替代品, an organization that works to bring clean energy jobs and access to low-income communities. "It pertains to surviving and being able to breathe clean air."
Dozens of studies document the racial disparity in environmental impacts, and I've linked to a number of those below. To name a few, consider that in America black people:
- Are on average exposed to1.54 times more hazardous pollution较白的人 - 无论收入。
- Breathe56％more pollution than they create.
- Are exposed to50％颗粒物污染较普通人群的比率较高。
- 更可能住在附近公路，机场，炼油厂和有害空气污染物的其他来源。
- 不成比例地暴露在有毒空气污染化石燃料行业。
The impacts are also real. African Americans have higher rates肺癌和asthma, and are more like to have (and die from)心脏病。这并非巧合的是非裔美国人三次更有可能从冠状较白的人死亡。更糟的是，不公平保健结果在黑人社区几乎支付twice as much在保费和外的自付费用。
In this way, the story of George Floyd is symbolic of many struggles in the black community.
我们必须删除反响的有建设性的批评各地的项目不涉及种族平等。
“一个警察把他的膝盖在他的脖子后面，呛死他，他之中的呼救声。你可以听到这家伙叫他的妈妈，” Bartees考克斯，在市场营销和通信总监风潮，带来社区太阳能低收入客户的组织。“你看看黑人在美国和我们的旅程，每一个机会，我们已经有出人头地已经哽咽了，完全，随着时间的推移，进步的每一位就被阻塞了。”
但这里的东西：清洁能源技术存在扭转这一问题。缺少的部分是让他们在大多数受污染能源的社区展开大规模。
Manifestation 2: Paying more and getting less from energy
不止在美国，非裔美国人斗争其他任何种族群体，提供基础的能源需求，被称为状态能源不安全或能源贫困。由于他们的收入的百分比，黑户向上支付三倍多的than white households for energy.他们还不成比例的影响公用事业关闭政策，使他们更容易受到危险的炎热和寒冷的日子。
Why? It’s expensive to be poor. Many solutions that save money in the long run — electric vehicles, rooftop solar, energy efficiency upgrades — require upfront costs or access to capital that exclude many black communities.
支付更多，越来越少的手段黑户经常玩追赶。据考克斯，在一些地方非裔美国人付出更多的能量比出租。
“我们不把人的情况下，他们可以，如果他们花费那么多的能源消耗，成功”考克斯说。
That’s especially true for a community with fewer economic opportunities.
“我们没有工作,我们没有access, we have a lack of money in communities," said Taj Eldridge, senior director of investment at Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI）。“经济学是它的一个巨大的一部分，所有的，我们看到，从健康差距教育差距等问题的根是种族主义和经济上的歧视。”
表现三：近视清洁能源股权计划
好心的方案和激励措施只能到此为止，如果他们不采取不平等的一个更广阔的视野。
举个例子，一个California programthat aims to increase access to electric vehicles by providing incentives to install a charging station at your home — provided, of course, that you’re a homeowner. That does little to help African Americans who have been systematically denied homeownership through redlining and lack of access to capital.
“Inherently, that's racist," said Cureton, who worked with the program while at GRID Alternatives. "Programs like these aren't targeted at black people. They're targeted at people who always lived in California, who always had access to capital. Programs like that don't help to alleviate the systemic racism that is not only within this country but within this industry."
Cureton says that in order for these programs to work better, it’s essential for those who work in clean energy and equity to be able to talk about the shortcomings of policies without fear of losing funding or negatively impacting the organization.
“本次股权推，它看起来不错，这听起来不错，” Cureton说。“但对于色彩的人谁是现在的痛苦，但感觉并不好。我们必须删除周围没有解决种族平等方案建设性的批评反响。”
All of the other issues that we see, from health disparities to educational disparities, the root of that is racism and economic discrimination.
需要明确的是，这种批评是不排斥GRID替代的辛勤工作 - 或其他权益组织合作，以支持不足的人，如Greenlining研究所,该解决方案项目和新能源的Nexus。相反，它是一个提醒，压迫的系统相互交织，这种支持需要流向那些了解这个问题的复杂性。
“我认为人们拿到这里有个问题，”考克斯说。“‘Equity’ and ‘intersectionality’ are, like, the foundation buzzwords of the last four years. It's where the big-money people are moving with their strategies. I think the next step is making sure the money gets to the right people."
表现4：缺乏表示的
Organizations that design policies, programs and products usually are controlled by white people. That lack of diversity around the table leads to a lack of diversity in solutions.
The clean energy sector and companies with climate goals have tremendous power to change this.
Cox, who grew up in Oklahoma, never considered a job in clean energy. His turning point was when professional peers told him about the sector and encouraged him to get involved. That type of proactive engagement is what is needed to change the racial balance.
“The onus is on these companies to do outreach," Cox said. "Not just in the big cities, not just at Howard and Hampton, take it to Texas Southern. Go to Dillard. Go into the deep south, go into rural areas, recruit at these community colleges. Tell people about the jobs that are available, and push people into them."
Eldridge echos this sentiment, noting that white professionals are often disconnected from the deep bench of talent in the African American community.
“没有一个管道问题。从来就没有，这是一个关系问题，”埃尔德里奇说。“我非常惊讶，当人们说，他们找不到人来面试或有这些交谈，因为我看到他们在房间里所有的时间。”
This isn't altruistic. It's well记录这家公司的拥抱多样性有更好的表现，并有一个快乐的员工队伍。
It also isn’t tokenism. Getting the people in the room that understand the black experience is key to finding the policies that untangle the systems of injustice.
“由于涉及到换档动力和创造变化，你的声音不能当真如果你自己没有能代表你的实体拍摄，” Cureton说。“这是非常重要的。”
This article is adapted from GreenBiz's newsletter Energy Weekly, running Thursdays. Subscribe这里。
