Trump ha calificado el cambio climático como un “engaño” y promete retroceder el progreso que el presidente Biden ha logrado para proteger nuestro planeta. Queda claro que a Trump no le importan los latinos, quienes se ven afectados de manera desproporcionada por el cambio climático. El director de Medios Hispanos del DNC, Marco Frieri, emitió la siguiente declaración destacando lo que está en juego para las familias latinas en todo el país:

“Para los latinos, nunca ha habido una pizca de duda de que el cambio climático es real. No cuando vemos a nuestros hijos sufrir ataques de asma como resultado de la contaminación del aire o cuando perdemos horas de trabajo (y, por tanto, ingresos) debido a las olas de calor récord. Está claro que nuestra comunidad se ve afectada desproporcionadamente por los efectos de la contaminación y el cambio climático. Entonces, cuando Trump califica el cambio climático como un “engaño”, promueve peligrosas teorías de conspiración sobre el cambio climático y hace todo lo que está en su poder para desmantelar las protecciones ambientales básicas, sabemos que está poniendo en peligro nuestras vidas. El presidente Biden está abordando la crisis climática invirtiendo en industrias nuevas y sostenibles que protegen los empleos y nuestro planeta a través de la legislación ambiental y climática más ambiciosa de la historia de Estados Unidos, la Ley para la Reducción de la Inflación. Los latinos merecen un presidente que ofrezca soluciones reales al cambio climático y dé prioridad a la justicia ambiental; solo Joe Biden es ese presidente”.

La promesa de Trump de anular la Ley para la Reducción de la Inflación –y su rechazo a tan siquiera reconocer la realidad del cambio climático– es una amenaza para los latinos, que tienen más probabilidades de vivir en áreas con mayores niveles de exposición a la contaminación del aire.

Financial Times: “Donald Trump would gut Joe Biden’s landmark IRA climate law if elected”

“Donald Trump is planning to gut US President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law, increase investment in fossil fuels and roll back regulations aimed at accelerating the transition to electric vehicles if he is elected next year. … The Inflation Reduction Act — the centerpiece of Biden’s economic strategy, with $369bn in tax breaks and subsidies for clean energy — would be in Trump’s crosshairs.”

New York Times: “Moreover, Mr. Trump’s rollbacks of emissions policies have come at a critical moment: Over the past four years, the global level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere crossed a long-feared threshold of atmospheric concentration. Now, many of the most damaging effects of climate change, including rising sea levels, deadlier storms, and more devastating heat, droughts and wildfires, are irreversible.”

American Lung Association: “A study released this year by Harvard University reinforced what experts have known for some time, that air pollution in predominantly Latino zip codes is 14% higher than predominantly white areas for fine particulate matter and other contaminants.”

Vox: “Blacks and Hispanics on average bear a ‘pollution burden’ of 56% and 63% excess exposure, respectively, relative to the exposure caused by their consumption.”

The Guardian: “People of color in the American north-east and mid-Atlantic are living with 66% more air pollution from vehicles than white residents are, according to a new analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). On average, African Americans are exposed to 61% more of the tiny pollution particles that come from burning gasoline. Asian Americans breathe 73% more and Latinos 75% more.”

Los latinos también tienen más probabilidades de sufrir los impactos económicos y de salud del cambio climático y la contaminación del aire.

Environmental Protection Agency: “Hispanic and Latino individuals are 43% more likely than non-Hispanic and non-Latino individuals to currently live in areas with the highest projected labor hour losses in weather-exposed industries due to climate-driven increases in high-temperature days.”

Environmental Protection Agency: “Hispanic and Latino individuals are also 50% more likely to live in coastal areas with the highest projected increases in traffic delays from climate-driven changes in high-tide flooding.”

National Resources Defense Council: “A majority [of Latinos] live in California, Texas, Florida and New York, states that are among the most affected by extreme heat, air pollution, and flooding. Latinos are heavily represented in crop and livestock production and construction, where they’re at elevated risk from climate-change-boosted extreme heat. They are three times more likely to die on the job from excessive heat than non-Latinos. Latinos generally have less health insurance coverage than non-Latinos, so they struggle to access health care when afflicted by climate-related illnesses.”

Los latinos están preparados para beneficiarse económicamente y ambientalmente de las acciones del presidente Biden para lograr una economía de energía limpia que funcione para todos y a través de programas como la iniciativa Justice40.

White House Fact Sheet: “The Inflation Reduction Act recognizes that climate change disproportionately impacts low-income communities and communities of color. The law: Creates Environmental Justice Block Grants, and a dedicated program to tackle pollution in port communities – where air pollution is especially dense and deadly. Funds a range of programs to reduce air pollution, including for fenceline monitoring and screening near industrial facilities, air quality sensors in disadvantaged communities, new and upgraded multipollutant monitoring sites, and monitoring and mitigation of methane and wood heater emissions. Protects our children with investments to monitor and reduce at public schools in disadvantaged communities.”

White House: “What is the Justice40 initiative? For the first time in our nation’s history, the Federal government has made it a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.”

Associated Press: “EPA offers $2B to clean up pollution, develop clean energy in poor and minority communities”

“The climate law authorized $3 billion for underserved communities burdened by pollution, including $1 billion that has already been allocated.”

Center for American Progress: “The Biden administration has upheld its promise to confront the nation’s ugly past, redressing consequential harms with actions that are improving the lives of Latinos across America.

“Within the first two years of his administration, President Joe Biden signed two executive orders dedicated to advancing racial equity and doubled down on equity commitments by signing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. Together, these laws injected trillions of dollars into the economy, creating more equity and opportunities for communities of color.” 

Washington Post: “‘The largest climate change bill in history’ No argument here. Virtually no climate-change legislation had been previously approved by Congress, except for tax credits for renewable energy and other relatively minor items.”

La administración Biden-Harris acabó con las reglas ambientales de la era Trump que empeoraron los impactos de la contaminación en las comunidades latinas, y el presidente Biden y la vicepresidenta Harris restauraron protecciones clave que Trump eliminó.

Politico: “Biden’s EPA launches crackdown on planet-warming methane”

“The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled sweeping new regulations targeting methane emissions from the oil and gas sector on Saturday, a significant milestone for President Joe Biden’s strategy for curbing the pollution driving up the Earth’s temperatures.”

U.S. Department of State: “On January 20, on his first day in office, President Biden signed the instrument to bring the United States back into the Paris Agreement. Per the terms of the Agreement, the United States officially becomes a Party again today. The Paris Agreement is an unprecedented framework for global action. We know because we helped design it and make it a reality. Its purpose is both simple and expansive: to help us all avoid catastrophic planetary warming and to build resilience around the world to the impacts from climate change we already see.”

La administración Biden-Harris ha limpiado la contaminación en nuestras comunidades , ha estimulado la inversión en energía limpia y ha logrado un gran éxito en la lucha contra el cambio climático.

CNBC: “The [Inflation Reduction Act], which President Joe Biden signed into law in August, is the most aggressive climate investment ever taken by Congress and is expected to slash the country’s planet-warming carbon emissions by about 40% this decade and move the country toward a net-zero economy by 2050.”

Bloomberg: “Between last August, when President Joe Biden’s landmark climate bill became law, and the end of January, companies have announced more than 100,000 clean energy jobs in the US, according to an analysis released Monday by the nonprofit advocacy group Climate Power.”

Associated Press: “Fighting global warming is one of the areas where Biden has had the most success. The Inflation Reduction Act includes nearly $375 billion for climate change, much of it going toward financial incentives for electric cars, clean energy and other initiatives. Biden is also pushing stricter regulations on vehicles and power plants”.