Page 12
October 31, 2018
O PINION
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A Reason to Vote Yes on Clean Energy Measure:
Help reduce shocking health disparities
p atriCia
K ullberg , mD, mph
If anyone is still
looking for a reason
to vote yes on the
Portland Clean En-
ergy Initiative (Mea-
sure 26-201), here’s a
big one: to help reduce shocking
health disparities between those
Portlanders who live in privilege
and those who do not. The disen-
franchised and under-resourced
communities of Portland suffer an
undue burden of premature dis-
ability, disease and death, which
stems directly from the conditions
in which they live, work and play.
Low income persons suffer
twice as much asthma, three times
as many heart attacks and more
than three times as many strokes
than the economically advantaged.
Among communities of color, es-
pecially African-Americans, birth
weights are lower, infant mortality
is higher and more people suffer
from HIV, cancer, diabetes and
heart disease. These differences
in morbidity and mortality have
been amply documented in stud-
ies by the Coalition of Communi-
ties of Color, Multnomah County
Health Department and the Ore-
gon Health Authority.
To be clear, health outcome dis-
parities have nothing to do with
genetics or demographics, or even
so-called lifestyle choices. Moun-
tains of literature contradict the
idea that people simply choose to
by
smoke, not exercise or
eat poorly. These choices
are always made in the
context of social, eco-
nomic and psychological
factors. What if, for ex-
ample, no one markets
fresh produce in your
neighborhood? What if the nearby
park is not safe to play in? What if
you’ve been bombarded with ads
since childhood about how sexy it
under-resourced. Families move
in and out; neighbors may not
know each other. Social isolation
is more common.
People of color suffer the addi-
tional burdens of racism. “Weath-
ering” refers to a process of pre-
mature aging due to the constant
stress from the daily effects of
racism: the repeated experience
of being dismissed, disrespected,
diminished and denied. A weath-
between the privileged and the
under-privileged would erase the
disparities in health outcomes.
It is precisely this sickening
combination of lousy living con-
ditions and the underlying bur-
den of disease that renders the
residents of Portland’s under-re-
sourced communities more sus-
ceptible to the ill effects of global
climate change. The Oregon Cli-
mate and Health Profile Report
People of color suffer the additional
burdens of racism. “Weathering” refers
to a process of premature aging due to the
constant stress from the daily effects of
racism: the repeated experience of being
dismissed, disrespected, diminished and
denied.
is to smoke?
Neighborhoods where low in-
come persons, immigrants and
people of color tend to live in
Portland are often unhealthy. The
air quality is worse. The tree can-
opy is sparser. The housing stock
is uninsulated and burdened with
vermin and toxins. Access to
healthy food, public transportation
or health services may be poor.
Jobs are more scarce. Schools are
ering process may similarly affect
all who are marginalized, stripped
of their dignity and independence,
or deprived of food and shelter.
Researchers estimate that social
conditions account for two thirds
of health outcomes; that living and
working conditions have a bigger
impact on health and longevity
than either clinical care or indi-
vidual behavior. Wiping out the
differences in social conditions
(Oregon Health Authority, 2014)
and the Climate Change Prepa-
ration Strategy (City of Portland
and Multnomah County, 2014)
identify the populations at highest
risk for adverse outcomes from
climate change events: persons
living in substandard housing,
non-English speaking persons,
houseless persons, people with
pre-existing health and mental
health conditions and those who
live in areas with poor air quality.
The ill effects of drought, flood-
ing, extreme heat events and blan-
kets of smoke from wildfires will
fall most heavily on those least
able to withstand them.
The benefits of the Portland
Clean Energy Initiative are tar-
geted to low income communi-
ties and communities of color.
They include clean energy jobs
and training; home weatheriza-
tion; improved access to healthy
food through community gardens
or food buying clubs; and other
community clean energy projects.
These projects will not only pre-
pare communities to withstand the
adverse effects of climate change,
they will also bring immediate im-
provements in physical and men-
tal health.
The effects of building health-
ier neighborhoods are well docu-
mented: neighbors are more like-
ly to know and trust each other.
Crime rates are lower and civic
engagement is increased. People
are more likely to volunteer and
more likely to vote. They live lon-
ger and healthier lives. Is this not
what all of us want for our city? If
you agree, join me in voting yes
on the Portland Clean Energy Ini-
tiative (Measure 26-201).
Dr. Patricia Kullberg is the for-
mer medical director of the Mult-
nomah County Health Department
and author of “Health Equity and
the Portland Clean Energy Initia-
tive.”
Trump’s Gender ‘Science’ Mean and Wrong
A vulnerable
population will
suffer more
J ill r iCharDson
Trump is having a
problem with sex, and
it’s not exactly what
you might think. There
are no Russian tapes,
spankings with maga-
zines, or confessions of
grabbing anyone this time around.
Specifically, it’s a problem with
sex and gender.
Sex and gender aren’t the same
thing, though many people mis-
take them for being synonymous.
I was mistaken too, until I be-
gan studying social science. I was
born with two X chromosomes
by
and all of the body parts that come
with them. So I was assigned fe-
male (my sex) at birth and I was
raised as a girl (my gender).
Since my sex (assigned on
account of chromosomes, body
parts, and hormones)
and my gender (all of
the non-biological com-
ponents of what makes
you a man or a woman)
matched, the two felt
synonymous.
Nothing about my
chromosomes or genitalia created
a biological need to do the behav-
ior associated with my gender:
playing with dolls, wearing dress-
es, polishing my nails. But, as I
was taught as a child that girls do
those things, they felt right.
Social scientists say that gender
is something you do, not some-
thing you are. We also talk about
something called the “gender bi-
nary.” This is the false yet perva-
sive belief that there are two, and
only two, sexes and genders.
It’s a lot more complicated than
that, and not just when it comes to
gender. Did you know that being
intersex — having ambiguous sex
characteristics — is actually as
common as having red hair?
I’ve always loved being a girl.
But not everyone’s sex assign-
ments and gender assignments
match. A transgender person is
someone whose gender differs
from the sex they were assigned
at birth. A non-binary or gender-
queer person may not identify as
either gender.
I’ve never personally experi-
enced what it feels like to be treat-
ed as the gender I’m not. That’s
my good fortune. Trans people de-
scribe the experience as incredibly
painful. Trans man Trystan Reese
described it as a matter of life or
death: If he couldn’t live as a man,
he couldn’t go on living.
Yet Trump is now looking to
define gender as the sex assigned
as birth, supposedly because that’s
“grounded in science.” No it
bloody well isn’t, and I say that as
a scientist.
Here’s what is grounded in sci-
ence: Unless this country stops
discriminating against transgender
people and starts protecting them,
more transgender people will die.
Four in ten transgender people
attempt suicide. The list of rea-
sons includes bullying, rejection
by friends and family, violence,
discrimination, and more.
Trump’s move — if he makes
it — will serve to erase the civil
rights of 1.4 million transgender
Americans. An already vulnerable
population will needlessly suffer
more.
On the other hand, research
shows that transgender people
who are supported in their tran-
sition — that is, allowed to live
openly and authentically as them-
selves, without harassment, vio-
lence, or bullying — have better
mental health, life satisfaction,
and even job satisfaction.
That shouldn’t be surprising:
It’s true of all people. Why would
the government want to do the ex-
act opposite?
OtherWords columnist Jill
Richardson is pursuing a PhD in
sociology at the University of Wis-
consin-Madison. She lives in San
Diego.