Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle December 13, 2023
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
How the Clean Energy Win in Michigan Provides a
Roadmap for Other States
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
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Reporter
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Ben
Jealous
Guest
Columnist
many of the power and indus-
trial plants, which are also
disproportionately located
in these communities, will be
reduced by the state’s man-
dates for clean energy. This
is huge for all Michiganders,
and especially for those com-
munities where public health
“
A higher
number of
the homes are
old, drafty,
and not ener-
gy efficient.
is suffering from pollution.
The Detroit tri-cities area –
encompassing Detroit, River
Rouge, and Ecorse – and oth-
er parts of Michigan experi-
encing the worst air pollution
are predominantly Black or
Black and Latino. The Har-
vard Medical School Primary
Care Review has pointed out
that within the two zip codes
that make up Southwest De-
(First in a Series)
Updated daily online.
y
f you live in Detroit or an-
other part of Michigan
where there’s a looming
threat of bodily harm from
fossil fuel pollution, it just
got a little easier to breathe a
sigh of relief … and to main-
tain your ability to breathe in
general.
The historic Clean Energy
Future Package and Clean
Energy and Jobs Act, just
recently signed into law by
Michigan Governor Gretchen
Whitmer, will greatly acceler-
ate the state’s transition to the
exclusive use of clean power
sources like wind and solar.
That’s a victory for Michi-
ganders and for the country’s
goals of slashing the pollution
that fuels climate change and
harms our health. It’s also a
major win for environmental
justice, hard-hit communities
in a state, and workers.
Michigan’s codified com-
mitment to fighting the pol-
lution driving climate change
is inherently good news for
the communities of color that
bear a disproportionate bur-
den of the effects of the cri-
sis, and the benefits go even
further. New incentives in
the bills to make buildings
energy efficient will have an
outsized positive impact for
these communities, where a
higher number of the homes
are old, drafty, and not energy
efficient.
Finally, air pollution from
troit alone, “there are more
than 150 facilities that emit
toxic fumes, gasses, chemi-
cals, and particulate matter.”
Black residents make up 80
percent of one of those zip
codes, 48217, a statistic noted
at an October gathering of
activists, near the Marathon
Petroleum Corporation’s re-
finery in Southwest Detroit,
by Ember McCoy, a Ph.D. can-
didate at the University of
Michigan’s School for Envi-
ronment and Sustainability,
in discussing the dispropor-
tionate impact of air pollu-
tion on the city’s residents.
According to 2019 figures
from the Michigan Depart-
ment of Health and Human
Services, adult residents of
Detroit were 46% more likely
to have asthma than the state-
wide average. And within
Detroit, Black residents were
hospitalized for asthma three
times as often as white resi-
dents. And that’s just asthma.
The National Institute of
Environmental Health Sci-
ences says this type of pollu-
tion is also known to increase
rates of cancer, cardiovascu-
lar disease, neurological and
immune disorders, and other
health concerns. And, as Mc-
Coy also noted at that Detroit
panel discussion, “certain
pollutants, when combined,
as they are in the air, are
worse together than they are
alone individually … but we
still measure them and regu-
late them as if they’re acting
separately.”
So, yes, a lot still needs to
be done. Especially in terms
of how these chemical and
particulate pollutants are
regulated at the federal level.
Still, we shouldn’t lose sight of
the positive action that states
like Michigan are taking right
now and the example it sets
for other states.
There’s a lot to be hopeful
about in the clean energy
bills’ impact on public health.
The bills also set a powerful
example for how to help en-
sure a just transition away
from fossil fuels with strong
protections for labor. Part of
the clean energy package is
the creation of the Commu-
nity and Worker Economic
Transition Office.
The office will develop a
plan and coordinate efforts to
address the impact on work-
ers in the shift from fossil fu-
els to renewables, helping to
ensure that no worker is left
behind. By delivering historic
federal action in the Inflation
Reduction Act, the Biden ad-
ministration has already giv-
en states a powerful way to
capitalize on massive federal
investments in their econo-
mies and a green future for
us all.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
“The Teaching Our Own History” Task Force
LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
LOCAL EVENTS
d ay ! • L i ke u s o
n
• to
Opinion
’m for truth, no matter
who tells it. I’m for jus-
tice, no matter who it is
for or against. I’m a hu-
man being, first and foremost,
and as such, I’m for whoever
and whatever benefits hu-
manity as a whole.” Malcolm
X
We have launched a state-
wide task force in conjunc-
tion with the Florida General
Baptist Convention, Inc., Rev-
erend Dr. Carl Johnson, Presi-
dent, to demand that the gov-
ernor of Florida and the State
Department of Education
teach Black history accurate-
ly, factually, and forthrightly.
In the spirit of Dr. King, in the
State of Florida, we organized
a task force labeled, “Teach-
ing Our Own History.” Carter
G. Woodson, the founder of
Negro History Week, encour-
aged us to not sit idly by and
allow this system to “mis”-ed-
ucate Black people.
Our Task Force will present
to the government a compre-
hensive curriculum that cor-
rectly and effectively teaches
Africa and African American
Reverend Dr. RB
Holmes, Jr
Bethel Missionary
Baptist Church
history to students in Flori-
da’s public schools. Moreover,
we will develop forty (40) plus
“Freedom Schools” by 2025.
We will not sit idly by and
allow any governor to erase
“
solutions to support and
strengthen public educa-
tion in marginalized com-
munities
• To develop and adequately
support 40 Freedom Acad-
emies across the state of
Florida
• To create significant after
school programs for stu-
dents in Title One schools in
marginalized communities
across the state of Florida,
using an age-appropriate
We will not sit idly by and allow
any governor to erase the accurate
teaching of Black history
the accurate teaching of Black
history.
The Objectives of “The
Teaching Our Own History”
Task Force are as follows:
• To encourage the accurate
and unbiased teaching of
African American history,
culture, experiences and
invaluable contributions in
the state of Florida and this
nation
• To develop strategies and
African American History
Curriculum to strengthen
reading, writing and math-
ematics skills
• To create summer “Free-
dom Schools” to teach youth
the importance of African
American contributions,
self-respect, and personal
responsibility
• To empower and encourage
the three private HBCUs in
Florida to develop laborato-
ry schools on their respec-
tive campuses by 2025
• To cultivate and create part-
nerships with foundations,
businesses and philanthro-
pists to support programs
and events that consistently
celebrate the contributions
of African American histo-
ry, culture, literature, faith
and heritage
We all must redouble our ef-
forts to fight for social justice,
voting rights, civil rights, di-
versity, equity and inclusion.
The dismantling of programs
of diversity, equity and inclu-
sion is shameful and insult-
ing.
Over the next several
weeks, selected members of
“The Teaching Our Own His-
tory” Task Force will publish
articles for dissemination
through The National Black
Press, addressing the criti-
cal components for teaching
our own history. I encourage
our readers to enthusiasti-
cally engage in meaningful
discussions in their various
constituent groups and orga-
nizations as we “speak truth
to power.”
nt •
lo c a l n e w s •
eve