Photo: Javier Sierra / Courtesy
For: Javier Sierra
Saturday, September 21
For Latinos, the flames burn brighter
The warnings of the Pachamama , Mother Earth, that we are abusing the only habitable planet that we know grows in intensity.
The Northwest of the United States and the Southwest of Canada have suffered the worst heat waves in their history. Quillayute, WA, for example, reached the 110 ° F, 80 more than its average temperature. Some people have perished due to this tragedy. Science assures us that without the climate crisis this extreme heat would have been “virtually impossible” .
The conditions for a new record season of heat waves and wildfires are accumulating, and we Latinos have to take special precautions. Studies have indicated that we are three times as likely dying of heat than the rest of the population. Millions of Latinos work in agriculture and construction, outdoor activities that make us much more vulnerable to heat waves. In addition, inequity and economic abuse, lack of health insurance and lack of legal immigration status accentuate this vulnerability.
A new study confirms once again that the climate crisis affects us disproportionately in all its facets, including forest fires. The risQ firm, which analyzes climate risks, indicates that we are twice as likely to live in the areas most threatened by fires than the rest of the population. In contrast, for white residents, in the last decade, their risk of suffering the consequences of a fire has decreased.
The report reveals that between and 2019, the number of Latinos who have moved to those areas increased a staggering 223%, while the white population in those areas decreased by 32% in the same period of time.
Meanwhile, the true causes of the emergency in which humanity lives, continue their deceptions and their efforts to hinder climate action. Two Greenpeace activists, posing as corporate recruiters, interviewed Exxon executives, who revealed how the oil giant dupes the rest of the world. Keith McCoy, an Exxon lobbyist, on camera called President Biden’s plans to cut climate emissions “insane” and confessed that Exxon has aggressively attacked climate science through “underhanded groups.”
For decades, Exxon and the rest of the world’s worst climate polluters have known the catastrophic effects of their products and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in muddying and denying climate science.
Stop! Communities like ours demand that Congress pass a big, bold infrastructure plan that attacks the climate crisis and invests in the clean energy economy to reduce climate pollution and pave the way for an energy revolution that protects our families and their futures.
Because for us, the flames burn more intensely.