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Historical red-lining is associated with fossil fuel power plant siting and present-day inequalities in air pollutant emissions

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  • Lara J. Cushing

    (University of California Los Angeles)

  • Shiwen Li

    (University of California Los Angeles)

  • Benjamin B. Steiger

    (Columbia Mailman School of Public Health)

  • Joan A. Casey

    (Columbia Mailman School of Public Health)

Abstract

Stationary sources of air pollution are disproportionately located in communities of colour, but the causes for this disparity are unclear. Here we assess whether racialized appraisals of investment risk (‘red-lining’) undertaken by the US federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation in the 1930s influenced the subsequent siting of fossil fuel power plants. Across 8,871 neighbourhoods in 196 US urban areas, we observed a stepwise correlation between risk grade, number of power plants and cumulative quantity of power plant emissions upwind and within 5 km. Controlling for pre-existing power plants, neighbourhoods deemed ‘hazardous’ (D grade, ‘red-lined’) had a higher likelihood of a fossil fuel power plant being sited between 1940 and 1969 (72%), 1970 and 1999 (20%) and 2000 and 2019 (31%), and higher average present-day emissions of nitrous oxides (82%), sulfur dioxide (38%) and fine particulate matter (63%) compared with ‘declining’ (C-graded) neighbourhoods. Our results suggest racism in the housing market contributed to inequalities in present-day power plant emissions burdens.

Suggested Citation

  • Lara J. Cushing & Shiwen Li & Benjamin B. Steiger & Joan A. Casey, 2023. "Historical red-lining is associated with fossil fuel power plant siting and present-day inequalities in air pollutant emissions," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 52-61, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:8:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41560-022-01162-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-022-01162-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Aaronson, Daniel & Faber, Jacob & Hartley, Daniel & Mazumder, Bhashkar & Sharkey, Patrick, 2021. "The long-run effects of the 1930s HOLC “redlining” maps on place-based measures of economic opportunity and socioeconomic success," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
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