"The Biden administration has pledged to address deadly air pollution disparities in communities of color that resulted from historically racist policy decisions. But its efforts are destined to fail if officials follow through on a decision to dismiss race as a factor to determine where federal aid should be focused, a new report says.

When the White House announced its effort to confront the problem last year, officials said the racial makeup of communities would not guide their decisions on where to prioritize government funding and programs. They were concerned that using race would lead to court challenges that could undermine its plan to devote 40 percent of environmental cleanup resources to disadvantaged communities under an initiative called Justice40.

The administration’s environmental leadership is seeking to sidestep race and rely on a newly introduced screening tool to identify disenfranchised communities by household income, unemployment, air quality data and the location of various pollution sources."

Darryl Fears reports for the Washington Post July 20, 2023. [2]