Campaign aims to reduce air pollution, respiratory illnesses in Arizona communities of color
When Karen Hernández was a child, she always wondered there weren't as many trees around her neighborhood. She grew up in south Phoenix, a predominantly Black and Latino area.
“If we wanted to catch the shade of a tree we had to walk about a mile,” Hernandez, now 25, told The Arizona Republic.
To some extent, the lack of trees seemed normal to her. After all, Phoenix is a desert city, so she believed that all major cities in Arizona were the same — that is until she visited Scottsdale.
“I noticed a huge difference. (In Scottsdale) there are more trees, it's prettier, it's greener, the air feels better, the breeze feels better, it feels better to be able to walk outside,” Hernández said. Even just a few blocks north, central Phoenix offers an entirely different way of life, where shade provided by pines and evergreens can be seen along city streets.
According to previous reporting by The Arizona Republic, the worst-scoring neighborhoods in Phoenix for tree equity are mostly in the southern part of the city and near Sky Harbor International Airport.
"Where I live you can't be outside," she added, saying that instead of trees, plumes of smoke are regularly seen overhead.
South Phoenix, where she still resides, is home to about 10% of Phoenix's population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data — and for decades, the area south of the Rio Salado has been used for industrial zoning and landfill use.
Now as an activist and member of the Arizona Coalition for Change, Hernández has joined a statewide campaign to reduce air pollution and promote clean energy as a way to bring restorative environmental justice to her community.
The "Clean Energy, Clean Lungs" initiative, launched Tuesday by the Arizona Coalition for Change, intends to push legislative action to further prevent asthma and other respiratory illnesses from disproportionately impacting Black and Latino populations.
During a Tuesday morning news conference at the Arizona State Capitol, representatives of the coalition said the campaign was launched in commemoration of the first anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act — which made approximately $369 billion available for clean-energy projects — and as a public health emergency unfolds in communities of color across the U.S., where Black children are seven times more likely to die from asthma complications than White children, according to a 2020 report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
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Disproportionately affected
Kesha Hodge Washington, council member for Phoenix's District 8 — which covers most of south Phoenix and parts of central city — said that severe air pollution has had detrimental health effects and had disproportionately affected people living in socially and economically disadvantaged areas.
She said that while this is an issue she highly prioritizes as a council member, it's also a personal one given that her sister suffers from asthma. There is nothing worse than seeing a person trying to catch their breath and not being able to, she said.
"I look forward to working with my regional partners to ensure... that all members, not just the residents of District 8 but all of our minority communities, have air quality that we are proud of," Hodge Washington said.
This year, the city of Phoenix was looking to revise its 13-year-old tree and shade master plan. The original and current goal of the plan is to reach 25% canopy cover across the entire city by 2030 to reduce heat stress and minimize negative effects to human health and activity.
"Trees are one of the perfect examples of a multiplier, because when planted and maintained correctly, they can provide many economic, environmentally sustainable benefits for our community... providing a cooling effect that reduces energy costs, improves air quality, strengthens the quality of grades in the local economy by reducing stormwater runoff, improving social connections and promoting smart growth and compact development," she said.
Arizona state Rep. Quantá Crews (D-Phoenix), who was recently appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, also highlighted the importance of working on these issues that are disproportionately affecting Black and Latino communities in Phoenix.
The campaign seeks to put pressure on legislators to carry out the following initiatives:
Plant more trees to provide more green areas and shade
Adopt state clean energy policies
Reduce pollution statewide, especially in minority communities
Provide accessible and culturally appropriate health care for asthma
Promote sustainable transport from an environmental point of view
Sena Mohammed, executive director at Arizona Coalition for Change, said that organizers and community members have already begun mobilizing, going door-to-door to raise awareness and educate folks on how to demand action from their state representatives.
The most important thing about this campaign, she said, is to create an unstoppable force of community members committed to fighting for clean air and environmental justice.
“While the entire state of Arizona has been heating up over the past few decades, our Black and Brown communities continue to bear the brunt of the health impacts that result from climate change,” said Mohammed. “This isn’t an accident, but rather a result of past discrimination that left our communities with more factories, toxic waste and fewer trees to protect ourselves from increasing heat and greenhouse gas pollution.”
Republic reporter Jake Frederico contributed to this article.
Reach La Voz reporter Javier Arce at javier.arce@lavozarizona.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @javierarce33.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Campaign aims to change high air pollution levels in south Phoenix
