5 Questions: Latina Climate Scientist On Carbon Emissions Rule
*The environment, superficially the president’s new rules on coal-fired power plant emissions, is vital to Latino health because we’re more vulnerable than others. VL
By NBC News
Now that President Barack Obama has finalized new rules on coal-fired power plant emissions, states must put together plans to comply must work with low-income and minority communities in coming up with those plans. The administration expects minorities, vulnerable populations and elderly Americans to be targeted with opposition to the new rule. Obama said to opponents when he unveiled the rule, “If you care about low-income minority communities, start protecting the air that they breathe.”
[pullquote][tweet_dis]Latinos are 60 percent more likely to visit the hospital for asthma because we are disproportionately more vulnerable.[/tweet_dis][/pullquote]Nicole Hernandez Hammer, a biologist with expertise on rising sea levels and their impact on urban and natural systems, has studied the impact of climate change on Latinos. She left academic research to inform Latinos on her findings and help the community influence policy decisions on climate change. She does her outreach through Moms Clean Air Force, a group that works to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutants. Hernandez Hammer spoke to NBC News Latino about the administration’s plant emissions rule and why it matters.
Click HERE to read the entire interview.
[Photo by Señor Codo/Flickr]
