In an article published by Teen Vogue, they explore how methane pollution is essentially putting black communities at greater risk than their counterparts. According to the article, the U.S. oil and gas industries are responsible for dumping tons of toxic pollutants into our environment annually. The U.S. gas industry alone is estimated to be responsible for offloading roughly 9 million tons of methane, the greenhouse gas which is the leading contributor to climate change, into our air annually.

A recent report, "Fumes Across the Fence-Line," takes a deeper look at residents of the so-called “fence-line” communities, or neighborhoods adjacent to industrial facilities. Those living in these communities tend to fall into the low-income bracket and are largely people of color (shocker!).

"We’ve found that fence-line communities, including many African Americans, are suffering especially serious health consequences as a result of these emissions,” research analyst for Clean Air Task Force and co-author of the study, Lesley Fleischman, said in a statement.

"The life-threatening burdens placed on communities of color near oil and gas facilities are the result of systemic oppression perpetuated by the traditional energy industry, which exposes communities to health, economic, and social hazards," the study said.

More than 6.7 million African Americans (14 percent of the national population) live in the 91 counties across the U.S. with oil refineries. Over one million African Americans live within a half of a mile of an existing natural gas facility — a figure that is increasing on an annual basis. This leaves them exposed to toxic air emissions, which, in turn, increases the risk of cancer, Teen Vogue says.

As this information comes to the light, the Trump administration is currently continuing to dismantle existing environmental policies, residents in fence-line communities could be at even more risk than they are currently. As more Obama-era regulations in regards to these issues are lifted, black people will continue to suffer at higher rates.

There's an old metaphor called "canaries in a coal mine" which is an allusion to caged canaries that miners would carry down into the mine tunnels with them. If dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide collected in the mine, the gases would kill the canary before killing the miners, thus providing a warning to exit the tunnels immediately. Once again, black people are the canaries sending a warning that things aren't right. Rather than fix the situation altogether, more of us will continue to be grossly affected.

methane pollution

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