Factsheets

Food (See U.S. Food System Factsheet)

• In 2022, 12.8% of U.S. households experienced food insecurity. Food insecurity rates for Black and Hispanic households were consistently higher than the national average and higher in rural versus urban areas.¹⁶
• Food prices are higher and quality is lower in high poverty areas.¹⁷ In 2022, the average U.S. household spent 13% of income on food; low-income families spent about 31%.¹⁸
• Hispanic and Black children have higher obesity rates than White and Asian children.¹⁹
• About 53.6M people (17.4% of U.S. population) have poor access to a supermarket due to limited transportation and uneven distribution of supermarkets.²⁰

Energy (See Factsheets Related to Energy)

• The presence of power plants and fuel resource extraction operations place a significant environmental burden on neighboring communities. Minority and low-income communities are directly and disproportionately affected by these facilities and are rarely included in decision-making.²¹
• The average income of residents living within three miles of a coal power plant in 2000 was 15% less than the national average.²²
• Households self-identified as Black, Hispanic, or multiracial experience energy insecurity at disproportionately higher rates than households self-identifying as White or Asian.²³ 
• U.S. clean energy tax credits have been less accessible to low-income households due to affordability barriers.^{24, 25, 26} In 2023, taxpayers with incomes under $50k received 6% of residential clean energy credits and 9% of energy efficiency home improvement credits, while taxpayers with incomes over $200k received 27% and 23% respectively.²⁷

Hydropower and Dams

• Dams threaten vulnerable populations such as indigeous people, through food insecurity, increased morbidity, and the loss of land and water access, jobs, and houses.²⁸
• Dam construction often displaces low income communities due to financial pressure from wealthier groups or investors.²⁸

Energy Poverty

• In 2022, 685M people globally lived without electricity, 80% of them in sub-Saharan Africa. 2.1B people still use polluting fuels for cooking, largely in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.²⁹ 
• Energy poverty results from inequalities in income, energy prices, housing, and energy efficiency.³⁰ Low-income households spend 3 times as much of their income on energy than non-low-income households, despite using less energy.³¹ Nearly 37M U.S. families suffer from energy poverty,³¹ making them vulnerable during periods of intense heat or cold.³⁰

Materials (See Factsheets Related to Material Resources)

Mining

• Roughly 3% of U.S. oil and NG reserves, 15% of coal reserves, and 37-55% of uranium reserves are on Indigenous land.³ 
• The U.S. imports more than 90% of the elements critical to advanced energy generation, transmission, and storage.³²
• Artisanal and small scale mining (ASM) accounts for 15-20% of global mineral and metal production. ASM often has unsafe working conditions (e.g., child labor) and bad environmental practices (e.g., high mercury emissions).³³

Electronic Waste

• In 2022, 62M kg of e-waste were generated globally. China was the top e-waste generator overall, while Norway had the highest E-waste generation per capita.³⁴
• An estimated 6-29% of the 40M computers retired in the U.S. were exported in 2010.³⁵ The U.S. exported 7% of its used electronics by value in 2011.³⁶
• Nearly 13M women and 18M children globally work in the informal labor sector to manage e-waste, potentially exposing them to toxic chemicals.³⁷
• Improper recycling and recovery procedures can lead to exposure to carcinogenic and toxic materials, which often occurs in developing nations where recycling regulations to limit worker exposure are lax or nonexistent.³⁸ A review found increased DNA damage in those living in e-waste recycling towns, along with increases in still and premature births.³⁹

Climate (See Factsheets Related to Climate Change)

• Though wealthy, developed nations like the U.S. continue to emit larger amounts of GHG per capita, developing nations experience the worst effects of climate change⁴ due to their limited resources and ability to adapt.⁴⁰

• People living in low-income communities, or closer to the coast and small island nations, are more vulnerable to climate change threats, such as flooding, severe storms, sea level rise, and storm surges.⁴⁰
• Indigenous populations that rely on subsistence farming practices for food have limited options for adapting to climate change threats.⁴⁰
• Areas with poor healthcare infrastructure will be the least able to cope with catastrophic effects of climate change such as heat waves, droughts, severe storms, and outbreaks of waterborne diseases.⁴⁷

Determinants of Climate Vulnerability⁴⁰

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Solutions 

• The U.S. Justice40 Initiative set a national goal in 2021 that disadvantaged communities will receive 40% of the benefits provided by federal investments into areas like climate change and clean energy.⁴⁸
• The Inflation Reduction Act provides resources for disadvantaged and minority communities to reduce pollution, improve clean transit, make clean energy more affordable and accessible, and strengthen resilience to climate change.⁴⁹
• Engage in and support bottom-up models of research that are responsive to the environmental concerns of communities. Advocate for the inclusion of local knowledge in research in addition to observations obtained from scientific methods.²¹
• EJ Data and Grant information can be found here:
• U.S. EJ indicators: EJScreen
• U.S. EJ Grants: EPA EJ Grants
• Data for global EJ issues: EJAtlas