Pollution from power plants is higher in neighborhoods subject to racist redlining

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In the United States, it is well documented that poor neighborhoods are likely to suffer from higher pollution levels. Sources of pollution, such as power plants and highways, are more likely to be located in poor neighborhoods. The resulting pollution adds to the economic burdens these neighborhoods face, with increased medical costs, lost productivity from illness, and premature death.

Since minorities and immigrants tend to live in low-income neighborhoods, this also adds to the racial disparities present in the United States. Now, a group of public health researchers have found another factor that has contributed to this disparity. The historic practice of “redlining,” or assigning high-risk scores to mortgages in minority neighborhoods, is also associated with higher power plant emissions, reinforcing the challenges minorities face in the United States.

In the red

The term redlining is derived from a federal program, launched in the New Deal, which aimed to expand access to mortgages and boost home ownership in the United States. The organization that oversaw the program, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, established standards for loans based on four categories of risk ratings, assessed by neighborhood. The highest risk category has been identified on the maps with a red line, leading to its name. It was much more difficult to obtain mortgages in these neighborhoods, which lowered housing prices for their residents.

It has been widely documented that these ratings were influenced by racist attitudes towards the occupants of the neighborhood. Almost all of the top-rated neighborhoods were all-white, and neighborhoods with high numbers of minorities and immigrants often received the lowest rating. Redlining ended up reinforcing racial disparities in the United States and preventing minorities from becoming wealthier through home ownership, with effects that linger.

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The new work expands on this by associating redlining with higher exposure to pollution from power plants.

The work involved examining everything from historical maps of neighborhoods outlined in red, the location of power plants (including those that have been shut down for decades) and weather patterns to determine the predominant direction of travel of pollutants from all these power stations. Geographic information on pollution exposure from power plant emissions was also included in the analysis.

The researchers also broke down the analysis into several distinct time periods. These include the post-war period (1940-1969), the post-Clean-Air-Act period (1970-1999) and recent years (2000-2020). Pollution data is only available for the last of them.

The basic measurement used by the researchers was whether there was one or more power plants located upwind of the neighborhood and within three miles. These measures were then broken down by neighborhood rating, which was based on four categories (A to D, with A being the lowest risk category). Neighboring categories were then compared, i.e. A with B, B with C and C with D, to see how changes in risk ratings correlate with exposure to power plant emissions. The evolution of these exposures over time was also monitored.

Constant exposure

The analysis revealed that things were worse in the post-war period, when there was significant growth in power plants and the redlining system was in full swing. Here, redlining was associated with a 72% higher risk of having a nearby fossil fuel plant. This declined after the Clean Air Act was passed, but hasn’t changed much in recent years. The associations were even stronger when the most polluting plants, used to provide peak power, were taken into account.

In general, this type of effect was apparent in the different notes. The highest rated neighborhoods had lower exposure to the next highest rating, and so on to CD differences. And, although the magnitude of these differences varies across different periods, the trends are consistent throughout the period.

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Not surprisingly, this was also associated with exposure to pollution. Redlining was associated with an 80% increase in exposure to nitrogen oxides, a 40% increase in sulfur dioxide exposure, and a 60% increase in particular exposure compared to quarters classified in a single higher category.

It is also clear that this difference is persistent. While the magnitude has diminished in the more recent period, the differences between neighborhoods show the same trends, even though the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation closed in the 1950s. The effect persisted even in controlling socio-economic factors.

While racism clearly played a role in the underlined designations, that does not mean that direct racism played a role in the power plant sites. A small difference existed in the exposure of power plants in the pre-war period which displays exactly the same trend that was visible once the construction of power plants exploded. And there are indications that the presence of industrial sites like power plants may have influenced the ratings. Finally, low-income communities generally have less political power and therefore likely have less influence over the location of power plants.

Nevertheless, the redlining system has helped keep minorities in redlined neighborhoods and thus exposed them to higher levels of pollution. Thus, whatever the source of the disparity, its persistence is likely to be the result of the redlining process. And the impact can be dramatic, as air pollution is estimated to cause up to 100,000 premature deaths in the United States.

On the positive side, the United States has experienced a dramatic energy transition, shifting its reliance on natural gas, which pollutes less than coal and oil, and clean renewable generation. But the researchers cite evidence that the coal plants that have been shut down so far are mostly located near neighborhoods with low minority populations.

Nature Energy, 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41560-022-01162-y (About DOIs).

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