As environmental and public health advocates, the democratic process is key to the urgent progress needed to address key health threats, biodiversity collapse, and the climate crisis. The democratic process is key to advancing solutions that Beyond Pesticides works on by growing organic solutions and standards that provide for a livable and sustainable future.
We will not meet the existential environmental and health challenges of our time without a strong democratic process, where all people can protect their families and communities through the electoral process.
Our democracy and the right to vote has been under attack for quite some time but escalated with the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol one year ago. In fact, 19 states have already passed laws that are clearly designed to suppress votes, especially those of Americans of color who are forced to stand in long lines and often miss work, instead of being provided easy access to the ballot.
Why are we talking about voting rights? Voter suppression targets the same marginalized communities impacted by environmental racism. Environmental justice issues arise at every stage of the cradle-to-grave life cycle of toxic chemicals, from production, transportation, handling, and use, to disposal...
- Petroleum refineries are likely to be sited near poor communities composed of people of color.
- Mines contaminate tribal lands and poor rural communities.
- Manufacturing facilities are also located near low-income neighborhoods, employing their inhabitants in hazardous jobs.
- Pesticides are applied by farmworkers whose housing is surrounded by poisoned fields.
- Landscapers who handle dangerous pesticides are disproportionately people of color in many communities.
- Lower-income individuals living in older, larger multi-dwellings suffer adverse health from pesticides that are heavily used in those buildings.
- Toxic pesticides are applied more often in parks, playgrounds, and public spaces in lower-income neighborhoods.
- And, coming full circle, hazardous waste “disposal” sites are surrounded by low-income communities.
Our future is on the line. The voices of those from marginalized communities and environmentalists must be heard and their right to vote protected. For people and the planet to survive, we must adopt the changes necessary to reverse public health threats, biodiversity collapse, and the climate crisis. That's exactly why we must pass voting rights legislation, including the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
>>Tell your Senators to fix procedural roadblocks in the Senate and pass legislation to ensure that everyone can easily exercise their right to vote.