Black Women Step Up to the Challenges of Climate Change

Climate change is changing our world and black women’s voices are becoming more prominent in the fight against it. In a New York Times Op-Ed written by former EPA Regional Administrator for the Southeast region and current National Director of Moms Clean Air Force, Heather McTeer Toney lays out how climate change negatively affects black communities and acknowledges the black women who are pursuing actionable ways to combat it.

While some may not see the correlation between the black community and climate change, Toney argues it’s part of the everyday black experience. “Many of us live in communities with polluted air and water, work in industries from housekeeping to hairdressing where we are surrounded by toxic chemicals and have limited food options that are often impacted by pesticides.” She noted, “Environmentalism, in other words, is a black issue.”

For more on Toney and other black female leaders in the fight against climate change, go to the New York Times website.