海角大神

When Rev. William H. Lamar IV used to preach in Florida, he would take his predominantly Black congregation outside to publicly display the church鈥檚 connection to the community 鈥� until it became a health risk because of worsening heat.

鈥淚t was better to stay inside and be a little less hot than to go outside and be blazing and have no cover,鈥� recalled Rev. Lamar, now pastor of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.

That contrasted with Mr. Lamar鈥檚 tours of 鈥渨ealthier, whiter鈥� neighborhoods where he found people jogging beneath the shade of lush trees and frequenting parks and other green spaces.

鈥淥ur infrastructure continues to create these inequities that give more to the wealthy ... and continue to extract in life and treasure from other communities,鈥� he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The $1.2-trillion, 2,702-page infrastructure bill moving through the U.S. Congress 鈥� which was passed by the Senate last week 鈥� aims to help redress such imbalances.

It contains a new 鈥淗ealthy Streets鈥� program geared toward communities that are frequently left behind in efforts to mitigate so-called 鈥渦rban heat islands,鈥� where concrete-heavy city landscapes push up temperatures.

The legislation allows states and local governments to apply for grants of up to $15 million to deploy 鈥渃ool鈥� and porous pavements, which reflect heat and facilitate water runoff, and boost the tree canopy in disadvantaged areas, among other measures.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a good beginning, but it鈥檚 nowhere near everything we need,鈥� Rev. Lamar said, expressing hope that the 鈥渇ederal largesse鈥� could help spur more action by local governments.

Climate gentrification

Efforts have been underway for some time in cities to reduce the effects of rising heat fueled by climate change.

In California, new buildings must comply with strict 鈥渃ool鈥� or reflective roof requirements, while San Francisco demands that most set aside part of their roof space for solar panels or 鈥済reen鈥� features like vegetation and gardens 鈥� which can also help buildings in other cities meet energy efficiency standards.

Los Angeles famously started painting some of its streets white years ago in a bid to reflect the heat.

But neighborhoods that get upgrades to boost their resilience to a hotter climate can end up crowding out the poor as their popularity rises 鈥� a process known as 鈥渃limate gentrification鈥� 鈥� while many beneficiaries already live in higher-income areas insulated from the worst effects.

About 18% of the tree canopy in Los Angeles is concentrated in four neighborhoods 鈥� the tony Pacific Palisades and Brentwood areas, along with Shadow Hills and Los Feliz 鈥� that are home to less than 1% of the city鈥檚 population, according to CAPA Strategies, a data analytics group.

And all too frequently a community is supposedly 鈥渋mproved鈥� only to see speculators swoop in and drive up rents and property values, said Anthony Rogers-Wright with the nonprofit New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.

鈥淭hen people are either forced to move because they can鈥檛 afford new property taxes or they can鈥檛 afford the rents anymore,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he road to bad policy is paved with good intentions.鈥�

Promoting equity

The 鈥淗ealthy Streets鈥� program in the infrastructure bill aims to avoid this by requiring applicants to specify how the projects will benefit disadvantaged and low-income communities, where at least 30% of residents live below the poverty line.

Local governments that are awarded the funds can also use them to conduct 鈥渆quity鈥� assessments by mapping tree canopy gaps, flood-prone locations, heat island hot-spots, and the extent to which those risks overlap with lower-income areas.

鈥淵ou can overcome many generations of structural inequality, including racial inequality ... through investing in lower-income areas and moving from dark, impervious surfaces to reflective surfaces,鈥� said Greg Kats, founder and CEO of the Smart Surfaces Coalition, which advocates for such technologies.

Baltimore, Maryland would see a significant return on investment with a citywide plan involving cool roofs, solar panel installations, reflective pavements, and more trees, according to a report Mr. Kats鈥� group released last month.

A $5-million investment in Madison-Eastend, a lower-income neighborhood of east Baltimore, would generate a higher than 11-to-1 return through effects like job creation, it projected.

Smart surface policies would reduce peak summer temperatures there by an average of 8.3 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to a 4.3 F. reduction overall in central city areas, the report found.

Low-income residents also stood to reap a greater share of the resulting health benefits from lower air pollution, energy savings on less air conditioning and new jobs, it added.

Baltimore City Councilman Mark Conway said the report showed that broad adoption of smart surfaces would help 鈥渞edress longstanding environmental injustice.鈥�

Economics speak louder?聽

The new program presents an opportunity to take small steps forward amid broader calls from environmental justice advocates for at least $1 trillion in annual federal spending to combat climate change.

鈥淭his is a potential panacea moment if we do it correctly and intentionally,鈥� said Mr. Rogers-Wright, environmental justice director for the New York lawyers group.

鈥淲e have to make sure that these improvements are done with the buy-in of the community,鈥� he added.

Additional funding for studies to work out where to steer new projects, given the expense of major retrofits, would be welcome, said Saleem Chapman, chief resilience officer for the city of Philadelphia.

It has been working on a pilot to coat streets with coolants in a bid to tackle what can amount to a 22 F. peak temperature difference between neighborhoods.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be really hard to scale these projects 鈥� we鈥檝e spent two years and we鈥檙e probably going to do maybe a mile of actual roadway,鈥� said Mr. Chapman.

Rev. Lamar said advocates would need to push the case for more smart surfaces 鈥� and tailor their pitches to focus on the expected cost savings and financial gains if necessary.

鈥淗istory bears this out 鈥� that America is more moved by economics than it is by justice,鈥� he said.

This story was reported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.