How Joe Biden and The Democratic Party’s Climate Agenda Increases Environmental Racism More Than It Reduces Emissions [A Three Part Series]

The Biden Administration, along with high ranking democrats including Senate Majority Leader, Charles Schumer, and former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, as well as a slew of acolytes representing centrist environmental organizations, celebrated the one-year signing of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA.   66% to 75% of the IRA’s largesse is in the form of tax credits. This in itself provides a profound advantage to white and affluent folk, as having more wealth and assets is directly correlated with the ability to take advantage of, and benefit from tax credits in general, and specifically in the context of the IRA.  The self-identified architects of the IRA are not Black, Indigenous, poor, nor do they reside in environmental justice communities. And like the Democrats, these “architects” also fail to comprehend and embrace a simple, yet salient aphorism – you cannot address or dismantle the climate crisis without deracinating its root causes, white “supremacy,” patriarchy, and colonization.  Occidental Petroleum, one of the wealthiest U.S.-based fossil fuel cartels, will receive a substantial piece of $1.2 Billion dollars from the Department of Energy to build a facility in a majority Black community in Texas which is already surrounded by a profligate number of fossil fuel infrastructure and associated toxic emissions.