

The year 2020 was one of the warmest on record, wildfire season in the West is longer and hurricanes are more dangerous. The health threats from oil and gas production are very real and it’s crucial to reduce fossil fuel development-especially on public lands that should be contributing to our health and well-being.Ĭlimate change is happening here and now. The original plan was to place the wells near a predominantly white school but the location changed after angry parents pushed back. In Greeley, Colorado, residents of a predominantly Latino and immigrant community are trying to close an oil and gas operation located two blocks from a public school.

Not surprisingly, these communities are fighting back. Fossil fuel development can also leak toxic substances into the soil and drinking water sources, causing cancer, birth defects and liver damage.īlack, Brown, Indigenous and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted since these groups tend to live in neighborhoods with more pollution. What’s more, when fossil fuels are burned by automobiles, power plants and industrial facilities, they release even more impurities.Īir pollution from fossil fuels is known as the “invisible killer.” It can lead to respiratory, cardiovascular and other diseases and is responsible for more than 13 percent of deaths in people aged 14 and older in the United States. More than 12 million people live within 1/2 mile of these sites and are exposed to pollutants on a daily basis. landscape-from active wells to processing plants. A total of 1.2 million oil and gas production facilities scar the U.S.
