News
Q&A: How Chicago’s Chief Sustainability Officer, a Southeast Side Native, Plans to Tackle Environmental Racism
Angela Tovar says her experiences growing up near “Slag Valley” deeply influence her approach to reform practices that have disproportionately burdened communities like the one she was raised in.
By Aydali Campa
Chicago is at a crucial moment as city officials and community leaders take the first steps to tackle environmental discrimination after a federal investigation revealed how the city’s zoning and planning practices have disproportionately placed polluting businesses in predominantly Black and Hispanic communities in the South and West Side.
Related Knowledge Center: Air emissions
State of Play
More than 30 years after the last major update of the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Supreme Court has upended the ability of Congress to give the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies broad scope to combat air pollution, including the emission of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, further Biden administration efforts to limit emissions face opposition in the courts.