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Justice & Health Equity
Ensuring everyone, regardless of background, has access to clean air, pure water, and a stable climate while workers and communities benefit from and have a fair say in the clean energy transition.
Picture of medical students at a Healthy Climate Wisconsin Strategy Retreat.
Picture of (from left to right) of members Langston Verdin, MPH, Carla Wright, MD, Rene' Settle Robinson, DPM, LaKesha Lawrence, MD, Victoria Gillet, MD, before a NAACP climate health discussion.
We are working toward a future that is fair, where everyone has the freedom to be as healthy as possible.
Health is not just about preventing disease, it is about freedom from pollution and fair access to the resources and opportunities that support well-being. It is about thriving communities that not only support individuals of all ages, races, and abilities but also respect and celebrate the emotional, mental, and physical experiences of every community member.
All people have the right to clean air, safe water, and a livable climate - including future generations- because these rights are fundamental to a long, happy, and healthy life. All of our efforts must be rooted in social justice because, as health professionals, our goal is to keep people healthy, and racism, wealth inequality, and social injustices unfairly make people more likely to get sick from air pollution, poor water quality, food scarcity, and climate disruption.
Stark health disparities are central to the challenge before us. Wisconsin has the third-highest particulate matter disparity in the country, with Black Wisconsinites experiencing poorer air quality and being 75% more likely to live near oil and gas facilities. This did not happen by chance or choice- the fossil fuel industry has a record of targeting communities of color when citing toxic facilities and risky infrastructure. When it comes to health, this shows up in hospitals as an 8 times higher asthma hospitalization rate for Black Wisconsinites, with children in formerly redlined communities in Milwaukee visiting the emergency room 20 times more than those in zip codes just a 15-minute drive away.
But the fossil fuel industry divides us, targeting communities of color and working class neighborhoods and making us all sick in the process.
Picture of HCW staff, members, and local concerned citizens speaking out against the Red Oak Ridge Gas Plant.
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more likely to live near oil and gas facilities.
Black Wisconsinites are
%
times more likely to visit the emergency room than those in zip codes a 15-minute drive away.
We are all made safer when we come together and refuse to sacrifice the most vulnerable among us.
Environmental harms like air pollution can’t be fully contained, so this disparity makes everyone sick. When we protect the most vulnerable among us, we protect all of us. We do that by advocating so that all Wisconsinites have a say in decisions that impact their health.
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We recognize that our patients are struggling with unfair health burdens across rural and urban Wisconsin, with working-class families often systematically excluded from the levers of power and policy-making. We reject that exclusion and advocate for them to be heard.
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Picture of Dr. Bikomeye, an HCW member, speaking at a press conference in front of the Oak Creek Coal Plant, with nonprofit partners the Sierra Club, ACE, and Citizen Action.
Those least responsible for fossil fuel pollution and climate disruption are often those most harmed. Protecting our most vulnerable is essential for the health of all our communities.
Picture of HCW staff Brittany Keyes, DPT, with Beloit High School students after they installed an air monitor on school grounds. Beloit's school district has a high number of asthma cases due to pollution.
Infectious diseases and pollution do not follow borders. Both on a global and local scale, frontline communities using the fewest resources and creating the least emissions are often those hit first and worst by air pollution and climate disasters. Not only are they hit first, but overlapping social inequities, like limited access to transportation to healthcare or shelter, make those disasters more deadly and costly to those families. Lingering trauma, higher costs, and fewer resources for recovery lower resilience for subsequent health issues or stressors, which these families disproportionately experience.
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Children under 5 years old carry almost 90% of the disease burden from climate change because they will experience more extreme weather within their lifetimes, their developing bodies are physically more vulnerable to pollution and trauma, and they are dependent on strong communities and caregivers. Those living with chronic illness or varying abilities, communities of color, outdoor workers, pregnant individuals, lower-income communities, caregivers, and the elderly are also most impacted.
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To protect one, we must protect all, and we are better for it. That means ensuring a fair society where everyone has the freedom to thrive. Our diversity makes our communities vibrant and higher connectedness brings friendship, security, and joy.
We must ensure workers are respected, transitioning our energy system in a way that protects fossil fuel workers as they transition and gives everyone access to family-sustaining union jobs. Every worker deserves a fair wage and the right to join a union to ensure their voices are heard and their rights are protected. Living wages and strong unions lead to healthier communities and a more robust economy, benefiting us all. Our economy is already starting to transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, but only through just policy can we make sure working people and communities thrive.
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Meanwhile, addressing the climate crisis through infrastructure and planning focused on the most vulnerable greatly benefits communities by creating resilient systems, enhancing public services, and fostering economic opportunities. These improvements lead to lower utility costs, job creation, and better health outcomes through reduced pollution, increased resource access, and greater social equity and cohesiveness.
This holistic approach also ensures that essential services remain operational during crises, promoting local economic development and enhancing overall community well-being and preparedness. The investments and benefits of the clean energy transition and climate adaptation, such as new infrastructure projects, should be prioritized for frontline communities.
Picture of Langston, a public health professional, advocating for safeguards at our Health in the Halls event in 2026.
If we come together and get this moment right, climate action can support worker dignity and build safe, vibrant, and resilient communities for all. Ensuring a fair clean energy transition for workers is critical to making that transition durable. Ensuring social cohesion through fairness is essential for our society to weather the storm of climate disruption.
We partner with and elevate the voices of those who are most impacted by fossil fuel pollution, climate change, and unjust systems.
We partner with community-based frontline groups and commit to diversifying health equity leadership. We strive to learn from those whose lived experience has been disproportionately disadvantaged by resource extraction and burning of fossil fuels and be inspired by their strength, resilience, and hopeful spirit. Community strength and solutions rooted in Indigenous knowledge have much to teach us about healing ourselves and our planet.
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We prioritize advocacy efforts requested by our frontline partners. Additionally, we advocate for diverse voices to be centered at the decision-making table and in community input processes surrounding environmental health, which includes a commitment to lowering structural and social barriers to participation. We can’t advocate for that within our systems without also turning an eye inward with an organizational responsibility to anti-racism. That includes fostering a new generation of diverse health professionals who better represent the communities we care for.
Picture taken by Devon Cupery of a retired nurse practioner, advocating alongside Tribal eaders at a Army Corp hearing on Line 5.
How to talk about it
We all do better together.
Across races, places, and class, we all want to ensure a bright future for our families. But, for too long, a handful of politicians bankrolled by Big Oil have divided us so they can lock us out of decisions, polluting communities based on what we look like or what’s in our wallets while spreading lies about the climate crises they created. The communities who’ve been hit hardest are the ones showing us the way to hold fossil fuel and private utility corporations accountable, protect our health, and win locally made and publicly owned clean energy. Joining together across race and place, we can follow their lead and ensure every community can chart our own clean energy future, repairing and reviving the places we call home. -Adapted from We Make the future.