"This administration has sent a signal to the polluting community, 'You can get away with bad habits'," says Browner. "State governments in the north-east were much tougher, so the north-eastern power stations upgraded their emissions standards in the 90s whereas the mid-west guys, who are their competitors, didn't.
East London, with some of the most deprived, blighted and polluted communities in Europe, is targeted by the road-building lobby and Transport for London for not just one more Thames four-lane road bridge or tunnel, but three.
Community groups and other critics say that in recent years the department has repeatedly failed to protect residents in some of California's most polluted communities.
The appointment culminated a heated public meeting in Diamond Bar punctuated by outbursts from dozens of environmental activists, many from some of the region's most polluted communities.
And by law at least one quarter of those funds must go to projects that help economically disadvantaged, highly polluted communities.
Juan Parras is the founder of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, a grassroots organization aimed at improving air quality and environmental health for the Lone Star State's most heavily polluted communities.
To those who insist we need more evidence of harm before acting, or to the millions of Americans living and dying in our most polluted communities?
The real story is a new economy that's cleaning the air and protecting health in our most polluted communities while bringing good jobs and life-changing opportunities to neighborhoods that have had too little of either.
This assertion is consistent with studies that found a substantial decrease and statistically non-significant risk among adults who had an occupational exposure associated with impaired lung functions and living in less industrially polluted communities compared with those adults with similar occupational exposure but living in more industrially polluted communities.
GCM's founder developed the sampling program under a project for Communities for a Better Environment, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 that provides legal, scientific, and technical assistance to heavily polluted communities.
