Pollution Inequality Worse Than Income Inequality

James K. Boyce, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, directs the environment program of the Political Economy Research Institute. His research focuses on theimpacts of inequalities of wealth and power and the dynamics of conflict and includes theToxic 100 Air Polluters, an index identifying the top U.S. air polluters among the world’s largest corporations. A2009 special report by USA Today  drew upon Boyce’s work, along with EPA data, to create a database exposing air toxicity in schools across the country. In a new study funded by the Institute for New Economic Thinking’sPolitical Economy of Distribution Series, Boyce collaborates with Klara Zwickl and Michael Ash to compare disparities of exposure to industrial air pollution in U.S. states and congressional districts among the poor and non-poor, as well as whites and non-whites. They find that in America, inequality is in the very air we breathe.

Above is the introduction to an interview with Professor Boyce which can be found here.

Plus, the links above are both interesting and informative as to the general distribution of air pollution in the US revealing inequalities that cannot be overcome within a system that is based on profits over people.