The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Williams Institute School of Law published a study claiming that LGBTQ people are at greater risk for climate change effects.
The study drew upon data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
“This report provides some of the first empirical documentation as to how LGBT people differentially experience the negative effects of climate change compared to non-LGBT people,” UCLA researchers wrote. “Using U.S. Census data and climate risk assessment data from NASA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), we conducted a geographic analysis to assess the climate risk impacting same-sex couples.”
According to the study, LGBT people are at “greater risk of exposure to the negative effects of climate change compared to straight couples” because they are “disproportionately located in coastal areas and cities.”
For example, the report noted that Washington, D.C. has the “highest proportion of same-sex couples of any county in the United States.” The area also “scores high for a variety of climate risks, including heat waves (97th percentile), flooding (95th percentile), and dangerously strong winds (98th percentile).”
LGBT individuals will be less affected by supposed climate change if cities implement policies that “mitigate discriminatory housing practices.”
“More broadly, policies that mitigate discriminatory housing practices and provide economic relief to LGBT communities will impact the degree to which these communities are affected by climate crises,” the researchers claimed.
Several of the recommendations UCLA provided to assist in LGBT people’s climate crisis included increased government involvement.
“Policymakers and service providers must ensure that disaster relief is accessible and administered without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, including safe shelters, access to medication such as HIV treatment, and financial support for displaced LGBT individuals and families,” the report said.
American Faith reported that eight nonprofit organizations combatting so-called climate change are to receive $20 billion from the Biden administration.
The awards are described as a “first-of-its-kind national network to fund tens of thousands of climate and clean energy projects across America, especially in communities historically left behind and overburdened by pollution.”
“When President Biden and I made the largest investment in our nation’s history to address the climate crisis and to build a clean energy economy, we made sure that every community would be able to participate and benefit,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement. “The grantees announced today will help ensure that families, small businesses, and community leaders have access to the capital they need to make climate and clean energy projects a reality in their neighborhoods.”
