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Question of the Month
Question of the Month:
What images of poor and low-income people do you see on television and in the movies, music videos, and newspapers? Do you think these images are accurate? Why or why not?
Previous Question of the Month:
How are poor people in the U.S. affected by environmental problems?
"Here in Louisiana religious congregations have started the Ezekiel 34 Initiative to promote legislation creating a comprehensive water policy for the state. It is the poor, especially children, who are most effected by polluted water. It is the poor who can least afford to drill new wells or purchase bottled water."
Robert Gorman
"Hazardous material dump sites are often located in poor, rural neighborhoods because they will encounter less organized resistance there, and the people have fewer resources to enlist help to protect themselves. Land around known polluters is often cheaper, so people with fewer options will settle in more hazardous areas."
Sr. Celeste Cotter, CSJ
"The poor are often concentrated in our urban centers, and live in highly polluted, or toxic areas that have been environmentally unsafe, and reinvesting in those areas is very costly. This too is one aspect of poverty."
Jerry Reynolds
"I guess most Americans take it for granted that we all breathe the same air and drink the same water. The fact is the poor and powerless bear a disproportionate burden of the effects of environmental problems. Their lands and neighborhoods are more likely to be polluted, to be located on or near toxic waste dumps, or to lack access to safe drinking water. In general, children have a higher risk than adults because of their smaller size, developing immune system, and other reasons. Nevertheless, children in poverty are at an even greater risk from environmental health hazards. They are less likely to have access to preventative health care. And in rural communities, exposure to pesticides poses health threats, particularly when one or both parents are agricultural workers."
Roxana Barillas
Project Administrator
Catholic Coalition for Children and a Safe Environment
"Poverty and pollution are intricately linked. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency recently published data citing that more than 46% of housing units for the poor are within a mile of factories that reported toxic emissions. Also, lead poisoning is the number one environmental health threat to American children, especially poor inner-city children."
Maura Kristof
Education for Justice Project
"Catholic Social Services (Diocese of Fall River) has implemented an Environmental Health Justice Project that addresses health disparities among low-income, urban minority populations. We provide asthma management education to help alleviate high rates of hospitalizations and missed school/work days."
Denise Porche
Diocese of Fall River
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Question of the Month 
