Transportation Series Ep. 4: EV for the People

 We are back with a special 4-part series on transportation justice, trucking, and the climate crisis.  In this 4th and final part of this special series, after visiting Long Beach, Kansas City, and Chicago, we now take a national view. And we dive into the question of why and how poor Black and brown people can and can’t move freely within cities and within our country. 

Part 4 of the Transportation Series features Darnell Grisby, the Executive Director of TransForm and a national thought leader in transportation policy and the mobility justice movement. Highways are one of the most racist monuments in American history. When we talk about where and how transportation is sited, we must address the legacy of racist policies and practices created to segregate and disenfranchise communities. Transportation justice is about abolishing pollution in communities, it is also very much about the privilege of mobility, and Darnell Grisby expertly breaks it all down for us in this final episode of this special series.

In this special 4-part series we explore transportation challenges and solutions for which dynamic leaders in frontline communities are fighting. Listen to this episode and the other three in this series. We focus on how the larger movement as well as the new administration can take action now to protect and uplift working class Black and brown communities while putting a meaningful dent in our climate pollution emissions. Transportation and warehousing are a fundamental part of the nation’s economy and one of the most significant contributors to the climate crisis. Trucks make up only 4% of vehicles on the road but contribute a baffling 90% of nitrogen oxide and diesel vehicle emissions. We see this reality in neighborhoods near highways, ports, and inland ports across the nation. Racist interstate planning makes Black and brown people most vulnerable to this pollution, elevating cancer risk and lowering life expectancy. 

Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com!Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood. #BlackLivesMatter  #ClimateJustice  #Think100

Transportation Series Ep. 3: Transportation Justice is Racial Justice – Chicago

We are back with a special 4-part series on transportation justice, trucking, and the climate crisis. Part 3 of this series lands us in the Chicago region, where North America’s largest inland port is just 40 miles southwest of the city. Approximately 3.5% of America’s GDP flows through this area, yet resources are purposely withheld from the community. While industry seeks to pit laborers against the community, leaders like Roberto Clack, the Associate Director of Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ), and Kimberly Wasserman, the Executive Director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), are tackling transportation justice as a united front with warehouse workers, labor unions, and environmental justice activists.

In this special 4-part series we explore transportation challenges and solutions for which dynamic leaders in frontline communities are fighting. Listen to this episode and the other three in this series. We focus on how the larger movement as well as the new administration can take action now to protect and uplift working class Black and brown communities while putting a meaningful dent in our climate pollution emissions. Transportation and warehousing are a fundamental part of the nation’s economy and one of the most significant contributors to the climate crisis. Trucks make up only 4% of vehicles on the road but contribute a baffling 90% of nitrogen oxide and diesel vehicle emissions. We see this reality in neighborhoods near highways, ports, and inland ports across the nation. Racist interstate planning makes Black and brown people most vulnerable to this pollution, elevating cancer risk and lowering life expectancy. 

Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com!Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood. #BlackLivesMatter  #ClimateJustice  #Think100

Transportation Series Ep. 2: Mobility Crossroads – Kansas City

We are back with a special 4-part series on transportation justice, trucking, and the climate crisis. In part 2 of this special series we visit Kansas City. Kansas City straddles the border of Missouri and Kansas, serving as a midpoint between the West and East coasts of the United States. This inland port is polluted with rail yards, highways with heavy freight traffic, and petrochemical facilities. In part 2 of The Coolest Show’s Transportation Series, we visit Kansas City and speak with community leaders Beto Lugo-Martinez, the Co-Director of Clean Air Now, and Rachel Jefferson, the Executive Director of Groundwork Northeast Revitalization Group (Groundwork NRG).  They bring to life the importance of fighting for transportation justice, centering on the community, local workers, and the environment.

In this special 4-part series we explore transportation challenges and solutions for which dynamic leaders in frontline communities are fighting. Listen to this episode and the other three in this series. We focus on how the larger movement as well as the new administration can take action now to protect and uplift working class Black and brown communities while putting a meaningful dent in our climate pollution emissions. Transportation and warehousing are a fundamental part of the nation’s economy and one of the most significant contributors to the climate crisis. Trucks make up only 4% of vehicles on the road but contribute a baffling 90% of nitrogen oxide and diesel vehicle emissions. We see this reality in neighborhoods near highways, ports, and inland ports across the nation. Racist interstate planning makes Black and brown people most vulnerable to this pollution, elevating cancer risk and lowering life expectancy. 

Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com!Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood. #BlackLivesMatter  #ClimateJustice  #Think100

Transportation Series Ep. 1: Electrification without Automation – Long Beach

We are back with a special 4-part series on transportation justice, trucking, and the climate crisis. In part 1 of this special series we travel to Long Beach, California to speak with community and national leaders Laura Cortez, the Co-Director of the East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, and Angelo Logan, the Director of the Moving Forward Network. Long Beach is a port city in Southern California and the site of ship traffic, oil refineries, and cancer clusters along freeways. Electrifying trucking ensures the health and economic prosperity of both laborers and communities, but that is only the beginning of transportation justice for Long Beach communities on the frontlines. 

In this special 4-part series we explore transportation challenges and solutions for which dynamic leaders in frontline communities are fighting. Listen to this episode and the other three in this series. We focus on how the larger movement as well as the new administration can take action now to protect and uplift working class Black and brown communities while putting a meaningful dent in our climate pollution emissions. Transportation and warehousing are a fundamental part of the nation’s economy and one of the most significant contributors to the climate crisis. Trucks make up only 4% of vehicles on the road but contribute a baffling 90% of nitrogen oxide and diesel vehicle emissions. We see this reality in neighborhoods near highways, ports, and inland ports across the nation. Racist interstate planning makes Black and brown people most vulnerable to this pollution, elevating cancer risk and lowering life expectancy. 

Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com! 

Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood. #BlackLivesMatter  #ClimateJustice  #Think100