The DOI matches its Crossref record; 61 of the 61 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Energy efficiency as energy justice: addressing racial inequities through investments in people and places
Open accessAbstract
Structural racism in the form of racial residential segregation and the series of laws, policies and practices that continue to reinforce it, has robbed generations of African Americans of socioeconomic opportunity, wealth accumulation, safe, secure or energy-efficient housing, and full societal inclusion. Research indicates that African Americans are more likely to live in older, energy inefficient homes with structural deficiencies, outdated appliances and faulty energy systems. These conditions lead to a disproportionate burden of energy insecurity, defined as "the inability to adequately meet household energy needs" among African Americans across the economic spectrum. This, in turn, generates increased costs and decreased comfort, conditions closely linked to adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Persistent income inequality, wealth gaps and entrenched racial residential segregation have disenfranchised African Americans and reduced their ability to escape this pernicious cycle. Weatherization, which is the practice of protecting a building's interior from the elements while enhancing its energy efficiency and reducing costs, could be a catalyst for reducing the disproportionate energy burden affecting low-income individuals and ultimately improve health and social outcomes among African Americans. We argue for investing in policies that provide energy efficiency and weatherization assistance -- and not only energy bill assistance -- to provide a long-term and equitable solution to energy insecurity that is also a critical step toward restorative justice.
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“In addition, more forests mean more wildlife habitats and low-cost recreational lands, as well as cleaner water and air because trees deliver powerful pollutant filtration ecosystems (48, 53, 54).”
From A framework for localizing global climate solutions and their carbon reduction potential (2021) · cites this paper as [48]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Lewis, J., Hernández, D., & Geronimus, A. T.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hernández, Diana
- Venue
- Energy Efficiency
- Published
- 2019-11-06
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 419-432
- ISSN
- 1570-646X (ISSN-L)
- 1570-6478
- PMC
- PMC7966972
- OpenAlex
- W2989075863
- Cited by
- 160
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 25.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Energy Efficiency (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (P30ES009089)
- JPB Environmental Health Fellowship granted to Diana Hernández and managed by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Grant (N/A)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Environmental Justice and Health Disparities
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Energy and Environment Impacts
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
- Keywords
- energy justice, energy insecurity, racial residential segregation, structural racism, African Americans, energy burden, low-income households, income inequality, wealth gap, health outcomes, restorative justice, energy policy
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