VIDEO: Sen. Kamala Harris on Climate Change and Black Maternal Health

Washington D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) highlights the alarming connections between Black maternal and infant mortality and climate change. The video from Harris is the first in a series of Climate Power 2020 videos featuring prominent elected leaders discussing the importance of climate action in 2020.

“When you look at Black maternal mortality, in terms of babies that are born stillborn, well, what we find is a lot of that has to do with the environment, including the air and the pollution that exists in those communities,” Harris said in the video. “Let’s see the connections, let’s fight against racial bias, let’s fight against systemic racism and let’s fight for our climate.”

Studies have shown that Black mothers and their babies are disproportionately impacted by pollution and climate change. One Journal of the American Medical Association-connected study found that Black mothers are nearly two-and-half times more likely to have children with a low birth weight than their white counterparts.

Scientists have also warned that soot pollution disproportionately affects communities of color and can cause cancer, heart disease, and asthma, which kills Black children at 10 times the rate as white children.

These disparities are exacerbated by the fact that African Americans are more likely to live near power plants, less likely to have adequate healthcare, and don’t receive equal levels of medical treatment.

Transcript:

It’s Kamala Harris. I want to thank everybody for being fighters to protect our environment and to know the connections between issues.

For example, Black maternal mortality, Black women are three to four times more likely to die in connection with childbirth.

When you look at Black maternal mortality, in terms of babies that are born stillborn, well, what we find is a lot of that has to do with the environment, including the air and the pollution that exists in those communities.

Let’s see the connections, let’s fight against racial bias, let’s fight against systemic racism and let’s fight for our climate.