Nonprofit Youth Versus Apocalypse aims to combat environmental racism

Black families are 75% more likely to live near toxic oil and gas facilities

SAN FRANCISCO, L.A. (Ivanhoe Newswire)– According to the NAACP, Black families are 75% more likely to live near toxic oil and gas facilities. Besides a worsening climate, the pollutants are also linked to cancer, asthma, and birth defects.

Isha Clarke said this is not a coincidence, but another sign of environmental racism. That’s why the 17-year-old formed the nonprofit, Youth Versus Apocalypse, and is determined to change that course.

This may look like a light-hearted conversation among teenagers, but Isha Clarke and Aniya Butler have bigger things on their mind.

“What I am fighting for is a world where all people can truly thrive,” Isha Clarke, Founder of Youth Versus Apocalypse, told Ivanhoe.

Clarke founded Youth Versus Apocalypse, a youth-run, nonprofit that’s striving to not only reverse climate change but the environmental injustices that caused it.

Clarke shared, “Environmental injustice and environmental racism specifically, is when communities of color are targeted with pollution. That looks like refineries in communities of color.”

Another example of environmental injustices resides in Detroit where higher rates of asthma has been documented among minority children. It’s believed those numbers are connected directly to their polluted neighborhoods built alongside busy interstates.

“Our future is now becoming a possibility as we continue to do, nothing you know about climate change,” Aniya Butler, participant at Youth Versus Apocalypse, stated.

That’s why Youth Versus Apocalypse has been mobilizing young people to make a difference.

“Sometimes that looks like mass protests, or social media campaigns, public board meetings, and making public comment. We led a climate strike with over 30 thousand people,” Isha Clarke announced.

Last year, they released an EP of their work.

Aniya Butler uttered, “You don’t have to, you know, speak in front of millions of people to be an activist, just fight for our future.”

It seems the voices from Youth Versus Apocalypse and other climate activist groups are being heard. California representative Raul Ruiz has backed New Jersey Senator Cory Booker in a new piece of legislation to combat environmental injustice. It seeks to hold federal agencies accountable for environmental hazards impacting communities.

Sources: https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/11/study-black-people-are-75-percent-more-likely-to-live-near-toxic-oil-and-gas-facilities/ https://planetdetroit.org/2020/06/how-air-pollution-and-asthma-affect-kids-in-detroit/ https://aldianews.com/articles/politics/rep-raul-ruiz-fights-environmental-justice-senator-cory-booker/64127

Contributor(s) to this news report include: Jennifer Winter, Producer; Rusty Reed, Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor. To receive a free weekly email on Smart Living from Ivanhoe, sign up at: http://www.ivanhoe.com/ftk


About the Authors:

RJ Marquez is the traffic anchor/reporter for KSAT’s Good Morning San Antonio. He also fills in as a news anchor and has covered stories from breaking news and Fiesta to Spurs championships and high school sports. RJ started at KSAT in 2010. He is proud to serve our viewers and be a part of the culture and community that makes San Antonio great.

Roslyn Jimenez is a news producer at KSAT. Before joining the team, she was a producer and video editor at KIII-TV and a radio intern in Corpus Christi. She graduated from Del Mar College with an Associate's degree in political science and liberal arts. Roslyn is family-oriented and loves spending time with her fiancé and chihuahua Paco.