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Falls Church, VA
100% of your virtual race registration entry fee will go to the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ). Thank you for your contribution, clean air is something everyone needs. We appreciate your extra efforts. The Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ) over the past 38 years has grown into the nation’s leading resource for grassroots environmental activism; a ground-breaking, progressive organization with a vision for clean, safe, green neighborhoods and communities.
Most community leaders who call CHEJ for assistance are low-wealth, African American, Latinx and white, living near sources of chemical and industrial pollution.
COVID-19 has hit poor communities of color hard and communities near chemical pollution, even harder. There are thousands of communities where pollution continues unabated, Sacrifice Zones, places where the health of residents is permanently sacrificed to industrial contamination.
In March the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that they will no longer monitor air pollution or take enforcement action at industrial sites across the country. EPA’s decision to look the other way is terrifying.
Today, according to health authorities, black and brown people are both getting sick from COVID-19 and dying at a higher percentage than the rest of the population. There are many reason for this disparity, including living in a place where the air is polluted. Breathing pollution everyday results in people being more vulnerable to respiratory disease and COVID-19.
Run for Clean Air is one way CHEJ is educating the public about this problem and raising funds to support our No More Sacrifice Zones Campaign. This is a national campaign with the goal of changing both policy and industrial practice around how much pollution industry can put into the air.
Today our efforts are focused on forcing EPA to put back in place the pollution monitoring and enforcement programs. Community leaders are already reporting more pollution, darkened skies and increases in respiratory problems. Families must stay home because of COVID-19 but their homes are not safe due to the industrial pollution.
Our No More Sacrifice Zone Campaign works with vulnerable communities, local governments and industry to find solutions to clean up the air. CHEJ believes it is possible to have a good economy and a clean, safe environment.We invite you hear more from front line community leaders on this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG-k2_OoNpI
