Stationary sources of air pollution are disproportionately located in communities of color, but the causes for this disparity are unclear. This study assesses whether racialized appraisals of investment risk ('red-lining') undertaken by the US federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s influenced the subsequent siting of fossil fuel power plants. Across 8,871 neighborhoods in 196 US urban areas, a stepwise correlation was observed between risk grade, number of power plants, and cumulative quantity of power plant emissions upwind and within 5 km. Controlling for pre-existing power plants, 'hazardous' (D-grade, 'red-lined') neighborhoods had a higher likelihood of a fossil fuel power plant being sited and higher average present-day emissions of nitrous oxides, sulfur dioxide, and fine particulate matter compared with 'declining' (C-graded) neighborhoods. The results suggest racism in the housing market contributed to inequalities in present-day power plant emissions burdens.

Lara J. Cushing, Shiwen Li, Benjamin B. Steiger, Joan A. Casey