March 04, 2021

A new report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finds 11 million Americans—or nearly 10 percent of families—are at risk of eviction or foreclosure because of the economic effects of the pandemic. This number is expected to grow as eviction moratoriums expire. The report, which shows the average late renter owes more than $5,000 in rent and utilities, underscores the need for additional rental assistance.

A century ago, racist policies forced Black residents out of some DC neighborhoods that today are mostly white and affluent. In the coming weeks, the DC Council will vote on mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed changes to the city’s zoning policy to allow taller apartment buildings with some subsidized units in key corridors. Bowser said the plan will help address the displacement of Black residents, but some advocates worry the proposal would add luxury housing stock and would not make housing access more equitable. Meanwhile, business leaders and developers say the proposal could discourage new projects once the pandemic ends.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is appealing a district judge’s ruling that found the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) eviction moratorium is unconstitutional. US District Judge J. Campbell Barker ruled the federal government lacks authority over interstate commerce to impose a residential eviction moratorium, but Brian Boynton, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil division, disagrees. “The CDC’s eviction moratorium…protects many renters who cannot make their monthly payments due to job loss or health care…and helps to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Boynton said.

According to the National Black Environmental Justice Network, Black people are 79 percent more likely to live in areas with industrial pollution than white people. Another report found Black people breathe 56 percent more pollution than they create, and white people breathe 17 percent less than they create. These disparities have significant health consequences for Black communities, causing environmental justice advocates to call for stringent environmental policies that incorporate a racial justice framework. “Knowing the history of the environmental justice movement, it’s very important to see how the climate-framing in this new administration, and the policies as they get moved out, that they have taken that justice lens,” said Robert Bullard, a professor of environmental policy at Texas Southern University.