Yolanda, Minneapolis

“Polluted air causes huge health disparities in communities of color and indigenous communities.”

How have you experienced climate change in your own life?

I live in North Minneapolis. We lack access to clean water in our community, and we suffer the most from large polluters, like the HERC incinerator that are placed next to our neighborhoods. This polluted air causes huge health disparities in communities of color and indigenous communities. Kids in our neighborhood are more likely to have asthma. And on the macro scale, communities of color across the globe are most impacted by the extreme weather brought on by climate change.

How do you feel about climate change?

I think I feel largely anxious. But I feel excited to see so many people coming together to think about environmental justice. Doing the work to put climate change/environmental degradation from "far away and far off" to "current and local" is an important shift.