I hold Baltimore dear to my heart. During the five years I lived in the city, I found a home away from home, an immigrant finding belonging. With curiosity and open-mindedness, I witnessed deep-rooted inequalities. From food apartheid to environmental health disparities and vacant homes amidst an unhoused population, these are all legacies of entrenched segregation, redlining and disinvestment that have left marginalized communities of color cut off from vital resources.

This is why I continue to be inspired by the powerful resistance and grassroots movements in the city (Are giant walls enough to shield Curtis Bay from coal dust? The neighborhood says no. — Oct. 10, 2024), such as the South Baltimore Community Land Trust, which has fought against CSX and the Wheelabrator incinerator.

The CSX coal terminal is a stark example of how powerful industries disproportionately affect communities like Curtis Bay. Despite CSX’s claims of protecting the local environment with measures like stormwater capture and electric trains, these actions do little to mitigate the ongoing threat of coal dust to the health of residents. Similarly, Wheelabrator’s incinerator, which burns trash for energy and releases toxic pollutants like mercury and lead, further degrades air quality and contributes to respiratory illnesses, such as asthma.

Permits for such polluting industries, particularly those operating near historically marginalized communities, should be contingent on securing informed consent from residents. These communities deserve more than surface-level improvements — they need meaningful, long-term solutions that reduce environmental harm and protect public health.

Economically, this situation reflects a classic case of externalities: Curtis Bay residents are disproportionately burdened by the health impacts of environmental degradation, while CSX’s efforts, including the $1.75 million settlement for the 2021 explosion — amounting to around $3,000 per affected resident — are insufficient to address the full scope of the damage. Polluting industries profit while local communities suffer the health consequences of poor air quality.

In a world scrambling to transition toward green energy, this shift often transfers the social costs to other vulnerable communities, like in Chile where lithium is mined or in cobalt extraction in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These resources fuel the decarbonization of wealthy nations, yet the underlying issue remains the same. Whether it’s mining, transporting, and burning coal, or incinerating trash for energy, it all underscores the unsustainable consumption driving our economy — where the most affected people are often those least responsible for the damage.

Valentina Soto Ruiz

Gaithersburg