Nov. 26, 2017

Gas Industries Are Poisoning African-Americans
By Dashea Smith

Kathy Egland, chair, NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Committee 

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – The NAACP and the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) have co-authored a landmark report that, for the first time, demonstrates the specific health risks that airborne pollutants from oil and natural gas developments cause in African-American communities.

The study, “Fumes Across the Fence-Line: The Health Impacts of Air Pollution from Oil and Gas Facilities on African American Communities” was recently released at the National Press Club by CATF and NAACP and supported by the National Medical Association.

“We’ve found that fence-line communities, including many African Americans, are suffering especially serious health consequences as a result of these emissions,” says Lesley Fleischman, Research Analyst for Clean Air Task Force and co-author of the study.

This study provides data on environmental racism that activists have been fighting for. According to a release from the NAACP, some of the findings of the groundbreaking study are:

• Oil and gas facilities are built within a mile of over one million African- Americans, exposing them to a higher risk of cancer due to air toxic secretions.
• The oil and gas industries violated the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) air quality standards due to the gas emissions in the African-American communities causing over 130,000 asthma attacks among children and over 100,000 missed school days each year.
• New oil refineries are being built close to more than 6.7 million African- Americans excessively exposing them to hazardous emissions such as benzene, sulfur dioxide and more.

The health risks impact from the oil and natural gas supply chain are based on data examining how air toxics increases the risk of cancer and respiratory disorders in counties that exceeds EPA’s level of concern. The largest African-American populations with the cancer risk are found in Texas and Louisiana.

Houston and Dallas is the largest population for risk of childhood asthma attacks due to ozone smug. Since pollutants can travel thousands of miles before forming ozone smog, Washington, D.C., Chicago and New York City face thousands of asthma attacks each year.

“Energy companies often deny responsibility for the disproportionate impact of polluting facilities on lower-income and communities of color,” said Kathy Egland, NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Committee chair, in a statement.

“It is claimed that in most cases the potentially toxic facilities were built first and communities knowingly developed around them. However, studies of such areas show that industrial polluting facilities and sites have frequently been built in transitional neighborhoods, where the demographics have shifted from wealthier White residents to lower-income people of color. Polluting facilities also reduce nearby property values, making them more affordable areas to live in for people who do not have the means to live elsewhere."

To Be Equal 

'No Success Without a Successor:' Urban League 25
By Marc H. Morial

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - "You are where you are today because you stand on somebody's shoulders. And wherever you are heading, you cannot get there by yourself. If you stand on the shoulders of others, you have a reciprocal responsibility to live your life so that others may stand on your shoulders. It's the quid pro quo of life. We exist temporarily through what we take, but we live forever through what we give." – Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.

When I began my career in public service 25 years ago, I was fortunate to have outstanding mentors and role models, most notably my own parents. Ernest “Dutch” Morial and Sybil Morial were – and my mother continues to be – tireless activists and advocates for civil rights and social justice.  I grew up in the movement, and was inspired by heroes such as Whitney M. Young, Roy Wilkins, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Dorothy Height. I first sought elected office in the era of Douglas Wilder, the first Black governor of Virginia, and Carol Mosely Braun, the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate. The management guru Peter Drucker said “there is no success without a successor,” and while I humbly pray that I may represent the success of my mentors and role models, I recognize that all of us are part of a continuum.

We launched Urban League 25 to recognize and encourage the best and brightest leaders under 40 – the next generation of Dr. Mae Jemisons and Colin Powells and Barack Obamas.

When I was appointed President of the National Urban League, I remember well that one of my concerns when I joined was whether we would be able to replace the giants of the movement, the disciples of Whitney M. Young, with people who are not only qualified and committed, but who also recognized the needs and the potential of a rapidly-changing political, technological and social landscape.

We have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. Young people are joining the movement at an unprecedented rate, and several of our affiliate CEOs have risen from the ranks of our Young Professionals.

It is these young men and women, and their counterparts in business, science, government and the arts, that we will to recognize with Urban League 25.

From corporate to government to media and technology, Urban League 25 honorees are those who are unwilling to accept the status quo. They are change agents who have reinvented business models for a new era. They believe unreachable summits do not exist. Their objective is simple yet ambitious: To redefine and power the digital revolution.

In the coming weeks, we will begin soliciting nominations for our first Urban League 25 honorees. It’s a project that is close to my heart, and I look forward to celebrating the excellence that fuels not only our movement but our national institutions and culture.

Nov. 19, 2017

Payday Lenders Try Legislative Run Around State Laws, CFPB Regulation
By Charlene Crowell

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’ is a well-known adage. In recent weeks, it seems that phrase could also be an apt description of the unrelenting efforts of predatory payday lenders to sell their wares.

Across the country, 15 states as well as in the District of Columbia, with varying geographies, economies and demographics have enacted strong rate cap limits. In each locale, these actions were taken to curb the harmful consequences of payday lenders’ 300 percent or higher interest rate loans.

When voters or legislatures approve rate caps, these lenders seek loopholes to evade state requirements. Changing products from payday to car title-loans is one way. Others pose as “loan brokers” or “mortgage lenders” to avoid regulation of payday lending. Even at the federal level and on the heels of a still-new rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), payday lenders and their supporters are now pressing for legislation to continue and expand triple-digit lending on small-dollar loans.

The same deception that hides the real cost of predatory, consumer loans is reflected in the title of pending legislation in both the House of Representatives and in the Senate. The Protecting Consumers’ Access to Credit Act of 2017 (H.R. 3299 and S. 1624) would allow payday lenders, high-cost online lenders, and other predatory lenders to partner with banks to make loans that surpass existing state interest rate limits. This legislative scheme would legalize payday lenders to charge triple-digit interest rates despite state laws banning them.

Some term this financial switch as innovation for “fintech”, a recently coined term that smacks of the 21^st Century’s tech focus. But in everyday terms, these actions are a renewed effort for an old scheme known as “rent-a-bank”.

If the bill is enacted, states that have annually saved an estimated $2.2 billion each year by banning triple-digit interest would have to face the return of past debt trap lending. Additionally, and in 34 states where a $2,000, 2-year installment loan with interest higher than 36 percent is illegal today, would enable predatory lenders to charged unlimited rates on these longer-term loans.

One more item to note - these measures are advancing with bipartisan support.

Virginia’s Senator Mark Warner, the lead sponsor of that chamber’s version has Senators Gary Peters (Michigan), Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania) and Steve Daines (Montana) as his co-sponsors. On the House side, Rep. Patrick McHenry from North Carolina, has the help of two Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members, New York’s Congressman Greg Meeks and Wisconsin’s Congresswoman Gwen Moore.

Right now, both New York and Pennsylvania have rate caps prevent triple-digit rate lending. It is therefore curious why bill co-sponsors would strip their own state law protections. In other home states of these legislators, payday loan interest rates are some of the highest in the country. For example, in Wisconsin the average payday interest rate is 574 percent; in Michigan, the average interest is 369 percent. This bill would expand this type of predatory lending in their states, rather than reining it in.

On November 15, the House bill passed out of its assigned committee with a split among CBC members serving on the House Financial Services. While Representatives Maxine Waters (California), Al Green (Texas), and Keith Ellison (Minnesota) opposed the bill, Lacy Clay and Emanuel Cleaver (both of Missouri), joined Meeks and Moore in its support.

It is noteworthy that in Missouri, the average payday loan interest rate is 443 percent. Further, just days before the November 15 vote, a new study by the Cleveland Federal Reserve found that the loans addressed in this bill would be reminiscent of the subprime mortgage loans that lead to the 2008 financial crisis.

For civil rights advocates, the committee vote was disturbing.

“The potential costs and damage to consumers is significant, especially for borrowers of color, as research shows that payday lenders disproportionately target communities of color and trap consumers in unsustainable cycles of borrowing and reborrowing high-cost loans,” said Vanita Gupta, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “Under these arrangements, banks effectively ‘rent’ their federal charter powers to non-banks lenders, in exchange for a fee associated with each loan.”

“The swarm of payday lenders in our communities is blocking access to responsible credit and lending options, which have found that they cannot compete with such deep pockets and market penetration,” noted Hilary O. Shelton, Director of the NAACP’s Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy. “Responsible banking policy would be acting to end these high-cost loans, not make them more common.”

The concerns of civil rights leaders are also shared by a nationwide coalition of 152 national and state organizations who together advised all of Congress of their collective opposition. Coalition members include church conferences and affiliates, consumer groups, housing, labor, legal advocates and others. Approximately 20 state attorneys general are also on record opposing the bill’s provision.

“This bill represents the efforts of high-cost lenders to circumvent the most effective protection against predatory loans—state interest rate caps,” said Scott Estrada, Director of Federal Advocacy with the Center for Responsible Lending. “Rather than making it easier for predatory lenders to exploit financially distressed individuals, Congress should be establishing a federal rate cap of 36 percent that protects all Americans, just as it did in 2006 for members of the military at the urging of the Department of Defense.”

Charlene Crowell is the communications deputy director with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..