Editing Environmental racism (section)

== Fossil fuel racism ==
Fossil fuels are interconnected with crises like climate change, racial injustice, and public health. Various stages of fossil fuels include extraction, processing, transport, and combustion, all contributing to harmful pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The impacts of fossil fuel processing are not distributed equally with Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor as opposed to white, or wealthy communities. These communities experience health hazards from air and water pollution as well as the risks from climate change. Sacrifice zones are the concept associated with these communities where systemic racism intersects with a fossil fuel-based economy. From a perspective by Energy Research & Social Science, the "fossil fuel racism" phenomenon is framed through the argument that systemic racism effectively subsidizes the fossil fuel industry by allowing it to externalize the costs of pollution onto communities of color.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Donaghy |first1=Timothy Q. |last2=Healy |first2=Noel |last3=Jiang |first3=Charles Y. |last4=Battle |first4=Colette Pichon |date=2023-06-01 |title=Fossil fuel racism in the United States: How phasing out coal, oil, and gas can protect communities |journal=Energy Research & Social Science |volume=100 |pages=103104 |doi=10.1016/j.erss.2023.103104 |bibcode=2023ERSS..10003104D |issn=2214-6296|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Fossil fuel racism allows for a shift in the focus to the systems and structures that perpetuate these injustices. Implications with this effort follow as climate policy approaches often fail to address racial disparities and focus on broader impacts on public health. There is an urgent need for political and policy solutions revolving around the fossil fuel industry to address systemic injustices perpetuated by fossil fuel production and consumption.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}