The Bronx Fire is an Energy Justice Issue
Contributor: Nazish Qureshi
Editors: Kadiatou Balde, Hadeel Abbas and Zainab Gilani
Energy poverty is a real issue — this is a fact. There are people in our society who struggle to keep their homes warm and power their lights and appliances. Most of these people belong to lower-income households (typically BIPOC communities and new immigrants), who tend to live in affordable housing and lower-income neighbourhoods. The Bronx fire was suffered by predominantly poor, working-class, African Muslim, immigrant families. They were living on Section 8 vouchers, a form of government rental assistance for low-income people.
Unfortunately, the buildings in these communities are usually older dwellings typically in very poor conditions. For instance, the building will have incredibly poor insulation, old and inefficient furnaces/central heating.
As a result, inhabitants are forced to use space heaters as supplemental heating to keep their homes warm on top of their central heating, which quite frankly should never be needed if folks are already paying utilities for central heating.
As a matter of fact, in a recent research study by American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, lower-income households across the US pay four times as much on utilities as wealthier ones.
This is outrageous and completely unacceptable! No dwelling that is unsafe for a living should be put on the market. The blame falls completely on municipalities, and those profiting off the housing industry, for their inability to safely audit these older buildings to ensure all necessary upgrades have been made before anyone lives in them.
Our building codes are a whole other story and need a long overdue update. And when we look at the conditions of dwellings in Indigenous communities, and the struggles of energy poverty there, the matter is a lot more alarming, where there is a lack of access to clean water, uninterrupted affordable energy and so forth.
The Bronx Apartment fire is not an accident. It was caused by gross municipal negligence and innocent people have died as a result of it.
*Gross negligence refers to “a conscious and voluntary disregard of the need to use reasonable care” (Legal Dictionary)
The injustice of the Bronx fire indicates the need for an urgent structural shift in housing policies that center frontline communities.
Energy efficiency is not just about cutting emissions to transition to a low carbon economy, it is about social justice. It is about the right of every human to live in a safe, comfortable and affordable home with access to uninterrupted, safe and affordable energy.
Sources
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) “Report: Low-Income Low-Income Households, Communities of Color Face High ‘Energy Burden’ Entering Recession”. https://www.aceee.org/press-release/2020/09/report-low-income-households-communities-color-face-high-energy-burden
The Bronx Fire Was Not Only a Tragedy, but Also a Housing Injustice. https://theintercept.com/2022/01/11/bronx-fire-housing-justice-eric-adams-kathy-hochul/
Defining Energy Justice. Initiative for Energy Justice. https://iejusa.org/section-1-defining-energy-justice
Sen. Gillibrand, Rep Torres Propose Federal Heat Sensor Requirement in Wake of Deadly Bronx High-Rise Fire. CBSN New York. https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2022/01/17/sen-gillibrand-rep-torres-propose-federal-heat-sensor-requirement-in-wake-of-deadly-bronx-high-rise-fire/
