It’s increasingly well understood that deprived communities are more vulnerable both to air pollution and the negative consequences of climate change. A recent study from North Carolina State University suggests that such communities can also struggle to become more sustainable.
The research shows that communities affected by substantial manufacturing job losses in the past 50 years tend to have lower involvement in sustainability planning, limited sustainability-related abilities, and have made less headway in achieving sustainability targets such as energy and water conservation.
“Sustainability is important for addressing large-scale social problems, such as global climate change,” the researchers explain. “But it’s also important to remember that sustainability can help make communities more competitive in the long term. It can drive down energy and water costs for residents and local government; it can help communities attract state and federal funding for infrastructure projects. Essentially, sustainability makes communities more resilient, both economically and environmentally.”
Changes in employment
The study revealed that sudden changes in industrial employment were a crucial factor. Those communities with smaller fluctuations in employment, even if they experienced long-term job losses, showed greater engagement in sustainability planning, capabilities, and achievement. On the other hand, communities that underwent significant job losses in a short span struggled more with the transition.
“Because of deep-rooted connections between industry and community identity, we thought we might observe some differences between community capabilities and performance depending on their unique industrial histories,” the researchers explain. “The data bear that out.”
The study analyzed sustainability data from 320 counties across the US as of 2015, evaluating each municipality’s progress in three domains: sustainability planning, capability, and performance. The researchers gathered employment data from each of the 320 counties covering the period from 1969 to 2016. Utilizing this information, they applied path analysis, a statistical method, to uncover intricate structural relationships.
“Basically, that means we can get a better sense of the relationships between a number of variables and observed outcomes, both direct and indirect,” the authors continue. “In this case, the outcome we were interested in is sustainability performance.”
The findings were clear: communities that experienced abrupt and substantial job losses in manufacturing demonstrated weaker sustainability plans and capability and made less progress toward sustainability goals.
“Particularly given the attention—and funding—at the federal level for infrastructure, clean energy technology manufacturing, and climate adaptation, our study emphasizes the need to consider community history, context, and conditions as programs are designed and rolled out,” the authors conclude.
