Infrastructure Planning is Vital for Social and Racial Justice

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana 16 years to the day after a storm named Katrina arrived on these same shores.

While every storm is unique in its trajectory, wind speed, storm surge and other meteorological markers, the primary difference between the impacts on New Orleans from Ida versus Katrina lay not in nature, but in preparation — from individual action to municipal and federal investment.

Although the city is still recovering from significant damage wreaked by Ida, New Orleans was spared the far more catastrophic flooding and widespread loss of life it experienced with Katrina, as our levees withstood Ida’s storm surge — their strongest challenge since Katrina. Once an emblem of the deadly results of infrastructure neglect and indifference, New Orleans is now an example of how investments made today can reap huge returns in the future — dividends as precious as human life and as critical as economic security.

While New Orleans’ Ida experience is being hailed as a victory for infrastructure investment, it should also serve as a rallying cry for future commitment to communities — both within iconic cities and in lesser-known towns and municipalities throughout the country. Ida’s impacts upheld a devastating truth — Black, Brown and indigenous communities are too often the most vulnerable to the ravages of nature. And those who ventured mere miles outside of the Crescent City witnessed a far grimmer picture than the neighborhoods within the boundaries of the levees’ protection. Building resilience within these communities and affording all cities, towns and neighborhoods equitable levels of storm protection is essential to promoting economic, social and racial justice.

This starts with ensuring all residents have a seat at the table when decisions are being made and policies implemented on their behalf. Just as no two storms are alike, communities differ widely in their needs, abilities and desires. Relocation to higher ground might be a solution embraced in some locales, while the prospect is likely to be received with horror by others. Likewise, massive flood protection projects that fail to consider the long-term environmental, economic and social justice issues of individual communities could end up doing more harm than good. 

In short, while planning at the local level is crucial, we need a holistic, national approach to infrastructure and environmental protection. Now more than ever, disasters are global, imperiling a wide swath of humanity in their long, terrible treks. This is as true of storms like Ida — which began in the Caribbean and ended up unleashing deadly fury in the Northeast — as it is of pandemics. 

Wildfires on the West Coast cause air quality health warnings on the East Coast. COVID-19 and its variants threaten us all. Thus, disaster preparedness demands everyone’s attention. Individually, we must continue to know what it takes to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. On the local and regional levels, we must continue to advocate for greater resources for our communities, especially the most vulnerable. On a national level, we must support robust infrastructure improvements that account for the myriad needs of disaster prevention and recovery, from protecting our nation’s energy grid to flood prevention to financial assistance for the most vulnerable. 

Failure to do so will increase human misery, economic instability and social disruption in the future. Lives will be lost. Racial and socioeconomic inequities will be exacerbated. And we will continue to pay the huge costs of recovering from disasters that were more destructive than they need be. Our culture and social fabric will also suffer as climate migration accelerates and populations are increasingly displaced.

Unfortunately, the next storm, wildfire or health threat is just around the corner. But by working, planning and protecting our communities together — Black, White, Brown, rich, poor, urban and rural — we can ensure the best defense against the worst that nature can deliver. 

Lisa P. Jackson served as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2009 to 2013 and is currently Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. She is a daughter of New Orleans and serves on the board of Tulane University.

Michael A. Fitts is President of Tulane University.