In a joint filing with the Missouri Public Service Commission on April 30, Ameren Missouri and the NAACP have agreed to work together to identify opportunities to provide affordable, renewable energy to persons who reside in low-income and minority communities within Ameren Missouri’s service territory.
“The more than 35 million families in the United States with incomes below twice the federal poverty level use approximately 30 percent of the nation’s residential electricity, but consistently are denied access to clean and affordable wind and solar- generated renewable power,” said Bruce Morrison, Missouri NAACP Environmental Justice Committee chair and an attorney with Great Rivers Environmental Law Center
Through its Environmental and Climate Justice Program, the NAACP works to address Environmental injustice, including the proliferation of climate change, which has a disproportionate impact on communities of color and low income communities.
“At a time when there is growing recognition that Missouri is at the nexus between examining its energy landscape and planning for climate change impacts, the NAACP is compelled to advance an equity based analysis of our energy choices and effects on community well-being, and the environment on which we all rely for our existence,” said NAACP Missouri President Rod Chapel.