Echoing the topics of discussions in the headlines, this article talks about the impending end of state moratoria. Citing studies like the American Housing Survey, the article discusses disproportionate impacts felt by low-income communities as COVID-19 has compounded their already-precarious conditions. As cited by scholars like Bouzarovski et al. (2013) and Day and Waler (2013), low income households tend to be disproportionately impacted by relatively high energy costs, where they generally spend more than 10% of their income on energy bills and may have to forego medicine, food, or other necessities. That said, interesting to this project's own aim to call for better energy policies, the article suggests better energy efficiency funding and policies that specifically funnel energy funding to low-income communities, given they are not currently and effectively targeted. One common theme that has also been taken into consideration by the research group and that is also echoed in this article pertains to discussions on aged housing stock as a contributor to high energy consumption in low-income households. It would be interesting to have this research group further explore disproportionate rates of burden in black, Hispanic, and other minority communities.
Angely Mercado, "Report: Black households spend almost 50 percent more on utilities than white households", contributed by Briana Leone, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 11 September 2020, accessed 19 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/report-black-households-spend-almost-50-percent-more-utilities-white-households
Critical Commentary
Echoing the topics of discussions in the headlines, this article talks about the impending end of state moratoria. Citing studies like the American Housing Survey, the article discusses disproportionate impacts felt by low-income communities as COVID-19 has compounded their already-precarious conditions. As cited by scholars like Bouzarovski et al. (2013) and Day and Waler (2013), low income households tend to be disproportionately impacted by relatively high energy costs, where they generally spend more than 10% of their income on energy bills and may have to forego medicine, food, or other necessities. That said, interesting to this project's own aim to call for better energy policies, the article suggests better energy efficiency funding and policies that specifically funnel energy funding to low-income communities, given they are not currently and effectively targeted. One common theme that has also been taken into consideration by the research group and that is also echoed in this article pertains to discussions on aged housing stock as a contributor to high energy consumption in low-income households. It would be interesting to have this research group further explore disproportionate rates of burden in black, Hispanic, and other minority communities.