Which statement best defines environmental racism in urban planning?

• A. It centers equity in climate action and policy
• B. It is the biased siting of facilities and investment that places pollution in marginalized communities
• C. It refers only to adaptation funding
• D. It is unrelated to policy decisions

Answer: (B)

Environmental racism in urban planning describes how decisions about where to locate polluting facilities and how to allocate investment systematically burden marginalized communities with higher pollution and fewer resources to cope with it. This concept centers on policy and planning choices—such as zoning, permitting, and funding patterns—that shape who bears environmental harms. The statement that best defines this is the biased siting of facilities and investment that places pollution in marginalized communities, because it directly ties the physical placement of pollution sources to the unequal distribution of resources and risks based on community characteristics.

Other options miss this core linkage: equity in climate action is about fairness in climate responses in general, not the specific pattern of biased siting and investment; focusing only on adaptation funding is too narrow to capture the broader systemic placement of pollution; and claiming it’s unrelated to policy decisions ignores how planning and governance drive these disparities.