Coal Blooded Action Toolkit - Climate Access

Introduction to Investigating Coal PollutionConducting an investigation on coal pollution in your community is the first step toward strengthening thecommunity’s voice and leadership on environmental justice. In this section, you will learn the basics ofgathering data on health, economic and other impacts of coal in your community, gathering feedback fromthe community, and developing community campus partnerships. Use these tools to capture a picture ofyour community’s story.As you refine your focus regarding the issue of coal fired power plants, this is an opportunity to call onmembers in the community such as educators, the local EPA agency, doctors, nurses, nonprofits, studentorganizations, state environmental justice programs, public interest lawyers, etc. These individuals andorganizations can be instrumental in collecting the information/data you need. That may sound easy andyour community may, in fact, have already identified some of those. However, to ensure that you arebuilding a strong case certain details are necessary. The questions to consider are who, what, when andhow in the next steps to your research.During the course of your investigation, you should stay focused on finding answers to key foundationalquestions. In this section you will find a questionnaire, feel free to copy the form to use while you areworking with the community. It may seem extensive and overwhelming at first to gather this information, butit is essential to building a case and understanding the problem your community faces. You will have beenable to identify the core problems and what the community needs in order to improve the situation. You canbegin to formulate the patterns/trends that are significant to your case.NAACP Coal Blooded Action Toolkit14 | P a g e