Resolved clauseKinder Morgan has scored in the bottom ten (491 out of 500) of the S&P500 on a recent Racial Justice Scorecard due to our Company’s inaction on Racial Justice. The low score is partially due to a poor track-record on environmental racism and climate justice. Emissions from multiple Kinder Morgan North American facilities have negatively impacted underrepresented adjacent communities, causing public health concerns and poor brand association. Specific community cases include toxic emissions from a facility located in the Dutchtown neighborhood of St. Louis.
Numerous studies describe how Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) communities are disproportionately exposed to public health risks, environmental racism, and climate injustice:
• “Environmental injustice contributes to disparities in health status across populations of different ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds, such as differences in the incidence and prevalence of asthma, obesity, diabetes, lung cancer, and a range of mental health and developmental
• “African-Americans are 75% more likely than others to live near facilities that produce hazardous waste.”
• “A 2016 study in Environment International found that long-term exposure to pollution is associated with racial segregation, with more highly segregated areas suffering higher levels of exposure.”
Local communities negatively impacted by emissions from Kinder Morgan facilities, have, for many years asked that the Company:
• Monitor air quality and publicly release emissions levels recorded near community centers, schools, churches, and healthcare centers.
• Hold accessible community meetings, engagement, and outreach programs for public comment to allow concerns of community members to be heard.
• Publicly release a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement that details the steps Kinder Morgan will take to become more environmentally responsible and racially just.
Given heightened awareness around environmental racism and climate injustice, failing to meet community requests for transparency, disclosure, and engagement raises the material risk of litigation and reduced brand value while directly contradicting public health safety concerns.
Whereas clauseShareholders request that Kinder Morgan, at reasonable expense and excluding proprietary information, issue a public report quantifying emissions released from its facilities that impact local communities and describe how the company intends to address and reduce such community impacts from its operations.
Supporting statementInvestors seek quantitative, comparable data to understand whether the Company is promoting a commitment to racial and environmental justice. Proponents suggest the report include:
• Site specific emission monitoring activities, facility-based emissions data, and any proposed operational mitigations to reduce community impacts
• A description of work with local community groups to implement a system for rapid public alerts immediately after an emission release
• A description of engagement with local communities near facilities
• Potential policies to promote racial, environmental, and climate justice within its operations