Majority Black and Latino communities that received the worst grades under a racially discriminatory federal housing program known as redlining have nearly twice as many oil drilling wells as mostly White communities, a new study says. The study by scientists at the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia University in New York joined a large body of research showing how communities of color are disproportionately exposed to pollution and the resulting poor health outcomes. It comes on the heels of a report last month that said 45 million Americans are breathing dirtier air because of racial redlining. Throughout redlining's history, local zoning officials worked with businesses to place polluting operations such as industrial plants, major roadways and shipping ports in and around neighborhoods that the federal government marginalized. "I think one important thing to know is how public policy can affect health for many many decades to come," David J.X. Gonzalez, a postdoctoral fellow at Cal Berkeley and a co-author of the study, added. "It makes us aware that we need to focus on disparate exposures and health outcomes when we consider new policy. Studies like this can put equity into the equation." This story appeared in several media outlets around the country. For more, see our press release at Berkeley News.