Can the Harris Walz campaign get voter turnout in a Pennsylvania environmental justice community affected by natural gas?

Chester, Pennsylvania — At a recent Harris-Walz campaign rally in Chester, environmental advocate Zulene Mayfield called for action from the crowd of a few hundred residents. 

"We are the masters of our fate," she said, urging them "to mobilize this community in a way that has never happened."

Chester is what climate activists call an "environmental justice community," a place where climate change and pollution disproportionately affect underserved populations. A 1995 EPA study found levels of lead in blood and cancer risks in the city to be "exceedingly high" and its rate of childhood asthma 20% higher than the national average. Chester is also over 75% Black.