Environmental Justice For All Act S.872 H.R.2021 Dear Friend, Congress should pass the Environmental Justice For All Act (EJ4A), sooner rather than later. Take the action! Why does the EJ4A need to pass? - It looks to address longstanding inequity, marginalization, and disproportionate impacts by confronting front and center the health and participation of all communities.
- Through its environmental justice approach, it recognizes a history of environmental racism that threatens the health and well-being of too many Americans.
- Climate change exacerbates the risk for vulnerable populations, which tend to be low-income populations and communities of color.
- People living with environmental injustices face an unfair added burden of health problems. They are less able to prepare for and respond to the effects of climate change and pollution, leading to potentially disastrous consequences.
How does the EJ4A improve the situation for impacted communities or Sacrifice Zones? - It establishes several environmental justice requirements, advisory committees, and programs to address the disproportionate adverse environmental effects of federal laws and programs on communities of color, low-income communities, or tribal and indigenous communities.
- It looks to ensure government, businesses, and other institutions involve community members and work with constituents to analyze cumulative risks and design healthy communities.
- It facilitates the identification of at-risk populations, so programs can be targeted to ease burdens and remove structural barriers to protect the public health of all residents.
Friend, tell your Federal legislators that they must provide environmental justice to everyone! Solving environmental justice issues advances health equity and creates environmental health benefits for everyone. As our nation looks to make major investments to confront climate change, as articulated in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, we can not overlook the need for better transparency and community accountability. We may need the big projects so our economy can adjust to the climate reality, but they should not come to fruition while sacrificing communities. Those on the frontlines of contamination and risk deserve a say and due process. They merit our support and solidarity. The least we can do is pressure Congress to pass the Environmental Justice For All Act. | |
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