Global Courant 2023-04-21 18:02:06
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Friday in an effort to expand his administration’s environmental justice goals, such as providing clean air and clean water to communities across the country.
“For far too long, communities in our country have faced persistent environmental injustice from toxic pollution, underinvestment in infrastructure and critical services, and other disproportionate environmental damage, often due to a legacy of racial discrimination, including redlining,” the White House said. . “These communities concerned about environmental justice are facing even greater burdens from climate change.”
Biden will make comments on the White House Rose Garden executive action Friday afternoon. The president wants to ensure that Americans, regardless of race or background, income or place of residence, benefit from “cleaner air and water, reduced risk of asthma, cancer and other health problems, and better access to green space, safe and affordable housing and clean transportation,” the White House said.
The order will create the Office of Environmental Justice at the White House to coordinate government efforts to implement the new guidelines.
Biden’s action also requires agencies to notify nearby communities of toxic releases from federal facilities and will direct the agencies to engage with U.S. communities, including those on tribal lands.
Federal agencies will also be tasked with conducting new assessments of their environmental justice efforts, the White House said, which will be made public through a new scorecard to help measure the administration’s progress in this area.
A White House official said Biden plans to highlight in his speech Friday how his environmental justice and climate agenda “stands in stark contrast to the dangerous vision Speaker (Kevin) McCarthy and his extreme caucus have for our planet, our economy and public health. “
The official said the House Republicans’ recently passed energy measure, which seeks to undo almost all of Biden’s climate change agenda, would be “a climate and health disaster that President Biden will not allow while on watch.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., called that bill “dead on arrival.”
As part of the administration’s push, Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Florida on Friday to announce new investments to bolster the coast’s resilience to the impacts of climate change and extreme storms, the official said.
