Today the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released a report, titled “Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient and Just America.” WE ACT for Environmental Justice was among the environmental justice advocates asked to participate in solutions-oriented conversations that the SCCC held across the country prior to producing the report. Below is our initial response to the development and release of these policy recommendations:
“The COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate havoc in communities of color and low income is a symptom of a larger issue: a legacy of structural racism that resulted in policies and practices that facilitate extreme weather zones, economic impoverishment, environmental degradation, diminished health states, a lack of social cohesion, and other adverse living conditions. This is our time to address this legacy and the Climate Crisis Action Plan can be an effective tool for advancing substantive discourse and producing just laws that center remediation in climate policy, deliver energy democracy and economic benefit to low-income communities, improve indoor and outdoor air quality to actually meet attainment standards, and produce green spaces and healthy food systems that positively influence our morbidity and mortality rates. We look forward to working with members of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and all of our congressional leaders to create bold and equitable solutions that deliver on the pillars of the Climate Crisis Action Plan, where appropriate, and that lead to tangible gains in resolving the climate crisis,” said Peggy Shepard, Co-founder and Executive Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice
WE ACT for Environmental Justice is a Northern Manhattan membership-based organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low-income residents participate meaningfully in the creation of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. WE ACT has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Visit us at weact.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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