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Yesterday President Biden announced members of a new White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council to support his whole-of-government approach to addressing the climate crisis. The WHEJAC was established by President Biden’s Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad to fulfill his and Vice President Harris’s commitment to confronting long standing environmental injustices and to ensuring that historically marginalized and overburdened communities have greater input on federal policies and decisions. Dr. Beverly Wright, founder and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, is one of several renowned environmental justice leaders appointed to the WHEJAC. Below is her statement of response: "I am deeply honored to have been selected as a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. The elevation of this body to the Office of the President demonstrates the importance of environmental justice to this Administration. I pledge to do all that is within my power to raise issues of concern to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast Region and to work tirelessly through WHEJAC to improve the health and wellness, including economic conditions, in communities disproportionately exposed to toxic pollution and climate-induced disasters." Today WHEJAC will host a public meeting at 2:00 pm Eastern that you're invited to attend, along with Dr. Wright, and to provide a comment. To RSVP, click here: WHEJAC Virtual Public Meeting. ...
Dr. Beverly Wright is featured in The Washington Post Environmental Racism Article. They came from Prince William Sound, Alaska, where the Exxon Valdez oil spill had ruined Native American fisheries; from Albuquerque, where open uranium mines were emitting high levels of radiation; from Chicago, where power plant pollution had dirtied neighborhoods. They came from Houston, where garbage dumps were located next to Black communities. Some of their homes had terrible names, such as the strand of tiny towns between New Orleans and Baton Rouge known as Cancer Alley. On opening day, only organizations with people of color in executive positions were allowed to participate. Over the four-day summit, activists prayed into microphones in English and Sioux, Korean and Spanish, long prayers seeking deliverance from suffering. Read more ...
Click here to read Dr. Beverly Wright's Statement to the Department of the Interior Public Forum on the Federal Oil & Gas Program WASHINGTON – The Interior Department today released additional information about the upcoming virtual forum regarding the federal oil and gas program, including the public’s viewing options and ability to submit written input to inform Interior’s review. The public forum is part of Interior’s comprehensive review of the federal oil and gas program as called for in Executive Order 14008 and will feature several panels to highlight perspectives from invited participants including industry representatives, labor and environmental justice organizations, natural resource advocates, Indigenous organizations, and other experts. DATE: Thursday, March 25, 2021 TIME: 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm ET/ 12:00 noon - 3:30 pm Central Time REGISTRATION: The forum will take place via Zoom Webinar. Anyone interested in viewing the forum may register here. A livestream of the event will also be available at doi.gov/events. The forum will be recorded and have live captions. The information gathered at the forum will help inform an interim report from the Department that will be completed in early summer. The report will include initial findings on the state of the federal conventional energy programs, as well as outline next steps and recommendations for the Department and Congress to improve stewardship of public lands and waters, create jobs, and build a just and equitable energy future. Read more ...
