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ICYMI: President Biden Signs Executive Order Renewing the Federal Government’s Commitment to Advancing Environmental Justice FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 21, 2023 Contact: Ginger LeBlanc | gingerl@dscej.org Valerie Keys | vkeys@skdknick.com (New Orleans, LA) – Today, President Biden signed a new Executive Order, Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All, that will revitalize the federal government’s commitment to addressing historical environmental injustices. This executive order will establish the White House Office on Environmental Justice, which will oversee and coordinate the federal government's efforts to address and aid communities so as to promote access to clean air and water and protect overburdened communities that have been overexposed to pollution. “This executive order is a promise made and a promise kept by the Biden Administration. I was a part of the team that worked on the original executive order signed by President Bill Clinton in 1994. Although it was an historic step in the right direction, it lacked accountability measures to ensure its efficacy,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. “This new order strengthens the 1994 executive order by operationalizing and institutionalizing the recommendation within every level of the federal government. And to ensure accountability, each agency will report all progress made directly to the president. But, while today’s executive order is historic, much work must be done to achieve true environmental justice, including full implementation of Justice40 initiatives and funding the new Civilian Climate Corps to create a 21st-century energy workforce.” Additionally, the Executive Order will: Strengthen engagement with communities and mobilize federal agencies to confront existing and legacy barriers and injustices; Promote the latest science, data, and research, including on cumulative impacts; Increase accountability and transparency in federal environmental justice policy; Honor and build on the foundation of ongoing environmental justice work. READ THE EXECUTIVE ORDER FACT SHEET HERE ...
Deep South Center For Environmental Justice Unveils Updated Maps Showing Cancer Alley’s Impact on Black Communities New Report Illustrates Proximity of Petrochemical Facilities to Black Communities in the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8, 2023 Contact: Ginger LeBlanc | gingerl@dscej.org Valerie Keys | vkeys@skdknick.com NEW ORLEANS, LA – Today, the Deep South Center For Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) released a new report titled “The More Things Change, the More They Remain The Same: Living and Dying in Cancer Alley” updating the organization’s' 1990 mapping project that illustrates toxic pollution in relation to poverty and minority populations in the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, also known as Cancer Alley. The corridor produces one-fifth of the United States’ petrochemicals and has transformed the region’s working-class communities into some of the poorest and sickest communities in Louisiana. The new maps show that, while the area has technically seen a decrease in greenhouse gases and total air emissions, the risk has grown exponentially for Black communities. The region's polluting facilities are concentrated almost exclusively in their backyards and environmental justice experts are now calling the region a “massive human experiment.” “The data we’ve gathered to update our 1990 maps illustrates what we’ve known to be true anecdotally – Cancer Alley is one of the deadliest regions in the country for Black people,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director of DSCEJ. “We’ve found that the more things have changed in the last 30 years for so many, the more things stay the same for Black communities, and in many cases have gotten worse. We have to stop the construction of new petrochemical facilities and reduce the concentration of them in minority communities. It’s the only way to protect people going forward and make sure that the suffering we’ve had to endure for decades does not continue.” DSCEJ’S updated maps show Cancer Alley has 170 petrochemical facilities reporting toxic chemical emissions and 149 reporting greenhouse gas emissions.The number of facilities is only growing, with 29 in the proposal stage or currently under construction, all in majority Black communities. DSCEJ also factored in the growing cancer risk in the region with the exposure to these chemicals putting the area in the 80 to 90th and 95 to 100th percentile of cancer risk in the nation. In September 2022, DSCEJ joined forces with local groups as part of the Beyond Petrochemicals campaign, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ $85 million effort to stop the expansion of more than 120 petrochemical plants in Louisiana, Texas and the Ohio River Valley. “Fossil fuel pollution has degraded the lands and lives of Black and brown people for far too long – the time for accountability is now, ” said Heather McTeer Toney, Executive Director of the Beyond Petrochemicals Campaign. “Communities of color deserve the same access to clean air, water, and soil afforded to wealthier, white communities. The maps provided by Deep South Center for Environmental Justice showcase that there is much work to be done to achieve equity. With the decades-long, historical patterns of racial injustice in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ exposed, we are inspired to put our resources to work to safeguard local communities and finally put an end to the expansion of the toxic petrochemicals industry.” The new report is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Beyond Petrochemicals campaign. Click here to view the report and here to view the executive summary. ### About the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Families in the Gulf Coast deserve to live in communities that are free from deadly air and are more resilient to climate change and extreme weather. The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) works to empower and engage communities to put environmental justice and equity at the center of all climate action. Led by environmental justice scholar and advocate, author, civic leader and professor of Sociology Dr. Beverly L. Wright, the DSCEJ uses research, education, and community and student engagement to advocate for policy change, lead health and safety training for environmental careers, develop social and emotional community wellness programs, and create new and environmentally healthy opportunities for the residents of communities disproportionately impacted by historic environmental injustice. ...
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Releases Two-Year Impact Report Report Illustrates The Center’s Community-Centered Efforts Throughout 2021 and 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22, 2023 Contact: Ginger LeBlanc | gingerl@dscej.org Valerie Keys | vkeys@skdknick.com New Orleans, LA -- Today, the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) released its two-year impact report highlighting the organization’s community-centered work through 2021 and 2022. DSCEJ’s efforts to empower communities historically impacted by environmental racism, promote community-led solutions to the climate crisis and put environmental justice at the center of all climate action were bolstered by philanthropic funding and high-profile engagements with federal, state, and local lawmakers. The DSCEJ’s 2021-2022 Impact Report can be found here. In 2021, Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director and Founder of The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice was appointed to the Biden Administration’s White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council and charged with providing recommendations on how to address current and historic environmental injustice to the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council (IAC) and the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). This appointment provided Dr. Wright and DSCEJ with a platform to ensure the priorities of environmental justice communities are being addressed in Washington. The administration’s commitment to environmental justice kicked off with the announcement of Justice40, a whole-of-government approach to embedding environmental justice in the operations of the federal government by requiring that historically disadvantaged communities receive 40 percent of federal investments in clean energy solutions. The administration followed with various engagements with DSCEJ, including EPA Administrator Michael Regan’s Journey to Justice tour. Backed by community advocates, DSCEJ helped to organize a “toxic tour” throughout Cancer Alley, an 85-mile corridor along the Mississippi River lined with over 150 petrochemical plants and 7 oil refineries. Administrator Regan received an immersive tour that brought him face to face with the devastating effects of living with high polluting industries in your backyard. Following Administrator Regan’s visit, the EPA has issued enforcement actions to help address air pollution, unsafe drinking water, and additional issues. As part of his commitment, in September 2022, the EPA announced the creation of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, to help better advance environmental justice by enforcing civil rights laws in overburdened communities and providing new grants and technical assistance. Earlier this year the EPA announced a tighter national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for a fine particle pollution also known as PM2.5.Black communities are exposed to PM2.5 air 1.54 times higher than the rest of the population. In February 2023, the EPA and Department of Justice took a monumental step and filed a lawsuit to compel Denka, a major producer of neoprene synthetic rubber in the Cancer Alley corridor, to cut down its carcinogenic emissions to EPA-safe levels. DSCEJ’s efforts and Dr. Wright’s recommendations as a member of WHEJAC also influenced the Inflation Reduction Act which included historic investments in environmental justice communities made possible by decades of community advocacy and took a big step toward realizing the environmental justice movement’s priorities. In November 2022, DSCEJ partnered with WE ACT for Environmental Justice, the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University, along with other international partners to debut the first-ever Climate Justice Pavilion in the Blue Zone at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Supported by 11 major sponsors, the Climate Justice Pavilion brought together representatives from the Global South, the U.S. Environmental Justice Movement, and Indigenous peoples to spotlight the voices of communities disproportionately impacted by climate change on a global stage. “I am so proud of what DSCEJ has been able to achieve in the last two years and grateful for the new and legacy funding relationships that have sustained our work,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director and Founder of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. “From Administrator Regan’s Journey to Justice tour to hosting the very first Climate Justice Pavilion at COP27, we have made historical steps toward realizing environmental justice, but we still have a ways to go. We are already planning our strategies for the future with our community partners by our side, and we look forward to future engagement with lawmakers in the deep South, Washington, and across the country. We will continue to empower our climate-vulnerable communities to take bold action to ensure that future generations can thrive in a healthy and just environment.” About the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Families in the Gulf Coast deserve to live in communities that are free from deadly air and are more resilient to climate change and extreme weather. The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) works to empower and engage communities to put environmental justice and equity at the center of all climate action. Led by environmental justice scholar and advocate, author, civic leader and professor of Sociology Dr. Beverly L. Wright, the DSCEJ uses research, education, and community and student engagement to advocate for policy change, lead health and safety training for environmental careers, develop social and emotional community wellness programs, and create new and environmentally healthy opportunities for the residents of communities disproportionately impacted by historic environmental injustice. # # # ...
