Like many of us, I've spent recent days reflecting on Congressman John Lewis' tremendous life and the decades of positive impact he had on our nation.
Among the issues he correctly saw through the lens of social and racial justice was protection of the environment. He knew that damage done to our planet almost always disproportionately harms those at the lower income scales and communities of color.
To learn more about his legacy on environmental justice issues, see a recent article in Forbes here.
And to learn more about the racist history of the mainstream environmental movement, and why environmental justice is still such an urgent and under-addressed issue, read more here. The Washington Post treats this issue well in the context of a recent acknowledgement by the Sierra Club of its racist origin story.
To address these challenges, Democrats in Congress have put forward specific legislative proposals that should have our support.
Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) introduced the Senate version of the "Environmental Justice for All Act," a companion to sweeping legislation, H.R. 5986, drawn up by House Natural Resources Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) earlier this year.
As summarized here by E&E News: "The bill would amend the Civil Rights and National Environmental Policy acts to better incorporate environmental justice concerns into government policy. It would also create additional grants and programs to provide communities of color better access to the outdoors."
In addition to taking anti-racist action in our daily lives, we can also voice support for legislation like this. We can do this to honor Congressman Lewis' remarkable life and make a better, greener future for ALL Americans.
Ingrid
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