With Democrats in power, an emboldened environmental movement confronts them [Los Angeles Times :: BC-ENV-ENVIRONMENTALISTS-TENSIONS:LA]
WASHINGTON When Joe Biden in December was mulling whom to name as his Interior secretary, entrusted with hundreds of millions of acres of public land, a network of nascent environmental groups eager for clout made a move that defied the usual Washington playbook.
They launched a campaign to publicly shame the person believed to be at the top of the president-elect’s shortlist retiring New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall, a longtime Biden friend and former aide whose father held the post in John F. Kennedy’s Cabinet.
WASHINGTON
When Joe Biden last month was mulling over whom to name as his Interior secretary, entrusted with hundreds of millions of acres of public land, a network of nascent environmental groups eager for clout made a move that defied the usual Washington playbook.
They launched a campaign to publicly shame the person believed to be at the top of the president-elect’s shortlist retiring New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall, a longtime Biden friend and former aide whose father held the post in John F. Kennedy’s Cabinet.
“It would not be right for two Udalls to lead the Interior before a single Native American,” they wrote in a public letter to Udall.
Environmental Justice Leaders Look for a Focus on Disproportionately Impacted Communities of Color
They want Trump’s rollbacks rescinded and renewed emphasis on justice and equity via enforcement of federal law, from the Clean Air Act to FEMA recovery aid.
December 13, 2020 Black towns matter painted on the street in Barrett, Texas, a historically Black town outside Houston adjacent to the French Limited Superfund hazardous waste site. After Hurricane Harvey in 2017, residents of Barrett worried that flooding had spread contaminants from the site into the town. Credit: Spike Johnson
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For environmental justice advocates who have spent decades fighting to protect communities from polluters, the new year cannot come too soon. After four years of the Trump administration shredding the Environmental Protection Agency into “little tidbits,” as President Donald Trump put it during his first campaign, change is in the air.