July 22, 2024 –
Following the recent announcement that President Joe Biden has ended his campaign for re-election, Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ), released the following statement:
The DSCEJ expresses its heartfelt gratitude to the continuing work of President Joe Biden and his unprecedented commitment to environmental justice and climate action. No administration in history has done more than President Biden’s to ensure that all people—regardless of race, income, or ZIP code—live in healthy, safe and sustainable communities.
President Biden is the first U.S. President to call-out “Cancer Alley” from day one of his term, and directed the US Environmental Protection Agency to take action that includes holding industries accountable for endangering the health of residents and requiring them to lower pollution to significantly reduce cancer risks.
In August 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law, delivering historic investments to support the most ambitious climate and clean energy plan in U.S. history. The IRA invested roughly $55 billion to reduce local pollution, as well as improve public health and economic security in Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian and Pacific Islander, and low-income communities.
Additionally, President Biden signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which provides $93 billion for pollution cleanup and lead pipe removal. This combined funding supports the Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver at least 40 percent of federal climate, clean energy, and other infrastructure investment benefits from more than 500 federal programs to low-income communities and communities of color. This Biden-Harris policy led the DSCEJ to launch its Justice40 Community Engagement Project to build the capacity of communities through education and training. We were able to directly impact 240 Hub Leaders and Hub Members of community-based organizations throughout the United States.
Thank you President Biden for your unwavering and continuing commitment to the environmental health of our communities, our nation and our world. We look forward to a future with VP Kamala Harris’ leadership in carrying the torch to advance Environmental Justice.
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.
