‘We've been sold out’: Enviro justice advocates slam Biden's
Aug 19, 2022 16:44:44 GMT
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Post by trueblue on Aug 19, 2022 16:44:44 GMT
'‘We've been sold out’: Enviro justice advocates slam Biden's climate compromise'
One group of President Joe Biden’s allies isn’t joining Democrats in celebrating his new climate law — advocates for low-income and minority communities, who say that once again their environmental needs have been sacrificed for political compromise.
The measure, the most ambitious climate legislation in U.S. history, represents a major win for Biden’s party as it heads into the November election. But many activists from neighborhoods that have long suffered from environmental threats say the trade-offs Democrats made to win the support of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) outweigh the legislation’s efforts to redress long-standing racial and economic unfairness.
Even members of Biden’s own White House advisory council on environmental justice are lamenting the concessions, which they suggest could dent their allies’ enthusiasm for turning out for Democrats at the polls. The deal with Manchin included commitments for oil and gas lease sales, money for carbon capture technology favored by the petroleum industry and the promise of a new bill to ease the permitting process for pipelines — actions that environmental justice advocates say will subject their communities to more fossil fuel pollution.
To the advocates, the message their communities are hearing is: Wait your turn. Again.
The measure, the most ambitious climate legislation in U.S. history, represents a major win for Biden’s party as it heads into the November election. But many activists from neighborhoods that have long suffered from environmental threats say the trade-offs Democrats made to win the support of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) outweigh the legislation’s efforts to redress long-standing racial and economic unfairness.
Even members of Biden’s own White House advisory council on environmental justice are lamenting the concessions, which they suggest could dent their allies’ enthusiasm for turning out for Democrats at the polls. The deal with Manchin included commitments for oil and gas lease sales, money for carbon capture technology favored by the petroleum industry and the promise of a new bill to ease the permitting process for pipelines — actions that environmental justice advocates say will subject their communities to more fossil fuel pollution.
To the advocates, the message their communities are hearing is: Wait your turn. Again.