This role was created when Biden introduced environmental justice in 2020 PriorityFor every federal agency as part of an effort correct historical wrongs that disproportionately impacted pollution and sickness in disadvantaged areas.
Biden’s focus on environmental justice resulted in a year of progress, but also burnout.
Brenda Mallory, chair, stated that Jalonne is a strong, effective advocate for communities that have been harmed by pollution and are subject to decades of environmental injustice. According to the statement, her ability to listen deeply and bring people together to find creative solutions is crucial to the job.
White-Newsome stated in a statement that we have an amazing opportunity to institutionalize processes that will not only save lives but change lives. I look forward to working with community leaders and environmental justice advocates in this country, as well as expanding the number of environmental justice champions within our agencies.
White-Newsome, a Detroit resident with a doctorate of environmental health science from University of Michigan School of Public Health will assume a challenging job at a small agency. White-Newsome will be working with 25 members the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Some of them believe that the Council on Environmental Quality is not doing its job well.
CEQ and Mallory still have not explained how Biden will provide hundreds of millions of dollars for communities in states that have Republican governors who oppose their mission. Activists in Texas and Louisiana say they are unsure if they will ever see such funding.
Recent studies have shown that federal policies of redlining racial disparity in housing policy over a quarter-century ago led to the creation of pollution sources in and surrounding Black and Latino communities, which in turn degraded the air quality.
A study by the Environmental Protection Agency showed that particulate matter pollution is a significant problem for Americans of color in all states and income levels.
Other studies have shown that while the majority of air pollution is generated by the White nations, it is felt most strongly by African Americans and Latinos.
Redlining was banned 50 year ago. It still affects minorities today.
Biden’s promise to integrate environmental justice into every federal agency has met with limited success. Some agencies, such the departments of Transportation and Health and Human Services are supportive, while others fall behind.
White-Newsome will likely press Agriculture departments to pay more attention how their work can advance environmental justice.
The Biden administration also promised a yearly report card to measure progress on environmental justice. This list of accomplishments and failures has not been produced by the Biden administration.
Biden has made progress in reducing environmental injustice. The infrastructure law provides $55 billion for wastewater facilities improvement, with $15 billion to clean lead pipes from Flint, Mich.
The Kenai River Bluffs in Alaska was home to $28 million to prevent coastal erosion. $65 billion has been devoted to improving the nation’s electrical grid. $1 Billion is being used to reconnect communities, many which were affected by large highway projects that began in 1960s.
Mallory oversees an agency that has only six employees dedicated to environmental justice. This makes it more difficult. The council members claim that at least 50 staff are needed, and more funding is required than what the administration’s climate leadership (including Gina McCarthy as National Climate Adviser) has not produced.
Martinez was a well-known choice to head the first-ever CEQ environmental justice effort. White-Newsome is an academic who has a long history working with activists. She said that she was unable to work because of the lack of staff support, and that her long work hours were a major problem.
Martinez stated that she felt less high-quality than I should be during her final days at CEQ. It was almost like I could feel myself getting tired. I just needed some relief.
Martinez told Mallory that she had planned to resign before she did. It was shocking to some members of panel.
Biden officials launch a screening tool to help determine polluted areas
Each person you lose, like Cecilia Martinez, is a step back, Mara Beln Power, an environmental justice panelist, and associate executive director at GreenRoots, stated after Martinez’s resignation. It’s impossible to do all the work with one person, two people, or three people. I see people getting burned out in this work year after year.
Peggy Shepard, who is a member on the advisory council and the chief executive at We Act for Environmental Justice (New York), said that White-Newsome has the qualifications to excel in her new position.
Shepard said that she has a wide variety of experience. She has worked in the business sector, as well as with environmental justice groups.
White-Newsome was a former analyst at We Act. White-Newsome was also a senior programme officer at Kresge Foundation, where the Climate Resilience and Equitable Water Systems Initiative was created to address climate and inequities.
White-Newsome, in addition to her Michigan degree, holds a masters of environmental engineering degree from Southern Methodist University Dallas and a bachelors of chemical engineering degree from Northwestern University Evanston, Ill.
Shes had the opportunity to gain a real sense of policymaking and people at grass-roots levels. Shepard stated that she is very familiar with the workings of government. It is essential that you are familiar with environmental justice policy and environmental justice.
