Dean Scott & Jennifer Hijazi
President Joe Biden’s executive order on climate change includes a big win for environmental justice advocates: a new scorecard to hold all agencies accountable in pushing more equitable treatment of people of color and polluted communities.
The Environmental Justice Scorecard, outlined in Wednesday’s order, would be part of a governmentwide effort dubbed Justice40 to ensure they are meeting his pledge to direct at least 40% of clean energy and other infrastructure investments goes to vulnerable communities.
The scorecard puts teeth in what groups such as WE ACT for Environmental Justice say is the first significant step by the new president to make good on his vow to put more resources in poorer communities that too often bear the brunt of pollution.
“It is exciting—we all believe within the environmental justice movement that we are well past the time to act and this administration is demonstrating a commitment to deliver meaningful and measurable progress to systemic inequities,” said Dana Johnson, WE ACT’s federal policy office director.
