Everyone deserves clean air and water
By Evan Mulholland, MCEA Healthy Communities Program Director
As director of MCEA’s Healthy Communities program, I’m grateful for the guidance published this summer from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and twelve other state attorneys general clarifying that environmental justice initiatives are legal and sorely needed.
This guidance was written in response to the federal government’s recent attempts to dismantle decades of work to address the higher pollution rates often experienced in communities of color, rural communities, and areas where residents have less wealth largely due to racial segregation, residential redlining, and disinvestment. The administration has revoked all prior executive orders on environmental justice, shut down the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR), and canceled related funding.
While the entire guidance document is worth reading, one paragraph leapt out at me:
“Environmental justice does not constitute illegal discrimination and these federal actions do not change that fact. To the contrary, environmental justice activities help public and private entities avoid and prevent unlawful discrimination and remediate its impacts.”
It seems incredible that efforts to reduce the impact of pollution on overburdened communities would be attacked as a form of discrimination, but that’s where we are.
Environmental justice is woven into MCEA’s Strategic Plan and is part of all of MCEA’s advocacy. We know that serious disparities remain in public health, in pollution levels, and in access to green space, clean air, and clean water.These disparities are correlated with income levels, race, and immigration status, among others. This is simply not fair. MCEA has been working shoulder-to-shoulder with affected communities to reduce these disparities and fight for environmental justice for all.
Regardless of what misguided statements and attempts to suppress the Environmental Justice movement are broadcast from Washington D.C., MCEA and our allied coalition members remain committed. And here in Minnesota, we are not just holding the line, we are making progress toward environmental justice for all people.
From our work with the Hmong American Farm Association to stop a destructive highway expansion in Dakota County to our joint efforts with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe to prevent a polluting and destructive plywood plant in Cohasset, to our current work with the Frontline Community Protection Coalition to make strong rules to protect communities from the cumulative impact of pollution, and with the MN EJ Table to secure a speedy retirement of the polluting HERC incinerator, we remain committed to fighting for environmental justice.
MCEA’s work is rooted in the law and science, which is why we pay close attention to legal guidance like this. The Attorneys General Guidance on the legal grounding and foundation for environmental justice work is attached here. We encourage the wide distribution of this memo. And please get in touch with us if you have questions or are concerned about pollution or environmental injustice in your community.
Finally, thank you to Attorney General Keith Ellison for being a part of this effort to continue the work towards environmental justice for everyone in Minnesota.