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(CNN) President Joe Biden on Friday announced new environmental justice actions, including an executive order by the White House making environmental justice a central mission of the federal agency.
“Under this order, environmental justice becomes the responsibility of all federal agencies—all federal agencies,” Biden said at the White House Rose Garden surrounded by climate and environmental justice advocates just before Earth Day. promised at the signing ceremony.
He continued, “All federal agencies must consider the environmental health impacts on their communities and work to prevent those negative impacts. It will be a government-wide mandate that is directly woven into how we work together.”
Enforcement of the executive order will be left up to agencies to create a new Office of Environmental Justice within the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Friday’s move comes as many environmental justice groups are unhappy with the government’s recent approval of a large Alaskan oil project. It reported that it plans to roll out aggressive new rules to control pollution.
Friday’s move also comes as Biden prepares to announce his bid for re-election as early as next week, CNN reported Thursday. worked hard to sue
White House officials said Biden’s new order will help them work more closely with affected communities and improve “gaps” in scientific data to better address the impact of pollution on people’s health. In the event of future releases of toxic substances from federal facilities, federal agencies must notify neighboring communities.
The order comes years after Biden announced his signature “Justice40” initiative to direct 40% of federal climate and clean funds from new legislation to disadvantaged communities. promised On Friday, his three agencies – the Department of Commerce, the National Science Foundation and NASA – will also join the initiative.
Biden also cut Republicans in half in his speech, contrasting his actions for environmental justice with Republican policies.
In Friday’s remarks, the president detailed that he has spent much of his tenure researching the damage caused by extreme weather events, called the threat of climate change “an existential threat to our nation,” and called Congressional He criticized Republicans for trying to interfere with his legislative priorities. Focus on climate.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (California Republican) recently unveiled provisions in a proposed debt limit that would overturn the clean energy tax credit passed in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. The proposal also includes HR 1, the Republican version of the Energy Permit Bill.
Biden said Republicans would “rather threaten a default of the U.S. economy or provide $30 billion in taxpayer subsidies than eliminate the $30 billion in taxpayer subsidies to the oil industry that earned $200 billion last year.” will be abolished,” he said.
“Imagine seeing wildfires, storms, floods and all this going on and doing nothing about it,” he continued. Imagine taking away all clean energy jobs, imagine turning your back on all the moms and dads who live in towns polluted by pollution and saying ‘sorry you’re doing it yourself’ Try it. We cannot allow it. ”
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Maegan Vazquez and Donald Judd contributed to this report.
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