Hillary Clinton has a new policy pitch on the environment: stopping “environmental racism.”
A new position statement issued Wednesday by the Democratic presidential front-runner’s campaign says that African Americans and other minorities can be twice as vulnerable as whites to exposure by harmful chemicals and pollutants that cause disease and place children at risk. It also places them at greater risk from the harmful effects of global warming and climate change, which many scientists blame on emissions from fossil fuels.
“Simply put, this is environmental racism,” the Clinton campaign said in describing the new policy position. “And the impacts of climate change, from more severe storms to longer heat waves to rising sea levels, will disproportionately affect low-income and minority communities, which suffer the worst losses during extreme weather and have the fewest resources to prepare.”
She layed out a list of policies she would implement as president, including the elimination of lead from drinking water in five years, while underscoring the recent water crisis in Flint, Mich. She also would seek to update waste water and drinking water infrastructure.
Clinton also would work to strengthen criminal penalties against companies and individuals that are guilty of exposing communities to environmental harms “and work with Congress to strengthen public health protections in our existing laws.”
She also would seek to “broaden the clean energy economy” by building career opportunities and combating energy poverty by the expansion of solar and energy efficiency in low-income and minority communities.
Clinton would seek to build more “resilient infrastructure” to protect communities from the effects of climate change, especially flooding. In addition, she would establish an “Environmental and Climate Justice Task Force” to make environmental and climate justice a core part of federal policy decisions.
“Hillary believes we need to break down all the barriers holding Americans back — including the burdens imposed by unhealthy air, polluted water, and exposure to toxins. Environmental and climate justice can’t just be slogans — they have to be central goals. Clean air and clean water aren’t luxuries — they are basic rights of all Americans.”
