President Biden will make the needs of low-income Americans and communities of color the focus of his plan Wednesday, according to two individuals briefed on it, making environmental justice a top priority for the first time in a generation.
The president on Wednesday is expected to take a series of historic steps to put climate change front and center in his policies, with particular focus on how it impacts marginalized communities.
A CRA To Meet the Challenge of Climate Change
Advancing the Fight Against Environmental Racism Getty/Thomas B. Shea/AFP
A car gets towed while men walk in floodwaters on a road in Houston, August 2017, in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Julia Cusick
Introduction and summary
A federal law passed more than 40 years ago to address the discriminatory practice of redlining in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color can and should be modernized to address other systemic racism-fueled inequities. These inequities, including the disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards and climate-related challenges, have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was enacted in 1977 to combat redlining the practice of systematically denying mortgages and other financial services to communities based on their racial makeup and other forms of racial discrimination in lending. The CRA should be updated to spur lending, investment, and other se
Revamping Federal Climate Science
December 15, 2020, 5:00 am Getty/Liu Shiping/Xinhua
Sam Hananel
Ari Drennen
Introduction and summary
The United States has been the global leader in climate science for decades. Unfortunately, progress has slowed and in some cases, even moved backward over the past four years, with the Trump administration dismantling core elements of the federal climate science apparatus. As the country and the planet head toward an increasingly unstable climate, the U.S. government needs to get back to the business of being the preeminent source of trusted applied science that supports climate change mitigation and adaptation decision-making of governments and civilian stakeholders.