Webinar: Advancing Environmental Justice for Underserved Communities
On October 18, Clean Energy For America hosted a virtual panel of experts who discussed the importance of environmental justice and impact of the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. The webinar’s panelists were Heather McTeer Toney with the Environmental Defense Fund, Davida Herzl with Aclima, Yesenia Rivera with the Solstice Initiative, and Javier Rúa-Jovet with SESA-PR. Starting by executive order in 2021, the president’s Justice40 Initiative directs the administration to strive for 40% of all benefits from federal investments — such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) — to flow to disadvantaged communities.
The U.S. Department of Energy is applying that goal to the energy needs of communities. It’s a necessary goal. Too often, federal funds intended to assist disadvantaged communities do not reach these communities, and they suffer as a result. In fact, it can be life or death. “After Hurricane Maria, over 3,000 Puerto Ricans died [due to] a lack of basic energy to refrigerate their food, medicine, etc” said Javier Rúa-Jovet of SESA-PR.
It’s vital for government and industry to “make it easier for communities to access these funds,” said Yesenia Rivera of the Solstice Initiative. Because as the panelists agreed, community health and wealth are inexorably tied: You can’t improve one without improving the other. And so, Heather McTeer Toney of EDF cheered DOE’s efforts to build “clean energy training and job pipelines”, and Davida Herzl of Aclima applauded “the Justice40 Initiative will help create the workforce that the Inflation Reduction Act requires,”
What's next for advancing environmental justice and the Justice40 initiative? More early engagement with frontline communities, the panelists hoped. That means removing barriers to participating in the decision-making process. If there are public utility meetings during standard work hours, many members of underserved and low-income communities cannot afford to participate. Meanwhile, “the investors [and developers] can.” However, those investors aren’t the ones “paying that bill.” Underserved communities are having to pay up — in their health and wallet.
Watch the full webinar here on CE4A’s YouTube Channel.
Don’t miss our next event: Sign up for the CE4A newsletter today.
