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Biden admin launches Office of Environmental Justice to combat racist climate change effects

May 6, 2022 | | Print Article

Fresh off of launching the widely criticized Disinformation Governance Board, the Biden administration is now launching an Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) as part of President Joe Biden’s “environmental justice enforcement strategy.”

The new department will be focused on ameliorating the effects of so-called environmental racism, a goal that critics say is both pointless and wasteful.

“Although violations of our environmental laws can happen anywhere, communities of color, indigenous communities, and low-income communities often bear the brunt of the harm caused by environmental crime, pollution, and climate change. For far too long, these communities have faced barriers to accessing the justice they deserve,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Thursday.

“The Office of Environmental Justice will serve as the central hub for our efforts to advance our comprehensive environmental justice enforcement strategy. We will prioritize the cases that will have the greatest impact on the communities most overburdened by environmental harm,” he added.

Garland also delivered remarks during a press conference.

“[T]ogether with our Civil Rights Division, Office for Access to Justice, Office of Tribal Justice, and United States Attorneys’ Offices, OEJ will prioritize meaningful and constructive engagement with the communities most affected by environmental crime and injustice,” he said.

So-called environmental justice is a left-wing invention that centers around the idea that pollution disproportionately affects minorities and is therefore racist and must be dealt with through the federal government.

In March, for instance, the Biden administration announced a new rule requiring that nitrogen oxide emissions from heavy trucks be cut by 90 percent within the next ten years because minorities are allegedly “more likely” to live near truck routes.

The problem with so-called environmental justice rules like the one announced in March is that they come at the cost of the economy’s health.

Responding to the Biden administration’s rule, the Institute for Energy Research (IER) noted at the time that “truckers and manufacturers warn that the rule is too stringent and costly, and that compliance could send higher prices through the economy that is already suffering from high energy costs and high inflation.”

“We’re worried about the cost. There is a potential of adverse impacts on the economy and jobs. Nobody wants to see union jobs laid off. Regular lunch-pail, blue collar workers,” IER quoted Jed Mandel, the president of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, as saying.

Jay Grimes, the director of federal affairs for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, reportedly added that the new rule would be especially devastating for small truckers.

But the Biden administration doesn’t appear to care about these sorts of costs, as it remains fixated on stamping out alleged racism.

Indeed, in his own statement Thursday, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Michael S. Regan stressed that this focus on alleged racism “epitomizes the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to holding polluters accountable as a means to deliver on our environmental justice priorities.”

Critics say this strategy is a pointless waste of money because, as one put it, pollution is typically high “in areas where the general public stays polluting.”

Critics also wonder why Garland isn’t focused on more pressing matters:

Lastly, critics wish the federal government would stop forever expanding.

Thursday’s announcement comes only days after the Department of Homeland Security’s so-called Disinformation Governance Board was announced last week.

News of the board prompted widespread outrage, with dissenters both conservative and classically liberal warning of the dangers of government acting as the arbiter of truth.

While grilling DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday, Republican Sen. Rand Paul noted that government is in no position to determine what is or isn’t truthful given its own record of promoting disinformation.

“Do you know who the greatest propagator of disinformation in the history of the world is? The U.S. government. Are you familiar with McNamara, the Pentagon Papers? Are you familiar with George W. Bush and the weapons of mass destruction? Are you familiar with Iran Contra? … I don’t trust government to figure out what the truth is,” he said.

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Vivek Saxena
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