Dr. Beverly White, founder and executive director of the New Orleans-based Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, has been selected to sit on a White House Advisory Council looking at racial injustice.
The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council is one of a slew of the new president’s creations meant to show the administration’s commitment to address the climate crisis. Wright, a longtime environmental justice activist and scholar, has won numerous awards for her work, including the 2008 EPA Environmental Justice Achievement Award. Her center, founded in 1992, focuses on supporting and developing leaders within communities of color that are vulnerable to environmental hazards. Wright said she was honored by the appointment. “The elevation of this body to the Office of the President demonstrates the importance of environmental justice to this administration,” she said. “I pledge to do all that is within my power to raise issues of concern to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast Region and to work tirelessly … to improve the health and wellness, including economic conditions, in communities disproportionately exposed to toxic pollution and climate-induced disasters.”
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The Advisory Council, meeting next Tuesday for the first time, will look at:
- Creating a “climate and economic justice screening tool” highlighting disadvantaged communities.
- Strengthening enforcement actions for environmental violations that disproportionately affect underserved communities.
- Creating a community notification program to monitor and update residents on pollution.
