Climate impacts, like sea level rise and extreme storm surges, severely threaten the vital infrastructure that delivers clean drinking water to homes and captures dirty stormwater and sewage. When this infrastructure fails, the health both of our communities and of our ocean is at risk.
The effects of climate change and water pollution are not felt equally. Communities of Black and Indigenous peoples, other people of color and those experiencing intergenerational poverty are often the most overburdened by climate change, water pollution and under-funded infrastructure.
The federal Justice40 Initiative was created to address how these communities have been largely excluded from, or even harmed by, past and current climate policies and provides resources to make adaptation more attainable. However, some members of Congress are attempting to erase this vital program and its wide-reaching progress at a time when climate hazards are growing more dangerous.
We can’t solve the climate crisis without putting environmental justice at the forefront. We need all hands on deck to fight for climate justice, clean water access, human rights and the health of our planet.