“Environmental Justice” is one of those left-wing concepts invented as just another way to milk corporations and government for cash.
How can anyone resist? Who in America hates the environment? And who hates “justice”? Put the two together, add in a little race-baiting and conspiracy-mongering, and you have a brand-new left-wing cause that radicals can embrace in order to save the planet.
Attorney General Merrick Garland explained that it’s really all about racism and climate change. The “justice” part is sort of an afterthought.
“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,” Garland said at a news conference on Thursday.
“For far too long, these communities have faced barriers to accessing the justice they deserve,” Garland said, adding that the Justice Department “will prioritize the cases that will have the greatest impact on the communities most overburdened by environmental harm.”
Cynthia Ferguson, an attorney who currently works in the department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, will be the acting director of the new office.
I suppose that’s true. Or mostly true. Or partly true. “Communities most overburdened by environmental harm” are not all minority communities and some aren’t in low-income areas. But there’s no doubt some companies have used black and brown communities as a dumping ground for dangerous waste.
But the real danger of an “environmental justice” office is, as with anything having to do with the enforcement of environmental laws, the government’s tendency to wildly overregulate with no means for private citizens or companies to correct the overreach.
The effort comes as the Biden administration seeks to elevate matters of environmental justice and take action on the president’s campaign-trail promises, which included establishing a whole-of-government approach to prioritizing the harmful effects of climate change.
Garland said on Thursday that the OEJ will serve as the Justice Department’s “central hub for our efforts to advance our comprehensive environmental justice enforcement strategy.”
The Justice Department also said it is working to restore the use of supplemental environmental projects, an enforcement tool that can be used in some settlement agreements to help remedy harm caused by violations of federal environmental law and, at times, compensate victims.
It won’t be long before we’re writing about some OEJ idiocy that demonstrates why fanatics and ideologues should never be put in any position where they can exercise power.
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