Saturday, February 24, 2007

Barack Obama and Environmental Justice

Will Senator Barack Obama address environmental justice during his presidential campaign? Will his recognition or lack thereof be a litmus test among environmental justice activists for their support? Does he want or need that support? Some in the Black community are already questioning Obama's 'black' bona fides. Senator Obama introduced legislation with Hillary Clinton during the last Congress to address environmental and health issues in vulnerable communities. They have not reintroduced the bill in the 110th Congress. Now that they are competitors for the presidency, do not expect them to cosponsor this legislation again.

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) introduced the Healthy Communities Act of 2005 on November 17, 2005. The bill was cosponsored by Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY). The bill establishes an advisory committee, calls for an environmental health report card, establishes health action zones that qualify for grants, calls for environmental health research, and calls for environmental health workforce development. The bill did not address or resolve the Sandoval problem.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm having an Environmental Justice problem in Philadelphia. Toxins from a contaminated brownfield were dug up around my house without any protection or discussion for me or my neighbors. I was the closet and became very ill and have been displaced from my house for more than 3 years. The City of Philadelphia has tried to cover up the problem and refused to cooperate with my doctors and abandoned me.

Here's a blog I made to show the problems of contamination and dust hazards.
www.greenuptoxicphiladelphia.com

I also wrote a Bill of Rights to help any citizen get quick access to knowledge about what is in their Air, Water and Soil.

Both my doctor and I were refused this knowledge by the politicians of Philadelphia.

www.motherlaw.com

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