User:Ganarfelnaf/sandbox

= Senate Environmental Justice Caucus = The Senate Environmental Justice Caucus (EJC) is a caucus within the United States Senate. The EJC works to advance the causes of low-income communities and communities of color who are disproportionately impacted by environmental degradation.

The EJC was established on Earth Day in 2019 by Senators Tammy Duckworth, Cory Booker, and Tom Carper. The creation of the caucus was supported by the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters, among others.

= Background = As the name suggests, the Environmental Justice Caucus was founded in response to the environmental justice movement, which began long before the caucus' foundation.

The environmental justice movement did not even truly begin as a "movement" in the truest sense. Before the movement became nationalized, complaints were limited to a local scale and there were no attempts at joint action by multiple communities that shared common issues.

The incident that many agree to have kickstarted the movement were the events of Warren County, North Carolina in 1982. Due to Robert J. Burns and his sons intentionally spilling PCB-contaminated oil across highways spanning 14 counties in North Carolina, 60,000 tons of soil had been contaminated with toxic PCBs and the state of North Carolina designated Warren County, a predominately African American community, to be the site of which they would build a landfill to bury the contaminated soil. Due to errors and intentional oversight in the landfill's construction however, contaminated water was allowed to flow in and out of the landfill, and the EPA "found significant PCB air emissions at the landfill and 1/2 mile away, but citizens did not learn about this report for another 15 years." These events kindled the flames for the movement, and the first coordinated protest, organized by the NAACP and others, for environmental justice was held. The protest resulted in the arrests of "more than 500 protestors". The controversy about to what extent the events of Warren County and other similar events were racially based "galvanized the environmental justice movement."

= Foundation = The Environmental Justice Caucus was founded on Earth Day, April 22nd, in 2019 by Senators Tammy Duckworth, Cory Booker, and Tom Carper. All three senators have been major players to fighting for the environment in the government. Duckworth is the ranking member of the Senate Environment Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife. Booker is the ranking member of Senate Environment Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight and is known for presenting the Environmental Justice Act of 2017, calling for government agencies to pay more heed to environmental justice while strengthening its legal protections. Carper is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and "has a track record of promoting environmental legislation" sponsoring legislation such as the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of 2019, which gave funds to reduce the emissions produced by diesel-powered vehicle engines.

The senators claim that the EJC's purpose is to "work to raise awareness on how environmental burdens (and benefits) have been distributed unevenly along racial and socioeconomic lines."

= Notable Achievements = Since its foundation in 2019, the EJC has yet to pass any legislative action, but has brought many environmental justice issues to light in the government.

The EJC has requested funds for many environmental justice related projects and legislation such as increased investments into COVID-19 packages for communities affected by environmental injustice, funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Interior, and increased funding for environmental justice programs at EPA.

= References =