Grassroots activists disrupted the Biden administration’s communications with a massive email blast in August in a symbol of what some see as a deteriorating relationship
At issue is whether the Biden administration will make good on its promises to reduce environmental pollution and invest in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
The contretemps over the email blast, outlined here for the first time, symbolizes the administration’s challenges in satisfying the left-wing, mostly non-white movement calling for significant clean energy, public transportation, environmental cleanup and workforce investments in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
“The administration wants the benefit of the doubt,” said Patterson, whose group is comprised of grass-roots activists, many of whom are people of color. “The reality is they haven’t earned it yet.” Some environmental justice leaders told POLITICO that some Biden policy positions jeopardize their communities’ health.
“I do understand the frustration when communities have some hard things that are happening in their community and want things to change,” said White House aide Cecilia Martinez, speaking for the administration. “I want the same thing. That's why I'm here -- to make sure to try to figure out how to make those decisions in the best way possible.
But while Biden has taken swifter, broader measures to curb climate change and environmental pollution than any other president, environmental justice organizers remain guarded. Biden still must overcome decades of politicians making sweeping promises to hard-up communities. Martinez noted that the White House has asked each federal agency to develop community engagement plans to reach environmental-justice groups, understand their issues and mold programs to better address those matters.
“One problem with the current administration is on one hand they say they want to transition to a clean energy economy and on the other they are supporting gas infrastructure,” Wilson said. “That’s a problem. That’s a failure.”
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