LEADING POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP APPLAUDS MOVEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE LEGISLATION

TRENTON – The following is a statement from Lee Clark, Environmental Justice Policy Manager of New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, on the New Jersey Senate Budget Committee’s passage of S232, which addresses cumulative impacts and disproportionate burdens of pollution on communities of color.

“We congratulate the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance on their decades long priority finally seeing the light of day. We recently learned through a Harvard study that due to the unjust and disproportionate impact of air pollution on communities of color, residents are more likely to be diagnosed with respiratory illnesses such as asthma and die from COVID-19. S232 is significant because it provides a more detailed look at major polluting facilities in overburdened communities and requires additional consideration of the environmental and public health impacts of these facilities when they want to move into a community,” said Lee Clark, Environmental Justice Policy Manager, New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. “We want to thank Senator Sarlo for posting S232 for a vote in his committee. We urge Senate President Sweeney to post S232 for a floor vote on Monday. Addressing cumulative impacts is a major part of the New Jersey LCV Common agenda, and we look forward to supporting our environmental justice partners to get this signed into law. We cannot delay.”