WASHINGTON – House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) applauded the recent announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of plans to establish an Office of Environmental Justice and issued the following statement:

“Public health is at the center of the environmental and climate justice movements because they are inextricably linked. I applaud the launch of the Office of Environmental Justice at HHS and the Biden administration’s continued all-of-government approach to the fundamental issues of climate change and environmental justice.”

“Communities of color, Indigenous communities, and low-income communities too often bear the brunt of the harm caused by pollution and climate change. We must continue to pursue bold institutional change and legislation, like the Environmental Justice for All Act, to permanently enshrine protections for communities impacted by environmental and climate justice issues, remedy past wrongs, and prevent environmental injustices from happening in the first place.”

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