Duckworth Discusses Environmental Justice Priorities with Southeast Environmental Task Force
[CHICAGO, IL] — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), founder and co-chair of the U.S. Senate Environmental Justice Caucus and Chair of the Environment & Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife joined Chicagoland area environmental justice advocates in a video call Friday to discuss the Senator’s environmental justice efforts, including her leadership in ensuring the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and Build Back Better budget include significant federal resources to enable impacted communities to address environmental injustices. Duckworth and the officials also celebrated the opening of the Southeast Environmental Task Force’s renovated and newly-ADA compliant space in Chicago’s Hegewisch neighborhood.
“To truly ‘Build Back Better’, it’s critical that we prioritize confronting the environmental injustice that happens too often in low-income communities and communities of color,” said Duckworth. “It was good to speak with the Southeast Environmental Task Force and these Chicagoland environmental justice advocates about repairing, rebuilding and protecting our communities and I will continue to work in Congress to move our country forward in the push against climate change and environmental injustice.”
Duckworth and Southeast Environmental Task Force officials were joined on Friday’s call by representatives from People for Community Recovery, Natural Resources Defense Council, Neighbors for Environmental Justice, Clean Power Lake County and Alliance for the Great Lakes.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal fully authorizes Duckworth’s bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (DWWIA), which would help rebuild our nation’s crumbling and dangerous water infrastructure, and includes $15 billion for lead service line replacement and another $500 million in lead testing and reductions programs.
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