December 05, 2024

Duckworth Emphasizes Environmental Justice Issues with League of Conservation Voters and Illinois Environmental Council

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator and co-founder of the first-ever Senate Environmental Justice Caucus Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today met with members of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) and the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) to discuss a number of issues, including her work to help create good-paying union jobs, get the lead out of our children’s water, promote clean energy and bring environmental justice to communities that have been ignored for too long.

“In order to help preserve our environment for generations to come, we need to make significant investments in climate-resilient infrastructure and the well-paying climate-friendly jobs those investments create,” said Duckworth. “Doing so gives us a chance to not only rebuild and repair communities and support the American workforce, it also creates an opportunity to confront the environmental injustices that low-income communities and communities of color too often bear the burden of. I appreciated today’s opportunity to speak with the League of Conservation Voters and the Illinois Environmental Council about our shared work to achieve these goals, and I will continue to work in Congress to move our country forward in the push against climate change.”

As co-chair and co-founder of the U.S. Senate Environmental Justice Caucus, Duckworth has been a strong advocate for bringing environmental justice to Illinois and across the country. She led the charge in the U.S. Senate to remove lead drinking water pipes across the country. Her Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (DWWIA), which was included in the BIL, is the most significant federal investment in water infrastructure in history, including $15 billion for national lead service line replacement. DWWIA, which focuses on disadvantaged communities, is helping rebuild our nation’s crumbling and dangerous water infrastructure and enable communities to repair and modernize their failing wastewater systems.

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