John,

When we speak of injustice, the focus often shifts to challenges like income inequality, education disparities, or racial discrimination. Yet, lurking in the shadows, silently crippling communities, is the vile face of environmental racism.

Corporations, with their unyielding thirst for profit, knowingly dump pollutants into the backyards of Black, brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities. This isn't just an environmental crisis; it's a blatant, ongoing racial injustice. This has to end and the Cumulative Impacts Act is our weapon in this fight. We must rally support for it.

Introduced by Representative Rashida Tlaib, the Cumulative Impacts Act demands that the EPA take into account historical, ongoing, and future pollution before issuing permits under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.

It goes even further by mandating that unless facilities can ascertain no harm to vulnerable communities, they cannot operate. It’s an approach that asserts: human health over corporate profits.

We must demonstrate support for this important environmental justice legislation. Sign to support the Cumulative Impacts Act to rectify environmental racism and protect our public health from corporate polluters now.

Environmental racism isn't a new phenomenon, but its widespread prevalence in the 21st century is a testament to a greed-driven corporate agenda and a complicit system. In fact, Black Americans are still 75% more likely to live near industries notorious for pollution compared to White Americans. This translates to more respiratory diseases, cancer, infant mortality, and shortened life expectancies.

Historically, permitting these harmful facilities has operated on an archaic principle. They assess each facility in isolation, never evaluating the cumulative impacts of several pollutants in one region. This is like diagnosing a patient's health by only examining a single symptom -- it's grossly inadequate and dangerous.

What's at stake here isn't just the environment or public health in isolation, but the very fabric of justice and equity in our society. Environmental justice seeks to ensure every individual, irrespective of their racial or economic background, has equal access to clean air, water, and a safe environment. This is a fundamental right, not a privilege reserved for white wealthy neighborhoods.

The large scale of environmental racism has gone unchecked for too long. The Cumulative Impacts Act is a call for everyone who believes in justice, equality, and the right to a healthy environment.

Communities of color must no longer be sacrificial zones for corporate profiteering. Stand up, raise your voice, and rally behind the Cumulative Impacts Act by adding your name now.

Let’s reclaim our environment, health, and dignity from corporate polluters. Together, we can usher in an era of genuine environmental justice.

- Amanda

Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund