Friend,

In Uniontown, Alabama, a landfill was licensed to take garbage from more than half of the country — despite the overwhelmingly Black local community’s opposition.

In Lowndes County, just an hour’s drive east, the sewage system is virtually nonexistent and raw sewage collects in people’s backyards.

And between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, there is an 85-mile stretch that’s home to nearly 150 industrial plants and oil refineries known as “Cancer Alley.”

We cannot achieve economic or social justice without simultaneously addressing environmental justice. Clean air and clean water shouldn’t be luxuries for the privileged. They should be the rights of all people.

I’ve been to Uniontown, Lowndes County, and Cancer Alley. And it was with their residents in mind — and the residents of countless other communities like them across the country — that I just reintroduced my Environmental Justice Act. We must ensure that as we confront the climate crisis and save our environment, no one gets left behind.

Add your name as a citizen cosponsor of the Environmental Justice Act. Together we will return power to local communities and guarantee clean air and water for all.

Every day, communities of color, low-income communities, and Indigenous communities are disproportionately harmed by pollution. Yet this reality has largely been ignored, and the affected communities have been left without the legal tools to protect their rights.

Our legislation would establish requirements for federal agencies to address environmental injustices, add enforcement requirements for the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Civil Rights Act, and give greater legal rights to communities impacted by events like the Flint water crisis.

I’ve seen firsthand how low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by poor air quality, tainted drinking water, and toxic Superfund sites.

As a tenant lawyer, City Council member, and mayor of Newark, I recognized that our children have some of the highest rates of child asthma in New Jersey. Half of all New Jerseyans live within three miles of a Superfund site.

Environmental injustices can be found all across our country. This crisis demands our attention.

Add your name as a citizen cosponsor of my Environmental Justice Act today. Your voice on this matter is critically important.

Thank you for joining me at this critical moment for our nation. Together we will invest in restoring safety and health to every community, no matter your background or your zip code.

— Cory