In response to the ongoing demonstrations calling attention to racial injustice and inequality across our society, the Environmental Integrity Project is releasing the following statement:
We are living in historic and unprecedented times. The Environmental Integrity Project has been championing the rights of the disenfranchised and under-represented since our founding, and the time has come for everyone to raise their voices, including ours. Since 2002, the Environmental Integrity Project has been committed to the fight against environmental racism. We partner with and provide legal support to local communities – including many people of color – living near industrial sites that release toxic pollution into the air and water.
Over the last six months, many of these communities have suffered not only from an unjust amount of pollution, but also disproportionate harm from the COVID-19 pandemic and our nation’s gross inequities in health care and lack of preparation for a public health crisis. Now, on top of this, we have watched, once again, police brutality claim the life of another innocent African-American man’s life. This is outrageous, and we should all join together to demand change.
The Environmental Integrity Project supports every American’s right to demonstrate in support of justice, accountability, and an end to the systemic racism and inequity that pervade our policing, health care system, and distribution of environmental risks in our society.
