Stand with Us for Environmental Justice in the Chesapeake Bay Region!
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What Is Environmental Justice?
Environmental justice refers to the effort to ensure that people with lower incomes and BIPOC communities aren't disproportionately harmed by pollution and other environmental threats. There's a long history of undesirable facilities (think landfills, trash incinerators, or coal plants) being built where people have the least power—all too often communities with low incomes or largely BIPOC.
Clean water, clean air, and a safe environment are rights we all share.
Forty Years of Environmental Justice: Where is the Justice?
An article by CBF Vice President of Litigation Jon Mueller and Environmental Justice Staff Attorney Taylor Lilley was published in the Public Interest Law Review. "Forty Years of Environmental Justice: Where is the Justice?" examines the history of environmental justice (or EJ) primarily through the lens of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the White House, and evaluates the progress made in terms of regulations and permitting. It also examines recent administrative and judicial decisions addressing EJ claims and, in conclusion, provides recommendations for ways in which EJ issues can be better presented and addressed. Read the article
Here are a few of the ways CBF is working to ensure that everyone has equal access to clean water, clean air, and a safe environment.
Blog Posts
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A Place for People
November 6, 2023
There are more than 18 million people who live in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, who don’t all look the same, have the same background, or speak the same language. But we are connected by the right—not the privilege—to clean water.
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Gas Compressor Expansion Threatens Public Health and Water Quality in Petersburg, Virginia
September 11, 2023
TC Energy, the company that operates a gas compressor in Petersburg—a small city outside of Richmond, Virginia—is planning to expand its operations. The proposal would increase pollution and possibly endanger the health of a mostly Black community already besieged with pollution from other industries.
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Save the Bay News: Restoration, Wetlands, and Saving Striped Bass
June 29, 2023
Progress toward clean water includes the need for a greater focus on the Bay's 'living resources,' such as blue crabs and striped bass, as well as placing more emphasis on the places and pollution that most affect the Bay's human communities.
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Clean Water Advocacy: March 2023 Update
March 31, 2023
In the first quarter of the year, CBF and our clean water advocates have been fighting for trees, healthy fisheries, environmental justice, agricultural investments, and more.
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Governor-Elect Moore Has Right Plan for Chesapeake Bay; Restoring Hope Is First Step
January 5, 2023
Maryland Gov.-Elect Wes Moore’s optimism is a welcome antidote to the recent gloom surrounding the Chesapeake Bay cleanup.
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News Releases
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For Environmental Justice, Fully Engage Communities and Analyze Cumulative Effects of Rules, CBF Tells EPA
January 18, 2024
CBF filed comments this week stressing the importance of involving environmental justice communities early in the rulemaking process and considering the cumulative impact of climate change and multiple sources of pollution.
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CBF Statement on Virginia DEQ’s Environmental Justice Study
October 16, 2020
Today Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality released a long-awaited environmental justice study and announced that the agency is creating a new Environmental Justice Director position.
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In Richmond, Trees Will Battle Extreme Heat, Pollution, and Injustice in Greening Southside Initiative
September 2, 2020
A major new initiative in southside Richmond will plant more than 650 new trees in neighborhoods suffering from extreme heat linked to racially-motivated housing discrimination in the past.
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Virginia Would Create Environmental Justice Director Position under New Proposal
August 25, 2020
Virginia would create a director of environmental justice position at the Department of Environmental Quality under budget amendment item 380 #1h introduced by Del. Jay Jones during Virginia’s ongoing special legislative session.
Video
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Greening Southside Richmond
09 Apr 2021 00:04:07In formerly redlined neighborhoods, how can trees bring peace, provide health benefits, and reduce pollution? See what community groups and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation are doing in Southside Richmond.
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Clean Water is a Right: Equity and Environmental Justice Around the Bay
11 Aug 2020 01:01:11Join CBF and a panel of elected leaders and community advocates for perspectives on recent environmental justice victories around the Bay watershed. We also discuss where this critical conversation needs to go in the coming years.
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Environmental Justice in Rural Virginia
17 Jul 2020 00:04:28Hear from the people of Charles City County, Virginia, a rural community east of Richmond being targeted for two large new natural gas plants and a pipeline expansion.
