Sen. Cory Booker attended a student leader town hall meeting at Allen University in Columbia, SC where he listened to the effects of pollution and neglect in poverty-stricken communities and pledged to do more if elected president.
“We can’t afford to lose our children to lead poisoning and illness,’’ Booker said. “They are our most valuable natural resource. If we are going to compete on the globe, we need all of our players on the field, not sidelined by illness, disease or injury.’’
Booker criticized the environmental policies of the current administration giving resources to the Environmental Protection Agency that would assist the communities long hurt by pollution.
“We can create an EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, that partners with activists to hold polluters accountable,’’ Booker said. “Right now under this president, the number of actions that are being taken against polluters has gone dramatically down.’’
One student who spoke with The State, Alexia Young, hadn't previously considered environmental issues but the link Booker made between those and social justice issues Young was more familiar sparked a connection.
“Why is it only in our community, and not in Athens [Texas] or big suburban areas?” Young asked. “It’s the poorer parts where the problems are, and it’s us, African Americans, who get the short end of the stick. It’s lower-income people getting the short end of the stick.”
Booker offered to double EPA's enforcement staffing and increase staffing in the environmental justice office by 10 times. The senator would also delegate resources to the cleanup of Superfund sites and increase protection to public drinking water.
A 2018 study showed Blacks are exposed to more particulate matter pollution than any other racial group and concluded that “strictly socioeconomic considerations may be insufficient to reduce burdens equitably across populations.”
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