President Joe Biden signed a historic executive order called Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All, which will direct federal agencies to focus on confronting longstanding environmental injustices, furthering the administration’s commitment to environmental justice. NAS Faculty Associate, Kyle Whyte, the George Willis Pack Professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), a U.S. Science Envoy, and a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, served as an advisor on the development of the new environmental justice executive order and stood behind Biden in the Rose Garden at the signing. 

“Under this order, environmental justice will become the responsibility of every single federal agency, I mean every single federal agency. That means every federal agency must take into account environmental and health impacts on communities and then work to prevent those negative impacts. Environmental justice will be the mission of the entire government, woven directly into how we work with state, local, Tribal and territorial governments,” said Biden.

 

Read more about this historic executive order here.