Environmental Justice For Poor US Communities? Elizabeth Warren Releases Her Latest Plan

Democratic presidential candidate and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled a new plan Wednesday that would aim to solve environmental problems in the poorest communities in America. Warren released the plan shortly after visiting Michigan's most polluted ZIP code in southwestern Detroit with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

In a blog post, Warren said that the federal government has failed in tackling the environmental problems that poor and minority communities face in the U.S. "From predominately black neighborhoods in Detroit to Navajo communities in the southwest to Louisiana's Cancer Alley, industrial pollution has been concentrated in low-income communities for decades," Warren said.

"Our crisis of environmental injustice is the result of decades of discrimination and environmental racism compounding in communities that have been overlooked for too long," Warren continued.

Warren suggests that the federal government can "improve environmental equity mapping" to find the most vulnerable places to pollution in the country, directing $1 trillion to improve the environmental situation in these areas over the next decade. She would also have federal agencies do more to consider climate impacts in their permitting and rulemaking processes.

She also wants to direct the EPA and Department of Justice to go after corporate polluters and to provide job training to workers in fossil fuel industries so they are not left behind as the country shifts towards green energy.

Warren has made protecting the environment and averting climate change a major theme of her campaign. She announced last month that she would adopt Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's 10-year climate plan, which aims to end all fossil fuel subsidies and fossil fuel production on public land.

Democratic candidates have focused on climate change and the environment as a major issue, as federal agencies under Trump have played down the threat of global warming. The Trump administration has also relaxed fracking rules on federal lands and rolled back clean water protections.