The ravaging effects of the climate crisis are no longer hypothetical warnings, theyāre real and present dangers. Across the globe and right here at home in Colorado, weāve seen the consequences of unmitigated pollution, a changing climate, and rising sea levels manifested in poor air and water quality, increasingly frequent and violent natural disasters, and rapidly shifting regional weather patterns that have our flora and fauna scrambling to adapt.
Thereās no running from these devastating consequences: itās well past time that we, as lawmakers and as individuals, face the climate crisis head-on. Weāve been hard at work in the General Assembly ensuring that Colorado continues to lead on climate and conservation policy. From holding big polluters accountable, to setting bold renewable energy targets and introducing legislation to ensure we meet those goals, the Colorado Legislature has made important progress over the past few years. Now, weāre introducing legislation to ensure that Coloradoās climate solutions are well tailored to address how the crisis is affecting individual Coloradans.
Here and around the country, Black, indigenous, Latino, and low-income communities are hit harder and more often by the consequences of climate change than other communities. But while air and water pollution are impacting communities of color at disproportionately high rates, our climate solutions have largely failed to take this reality into account. Thatās where our environmental justice bill comes in.
HB21-1266 is simple and impactful legislation that will ensure Coloradoās climate policies are as intersectional as the crisis they seek to solve. If enacted, the proposal would create a definition of āenvironmental justiceā and ādisproportionately impacted communityā in the context of climate policy.
The bill would also create an Environmental Justice Action Task Force within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), to take community input and develop a statewide environmental justice strategy.
As a result of the actions weāve taken in recent years, various branches of our state government have worked to meet the needs of communities most affected by climate change and pollution. This bill will ensure that they know how and where to focus their efforts to best meet the needs of our state.
Once we know where to focus, agencies across all levels of government can begin to evaluate whether their actions increase or decrease environmental inequality ā ultimately deterring environmental racism and injustice. And that evaluation should happen in full, equal partnership with the communities most impacted by environmental decision making. Importantly, HB21-1266 instructs agencies not to pursue any project or policy that increases the inequity of environmental injustice. Action must accompany information.
The result of this bill, working in tandem with our previous, ongoing and future environmental policy efforts, would be a climate crisis response that truly takes into account the realities that our communities are facing.
The phrase āweāre all weathering the same storm, but weāre not all in the same boatā has been used a lot recently to describe COVID and its disproportionate effects on different communities. The same can be said for the climate crisis. While we work to calm the seas of climate change, letās make sure weāre also sending relief to the ships and rafts that are taking on the most water.
Rep. Dominique Jackson Represents Aurora and Sen. Faith Winter represents parts of the north metro region.