Greetings from Harlem!
On Thursday, January 29 and Friday, January 30, 2009, over 400 scientists, government officials, educators, students and community activities gathered for the first time ever at Fordham Law School's Pope Auditorium in New York City to discuss the impacts of climate change on communities of color and low income, and to develop strategies for addressing those impacts. The conference served as both a rallying cry and an injection of fresh energy into the environmental justice, climate justice and overall social justice movements.
Representative Charlie Rangel, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, addressed the conference on its second day, and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson made the conference her first public appearance since taking office in mid January, because, as she said, "...I'm an African-American woman and an environmentalist and we have similar backgrounds. This was very meaningful to me."
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Left to Right at the ACJ Conference: Vernice D. Miller-Travis (Vice Chair, Maryland State Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities, Co-founder - WE ACT for Environmental Justice); Lisa P. Jackson (EPA Administrator); Cecil D. Corbin-Mark (Deputy Director - WE ACT for Environmental Justice); and Peggy M. Shepard (Executive Director and Co-founder - WE ACT for Environmental Justice).
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