Amara Enyia Calls for Bold Environmental Justice Reform and Green Economic Development

AMARA ENYIA CALLS FOR BOLD ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE REFORM AND GREEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

CHICAGO – Today,Amara Enyia released a comprehensive platform on environmental justice and sustainability. Joined by community leaders and advocates, Enyia targeted weak and negligent policies that disproportionally affect people of color, saying they amount to systemic racism.

“City officials have prioritized business interest over the health of residents. They’ve neglected and exploited poor communities of color. When we talk about systemic racism, this is what it looks like: lead in our water pipes and toxic air around our schools and homes,” said Amara Enyia.

Amara Enyia was joined by community activists who support her platform and vision for Chicago. Marcelina Pedraza is a union electrician from the South East side of Chicago who has been organizing in her community for equitable land use planning and school investment. Luis Cabrales is a UIC student who organizes youth in his neighborhood to address land use, green spaces and the city’s ongoing industrial corridor modernization plans. Olga Bautista is the Director of Community Leadership and one of the lead organizers for the Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Pet Coke. She helped force state and local politicians, including Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the City Council and the Governor’s Office to address environmental issues in the 10th Ward.

Policies need to start with community input first, which is a key pillar of Amara Enyia’s campaign. As mayor, Enyia will work hand-in-hand with community activists who live through these issues day-in and day-out.

Specifically, Amara Enyia’s platform calls for:

1. Establishing a Department of the Environmental Justice
2. Coordinating the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Cook County Department of Public Health to hire environmental medical personnel that work with communities to mitigate long term health impacts of exposure to lead, manganese, pet coke and other toxic materials
3. Establishing special Environmental Zoning Districts to enforce new equitable and restorative zoning parameters
4. Demonstrating local leadership on a Green New Deal through equitable neighborhood investment and workforce training
5. Leading the effort for a Blue New Deal to remove lead from our water system, among other contaminants

View the Good Government plan here.

This plan will help Chicago become a world-class city by delivering environmental justice, combating climate change, and creating a green economy all at the same time.