How Jay Inslee would address environmental justice

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday announced his plan to address environmental justice, aiming to correct decades of inequities that have seen low-income and minority populations disproportionately affected by air pollution, water contamination and other environmental issues.

It’s the fifth climate-related announcement from the long-shot presidential candidate, who polls around 1 percent among likely Democratic primary voters. Past plans included proposals for 100 percent clean electricity and a proposal to eventually phase out all fossil fuel production in the United States, among others.

His latest plan, dubbed Community Climate Justice, builds on those goals and provides further detail on how they would be implemented.

What would the plan do?

Inslee’s campaign says his plan would put environmental justice at the “center” of his climate policy. At the White House, Inslee would refocus the Council on Environmental Quality, which oversees federal agency environmental reviews, into the Council on Environmental Justice. That office would also contain a new Environmental Justice Advisory Council comprised “predominantly” of representatives from pollution-affected communities, unions, tribal nations, environmental organizations and business.

At the Department of Justice, an Inslee White House would open a new office focused on environmental justice, which the campaign says would “aggressively pursue of maximum civil and criminal penalties under environmental law.” The administration would also institute a nationwide ban on the chemical PFAS, which has become a common drinking water contaminant due to its use in fire retardants.

How much would it cost?

Inslee’s camp has previously called for $3 trillion in public spending over a decade as part of his Evergreen Economy plan. The Community Climate Justice program would direct at least a third of that to low-income and minority communities particularly susceptible to local pollution and climate impacts, resulting in more than $1 trillion in funding.

Who would it help?

The climate justice plan aims to focus an Inslee administration’s actions on communities most affected by air pollution, water contamination and the effects of climate change — largely low-income, indigenous and racial minority populations.

Inslee has also proposed funding to assist fossil fuel workers in the transition to clean energy, calling for a “G.I. Bill for energy workers” as part of his earlier Evergreen Economy Plan.

Who opposes it?

Republicans, fossil fuel companies and their workers are sure to oppose Inslee’s plans, which would fundamentally reorient the U.S. economy away from a reliance on oil, natural gas and coal.

Owners of mines, factories, power plants and other industrial facilities may particularly dislike Inslee’s latest environmental justice proposals, which pledge stepped up enforcement of pollution laws, particularly for repeat offenders.

Moderate Democrats and unions with workers in the fossil fuel industries may also oppose parts of Inslee’s climate proposals, which would require extensive retraining for many workers employed in extractive or polluting industries today.

How would it work?

Some of Inslee’s goals, like establishing new environmental justice offices or increasing regulatory enforcement, could be accomplished through his authority as president alone. Others, like legislation for job retraining or a federal clean energy standard, would require action from Congress.

In previous plans, the campaign has left the details of policymaking to a Presidential Commission on Energy Transition, a panel featuring leadership from ten federal agencies, including Energy, EPA, FERC and others, alongside representatives from state and tribal governments.

What have other candidates proposed?

Inslee’s climate plans are the most detailed and extensive proposals released this cycle, but other Democrats have released robust climate goals of their own.

Former Vice President Joe Biden has called for $1.7 billion to help the U.S. reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 but has been less specific on his implementation plans. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has proposed $2 billion in spending and a ban on public land fossil fuel extraction, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke has called for $5 trillion in combined public and private spending.

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Maryland Rep. John Delaney have both backed a carbon tax, and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders previously proposed a ban on natural gas fracking and other restrictions on fossil fuel production and export. Those policies are still listed on the climate page of Sanders' website, but Sanders has not yet spelled them out in a detailed proposal this cycle.

Why now?

Scientists say world economies must decarbonize quickly over the next decade to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, and the issue now ranks near the top of those concerning Democratic primary voters.

Though Inslee has staked his candidacy on the climate issue, he has yet to break through with likely primary voters ahead of the second round of debates this week in Detroit. Inslee traveled to the Motor City on Monday to release his environmental justice plan, holding an event in one of Michigan’s most polluted communities.