[Absolutely Nobama]

From the Department of Labor:

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“The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is publishing its draft Environmental Justice Strategy in response to the Memorandum of Understanding with the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice (EJ IWG) signed in August 2011. President Obama has renewed agencies’ environmental justice planning by reinvigorating Executive Order 12898 (EO 12898), which tasked Cabinet-level Federal agencies with making environmental justice part of their mission. The agencies were directed to identify and address, as appropriate, the disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority and low-income populations.

The Department views Environmental Justice from a workplace training, health and safety perspective. The Department is developing an Environmental Justice Strategy that is in line with the mission of the Department and Secretary Solis’ vision for the future: good jobs for everyone. The vision of good jobs for everyone includes ensuring that workplaces are safe and healthy; helping workers who are in low-wage jobs or out of the labor market find a path into middle-class jobs; and helping middle-class families remain in the middle-class. The Department’s draft Environmental Justice Strategy focuses on agencies involved with worker training (the Employment Training Administration (ETA) and the Office of Recovery for Automotive Communities and Workers (ORACW)), health and safety issues (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)), as well as agencies responsible for data collection (the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)) and workers’ compensation for certain injuries caused by environmental hazards (Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP)). As part of our development of the DOL Environmental Justice Strategy, we are soliciting public comment.

Your input is important to us. Please read the draft strategy and respond to the thought questions on the left side of this page. Please consider the spectrum of DOL programs, policies, grants, enforcement actions, or regulations when providing responses. Please provide responses that are supported with specific examples and data, where possible.”

http://dolenvironmentaljustice.ideascale.com/

[Absolutely Nobama]

More from the Department of No Labor: *********************************** "President Obama has extended the call for agencies to renew their commitment to Environmental Justice. Environmental Justice is identifying and addressing, as appropriate, the disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of programs, policies, and activities on minority, tribal, and low‐income populations. Environmental justice in the Labor context is fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, income, or education level, with respect to development, implementation, and enforcement of employment laws, regulations, programs,and policies. The Department of Labor continues to pursue Environmental Justice as a part of our efforts to protect the health, safety, equity, and security of workers, including low‐income, minority, and Native American workers. The Department’s Environmental Justice Strategy is in line with the mission of the Department and the Secretary’s vision for the future: Good Jobs for Everyone. This vision includes ensuring that workplaces are safe and healthy; helping workers who are in low‐wage jobs or out of the labor market find a path into middle‐class jobs; and helping middle‐class families remain in the middle class. The Department’s Environmental Justice Strategy focuses on agencies directly involved with worker training, health and safety issues, and measurement – the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Employment Training Administration (ETA),the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the Office of Recovery for Automotive Communities and Workers (ORACW), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). This document describes how each of these agencies pursues Environmental Justice with programs that protect the health, safety, equity, and security of low‐income, Native American, and minority workers. The Department is committed to pursuing Environmental Justice and the work of the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice. This Environmental Justice Strategy represents the next step forward in the partnership with the public and other government agencies toward achieving our Environmental Justice goals." http://www.dol.gov/asp/EnvironmentalJusticeDraftStrategy.pdf