The Patriot Post® · Get Ready for Biden's Next Department of Woke
Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced the creation of yet another leftist governmental “social justice” department, this one focused on doing “environmental justice.” The trouble is that anytime an adjective is attached to the term “justice,” what results is the exact opposite.
The new division within Joe Biden’s Justice Department will be dubbed the Office of Environmental Justice, but its role will not be limited to dealing with instances of illegal activity that result in pollution or some other environmentally damaging consequence. Instead, its role will be much broader. Garland notes the OEJ will “oversee and help guide the Justice Department’s wide-ranging environmental justice efforts.”
In other words, think of anything that can be packaged as related to the environment combined with “social justice.”
“Although violations of our environmental laws can happen anywhere,” Garland explained, “communities of color, indigenous communities, and low-income communities often bear the brunt of the harm caused by environmental crime, pollution, and climate change. And for far too long, these communities have faced barriers to accessing the justice they deserve." In short, pollution is racist.
He continued: "In partnership with EPA, our new OEJ will serve as the central hub for our efforts to advance our comprehensive environmental justice enforcement strategy. In our environmental efforts, we will prioritize the cases that will have the greatest impact on the communities most overburdened by environmental harm. And together with our Civil Rights Division, Office for Access to Justice, Office of Tribal Justice, and United States Attorneys’ Offices, OEJ will prioritize meaningful and constructive engagement with the communities most affected by environmental crime and injustice.”
The most worrisome aspect of this new department is its enforcement mechanism being a part of the DOJ. The Associated Press reports, “On enforcement, the strategy unveiled Thursday is intended to guide the work of employees throughout the Justice Department, including U.S. attorneys across the country who will begin a renewed focus on environmental justice issues, Garland and Gupta said.”
This will also serve as yet another excuse for the creation of new and various income redistribution based upon the Left’s equity ideology. Leftists can’t have “justice” unless someone gets paid.
Granta Nakayama, former head of Environmental Protection Agency enforcement under George W. Bush, welcomed the announcement by stating: “This moves environmental justice from a slogan to a program, with metrics to measure progress. It brings the full legal stature and muscle of the Justice Department” to bear for environmental justice.
Once again, the Biden administration is engaged in further politicizing the executive branch expressly for the furtherance and enforcement of leftist ideology.