Under the Biden administration, the environmental justice movement had a historic platform to bring clean water and air to communities that have suffered from pollution. It was a boon to the grassroots movement, which started in the 1980s in response to a pattern of permitting landfills and polluting industries in neighborhoods that were disproportionately Black, Brown and low-income, demonstrating the importance of the environmental justice movement’s resilience.

In the past four years, advisory councils were created — with many of the positions filled by women of color, who have long been leaders in environmental justice spaces — and offices opened to spearhead the work on the federal level. During that time, the administration also earmarked billions of dollars to address longstanding environmental issues, and to help these communities adapt to the climate crisis, showing the need for the environmental justice movement’s resilience.

But as President Donald Trump took office for a second time, all that momentum at the federal level disappeared, seemingly overnight. An executive order issued on inauguration day took aim at dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and environmental justice. As a result, any mention of the work is being scrubbed from government websites and funding has been paused.

For Jalonne White-Newsome, who led the first ever office on environmental justice in the White House, the shift has been jarring if not unexpected. Still, she’s not undaunted. Through her over three decades of working in environmental justice — starting from her youth in Detroit, Michigan — there is one thing she knows: The movement, at its core, is driven by everyday people who will continue to advocate for their communities.

“Environmental justice did not start with the federal government,” she said. “Nor will it end with the federal government.”

The 19th spoke with White-Newsome, formerly the federal environmental justice officer for the  White House Council on Environmental Quality, about the Trump administration’s recent attacks on her work and how the movement responds now.

Read the full article about the environmental justice movement’s resilience by Jessica Kutz at The 19th.