[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 128, 113th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 9082--FEB. 10, 2014

Proclamation 9082 of February 10, 2014

20th Anniversary of Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Two decades ago, President William J. Clinton directed the Federal
Government to tackle a long-overlooked problem. Low-income
neighborhoods, communities of color, and tribal areas disproportionately
bore environmental burdens like contamination from industrial plants or
landfills and indoor air pollution from poor housing conditions. These
hazards worsen health disparities and reduce opportunity for residents--
children who miss school due to complications of asthma, adults who
struggle with medical bills. Executive Order 12898 affirmed every
American's right to breathe freely, drink clean water, and live on
uncontaminated land. Today, as America marks 20 years of action, we
renew our commitment to environmental justice for all.
Because we all deserve the chance to live, learn, and work in healthy
communities, my Administration is fighting to restore environments in

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our country's hardest-hit places. After over a decade of inaction, we
reconvened an Environmental Justice Interagency Working Group and
invited more than 100 environmental justice leaders to a White House
forum. Alongside tribal governments, we are working to reduce pollution
on their lands. And to build a healthier environment for every American,
we established the first-ever national limits for mercury and other
toxic emissions from power plants.
While the past two decades have seen great progress, much work remains.
In the years to come, we will continue to work with States, tribes, and
local leaders to identify, aid, and empower areas most strained by
pollution. By effectively implementing environmental laws, we can
improve quality of life and expand economic opportunity in overburdened
communities. And recognizing these same communities may suffer
disproportionately due to climate change, we must cut carbon emissions,
develop more homegrown clean energy, and prepare for the impacts of a
changing climate that we are already feeling across our country.
As we mark this day, we recall the activists who took on environmental
challenges long before the Federal Government acknowledged their needs.
We remember how Americans--young and old, on college campuses and in
courtrooms, in our neighborhoods and through our places of worship--
called on a Nation to pursue clean air, water, and land for all people.
On this anniversary, let us move forward with the same unity, energy,
and passion to live up to the promise that here in America, no matter
who you are or where you come from, you can pursue your dreams in a safe
and just environment.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 11, 2014, as
the 20th Anniversary of Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice.
I call upon all Americans to observe this day with programs and
activities that promote environmental justice and advance a healthy,
sustainable future.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of
February, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
eighth.
BARACK OBAMA