Harris has sought to highlight how low-income and minority communities are disproportionately affected by pollution.
By bringing U. S. Senator Kamala Harris onto the ticket, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has signaled support for the enforcement of U. S. anti-pollution laws and for suing companies that pollute, environmental groups said. Biden emphasized Harris’ environmental credentials when he announced the senator from California as his choice for vice president on Tuesday, noting lawsuits she had launched both as San Francisco’s district attorney from 2004 to 2011 and then as the state’s attorney general until January 2017. “As Attorney General, Kamala sued corporations like Chevron and BP for damaging the environment, and won,” said a fact sheet detailing Harris’ experience released by Biden’s campaign. The sheet also noted that Harris had sued companies for their alleged roles in exposing Californians to excessive levels of diesel exhaust. Over the last month, Harris has sought to highlight how low-income and minority communities are disproportionately affected by pollution. Last week, Harris co-sponsored legislation with U. S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that would require federal agencies to consider impacts of U. S. environmental legislation on all communities equally, a concept known as environmental justice. Biden also has pledged that his $2 trillion plan for combatting climate change would support environmental justice by directing clean energy spending toward communities living in the shadow of refineries and power plants.
