18/04/2026
“Over 500 programs within the federal government were re-envisioned and reimagined because of the Justice40 Initiative. It changed hew the federal government operated,” she added.
Earthjustice Vice President of Healthy Communities Patrice Simms called Justice40 “a concrete example of what happens when you have voices of people on the front lines informing and voicing their concerns.”
He blasted the scrapping of environmental justice policies by Trump. “Gutting environmental justice means the absence of that platform for communities to have a voice,” he said. “That [action] will have real consequences for families and communities around the country in terms of more avoidable deaths, more asthma attacks, more heart attacks, more strokes — all those things that we know to be the costs of disproportionate environmental burdens.”
No matter what the Trump administration does, the battle for environmental justice will continue.
Lopez-Nuñez said environmental justice leaders who were members of WHEJAC are discussing continuing to function as a body despite Trump’s attack.
After White-Newsome resigned from her role with the Biden administration, she returned to heading up her consulting firm Empowering a Green Environment and Economy. A lot of her focus, now, is helping clients, corporations, philanthropy, and non-governmental organizations to maintain commitments to environmental justice despite the Trump administrations’ attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout government.
“I think this is a time of crisis that forces us to be super creative,” she said. “My goal is to keep folks from backsliding and to see the value of environmental work — and to support our communities so they can continue to do the work.”
The Trump administration is driving more deadly pollution into communities across the country
