Environmental Leaders, Cabinet Secretaries to Participate in First White House Environmental Justice Forum - December 15, 2010

Tomorrow, I'll be in DC to cover the following important environmental developments for Northeast Ohio...Environmental Leaders, Cabinet Secretaries to Participate in First White House Environmental Justice Forum [1].

Please see the agenda below and let me know if there are any specific concerns you would like addressed - you know I'll be focused on lead poisoning, source point industrial emissions in general, and especially industrial pollution from coal and steel-making, so serious in Northeast Ohio. I do not know the format of the forum but there will be some question and answer opportunities. I encourage you to tune in and watch it live at whitehouse.gov (link below). For Clevelanders, this is one of the most exciting developments yet from the Obama Administration. With all the right players at the table at the White House - and these are some very right players - I expect good outcomes for environmental justice in America to come of this. I look forward to covering and learning from it first hand.

Environmental Leaders, Cabinet Secretaries to Participate in First White House Environmental Justice Forum 

WASHINGTON – On December 15, Obama administration officials will convene the first-ever White House Forum on Environmental Justice. Environmental leaders from across the country will attend the day-long forum featuring White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. 

This forum will focus on the Obama administration’s commitment to ensuring that overburdened and low-income communities have the opportunity to enjoy the health and economic benefits of a clean environment. The event will bring together environmental justice and community leaders, cabinet members, and senior officials from federal, state, local and tribal governments for a discussion on creating a healthy and sustainable environment for all Americans. 

Chair Sutley and Administrator Jackson also will host an online question-and-answer session to engage with the public on the subject of environmental justice. The White House forum and the question-and-answer session will be streamed live at http://www.whitehouse.gov/live [2].

Information on the forum agenda is below.

WHO:           Nancy Sutley, Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality;

Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;

Eric Holder, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice;

Ken Salazar, Secretary, U.S. Department of Interior;

Hilda Solis, Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor;

Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services;
                   Steven Chu, Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy
                   Janet Napolitano, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

WHAT:             White House Forum on Environmental Justice

WHEN:             Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. (EST)

WHERE:           South Court Auditorium
                        Eisenhower Executive Office Building
                        Washington, DC 20500

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WHO:               Nancy Sutley, Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality
                        Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

WHAT:             Live questions and answer session on Environmental Justice

WHEN:             Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 12:50 p.m. (EST)

WHERE:           To watch the chat live go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/live [2]

Questions will be taken from viewers at http://apps.facebook.com/whitehouselive/ [3]

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AGENDA

10:00 a.m.        Opening Plenary Session featuring Nancy Sutley, Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality and Lisa Jackson, Administrator, 
                        Environmental Protection Agency
                               
10:20 a.m.        Green Jobs, Clean Energy Session featuring opening remarks by Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor and Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy

11:40 a.m.        Legal Framework for Advancing Environmental Justice Session, featuring opening remarks by Eric Holder. U.S. Attorney General
                       
1:50 p.m.          Healthy Communities and Place-based Initiatives Session, featuring opening remarks by Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and
                        Human Services

3:15 p.m.          Climate Adaptation Session, featuring opening remarks by Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior and Janet Napolitano, Secretary of
                        Homeland Security

4:25 p.m.          Closing Session, Nancy Sutley, Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality

Note: If a link above doesn't work, please copy and paste the URL into a browser. 

View all news releases related to partnerships and stewardship [4]