MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2011 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Representatives Holloway, Johnson, Bailey, Banks, Blackmon, Broomfield, Buck (5th), Buck (72nd), Burnett, Calhoun, Clark, Clarke, Cockerham, Coleman (29th), Coleman (65th), Dickson, Ellis, Espy, Evans (70th), Flaggs, Fredericks, Gardner, Gibbs, Harrison, Hines, Huddleston (30th), Jones (82nd), Mayo, Middleton, Myers, Perkins, Robinson, Scott, Smith (27th), Straughter, Thomas, Watson, Wooten
A RESOLUTION PROMOTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CITIZENS' ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION AND PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
WHEREAS, there should be established a citizens' environmental commission to address the lack of services, land use and zoning issues, inadequate, intolerable hazardous living and work conditions and access to legal redress; and
WHEREAS, the commission should address the issues of power imbalances, political disfranchisement and lack of resources in order to facilitate the creation and maintenance of healthy, livable and sustainable communities; and
WHEREAS, the commission should seek to prevent the intentional placement of hazardous waste sites, landfills, land farms, incinerators, and polluting industries in communities inhabited mainly by African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, migrant farm workers, and the working poor; and
WHEREAS, the commission should provide avenues to access justice to combat the atmosphere of fear experienced by citizens who will not fight back against the poisoning of their neighborhoods in fear that it may jeopardize jobs and economic survival; and
WHEREAS, the communities of people of color should be included by the traditional environmental groups, by the agency in charge of making significant environmental decisions and other regulatory commissions or bodies; and
WHEREAS, the citizens of Mississippi have the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being and to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations through reasonable legislative and other measures that: (1) prevent pollution and ecological degradation; (2) promote conservation and secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development; (3) avoid, minimize, or mitigate disproportionately high and adverse human health and environmental effects, including social and economic effects, on minority populations and low-income populations; (4) ensure the full and fair participation by all potentially affected communities in the transportation, energy and agricultural decision-making process; (5) prevent the denial of, reduction in, or significant delay in the receipt of benefits by minority and low-income populations; and (6) prevent by necessary means a degraded natural environment which causes hunger and brutal poverty which costs lives; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice affirms ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice requires that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice mandates the right to ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice calls for universal protection from nuclear testing, extraction, production and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons and nuclear testing that threaten the fundamental right to clean air, land, water, and food; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice affirms the fundamental right to political, economical, cultural and environmental self-determination of all peoples; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice requires the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making, including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice affirms the right of all workers to a safe and healthy work environment without being forced to choose between an unsafe livelihood and unemployment, and it also affirms the right of those who work at home to be free from environmental hazards; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice protects the right of victims of environmental injustice to receive full compensation and reparations for damages as well as quality health care; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice considers governmental acts of environmental injustice a violation of international law, the Universal Declaration On Human Rights, and the United Nations Convention on Genocide; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice affirms the need for urban and rural ecological policies to clean up and rebuild our cities and rural areas in balance with nature, honoring the cultural integrity of all our communities, and provide fair access for all to the full range of resources; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice calls for the strict enforcement of principles of informed consent, and a halt to the testing of experimental effects on reproduction, quality of life and exposure to toxins on people of color; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice calls for the education of present and future generations with an emphasis on social and environmental issues, based on our experience and an appreciation of our diverse cultural perspectives; and
WHEREAS, environmental justice requires that we, as individuals, make personal and consumer choices to consume as little of the earth's resources and to produce as little waste as possible, and make the conscious decision to challenge and reprioritize our lifestyles to ensure the health of the natural world for present and future generations; and
WHEREAS, it is the policy of the House of Representatives to promote the establishment of such a constructive commission as a citizens' environmental commission and such positive causes as the pursuit of environmental justice, both of which aim to improve the lives of all Mississippians:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby promote the establishment of a citizens' environmental commission and the pursuit of environmental justice in the State of Mississippi.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.