Leveraging Science and Technology for Environmental Justice

By Melanie Buser, OSTP Assistant Director for Environmental Health, Office of Science and Technology Policy

Denice Ross, U.S. Chief Data Scientist, Office of Science and Technology Policy

Karen Andrade, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Science and Technology Policy

For decades, communities across America have faced environmental injustices from toxic pollution and other harms. These toxic exposures have led to higher rates of cancer and respiratory diseases, as well as other dangerous health impacts. Today, President Biden signed an Executive Order to advance environmental justice. This historic Executive Order will ensure the Biden-Harris Administration continues delivering on the President’s ambitious environmental justice agenda.

Science and technology will play an essential role in the Administration’s efforts to tackle environmental injustice. Importantly, the President is directing federal agencies to identify and address gaps in science, data, and research related to environmental justice. The President is also directing the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to develop a federal strategy for identifying and filling environmental justice data and research gaps.

This work will advance the analysis of cumulative impacts, identify and recommend new data sources for the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, elevate the role of community science in environmental justice research, make information on environmental and health concerns more publicly accessible to communities, and help accelerate environmental justice policy and decision making across the federal government.

OSTP is committed to ensuring that the benefits of science and technology are shared by all Americans. A key part of this vision is advancing environmental justice, and harnessing the power of science, data, and innovation to tackle the inequities that have long burdened communities across the country.

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