PRINTER'S NO. 2313

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

No.

151

Session of

2021

INTRODUCED BY BULLOCK, RABB, KENYATTA, SCHLOSSBERG, OTTEN,

D. WILLIAMS, DELLOSO, GUENST, KRAJEWSKI, SANCHEZ, HOHENSTEIN,

HILL-EVANS, VITALI, KIRKLAND AND N. NELSON, OCTOBER 26, 2021

Leadership Summit.

WHEREAS, The First National People of Color Environmental

Leadership Summit was held October 24 through 27, 1991, in

Washington, DC; and

WHEREAS, Seventeen principles of Environmental Justice were

adopted at the summit; and

WHEREAS, These 17 principles have served as the defining

document and basis for the grassroots movement for environmental

justice; and

WHEREAS, Gathered together at the summit, delegates

world and individuals' roles in healing themselves, ensuring

environmental justice and to promote economic alternatives that

would contribute to the development of environmentally safe

livelihoods; and

WHEREAS, The adoption of the principles was also a step

toward securing the political, economic and cultural liberation

for all people of color that had been denied during the more

than 500 years of colonization and oppression; and

WHEREAS, Under these principles, Environmental Justice

affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the

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 or hazardous wastes and poisons and nuclear testing that

threatens the fundamental right to clean air, land, water and

food; and

WHEREAS, Environmental Justice affirms the fundamental right

to political, economic, cultural and environmental self-

strictly accountable to the people for detoxification and the

containment at the point of production; and

WHEREAS, Environmental Justice demands 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 unsafe working conditions and

unemployment and the right of those who work at home to be free

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations

Convention on Genocide; and

WHEREAS, Environmental Justice must recognize a special legal

relationship of Native Americans to the United States Government

through treaties, agreements, compacts and covenants affirming

sovereignty and self-determination; 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 providing fair access for

vaccinations on people of color; and

WHEREAS, Environmental Justice opposes the destructive

operations of multinational corporations; and

WHEREAS, Environmental Justice opposes military occupation,

repression and exploitation of lands, people, cultures and other

life forms; and

WHEREAS, Environmental Justice calls for the education of

present and future generations which emphasizes social and

environmental issues based on our experience and an appreciation

of our diverse cultural perspectives; and

RESOLVED (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly

recognize the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the 17

principles of Environmental Justice that were presented to

delegates at the First National People of Color Environmental

Leadership Summit.