Assembly Resolution No. 239

BY: M. of A. O'Donnell

CONGRATULATING Peggy Shepard upon the occasion of
her promotion to the White House Environmental
Justice Advisory Council

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to honor New
Yorkers who have made substantial contributions to our State and Nation;
and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
congratulate Peggy Shepard upon the occasion of her promotion to the
White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council; and

WHEREAS, As our Nation and State stand to confront the considerable
environmental challenges in the years and decades ahead, we must
prioritize low-income, communities of color that have historically been
disproportionately burdened by pollution, while centering organizers and
leaders who have worked to mobilize these communities and fight for
environmental justice; and

WHEREAS, The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council,
created by President Joseph R. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris,
will foster input from environmental justice communities by bringing
together environmental justice leaders from across the country to help
shape federal policymaking; and

WHEREAS, One of only two New Yorkers to have been appointed to this
Council, Peggy Shepard, over decades of work as a public servant,
community leader and environmental justice organizer, has worked
tirelessly to ensure all of our communities can live in a clean, healthy
and sustainable environment; and

WHEREAS, As a co-founder and executive director of the West Harlem
Environmental Action (WE-ACT), Peggy Shepard has helped build an
organization that has made lasting impacts on the environmental health
and sustainability of West Harlem and Northern Manhattan while
collaborating with communities and organizations from across the world;
and

WHEREAS, An attendee of the First National People of Color
Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, Peggy Shepard helped create the
Principles of Environmental Justice, a defining and foundational
document of the global environmental justice movement; and

WHEREAS, Peggy Shepard's expertise and steadfast advocacy on the
Council will bring real change for low income, communities of color in
New York and across the country; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
congratulate Peggy Shepard on her historic appointment to the White
House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, to thank her for her
decades of service to New York State, and recognize her pioneering

leadership on the critical issue of environmental justice; and be it
further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to Peggy Shepard.