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We need action on environmental equity — not just words

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how important access to the outdoors is for our health and well-being. This is especially true for lower-income communities of color that have borne the brunt of the pandemic and often lack access to good parks. 

The Biden administration has an opportunity to prioritize equitable access to parks and public lands to ensure that chronically underserved communities enjoy the benefits of America’s great natural heritage. The president, vice president and key Cabinet members are saying all the right things about equity and the environment. Here is what they can do to turn those words into actions and on-the-ground outcomes:

In 1964, the civil rights and conservation movements were like two great ships passing in the night. In the past year, we have seen how ignoring equity and racial justice for more than five decades has harmed the conservation movement, to the detriment of nature and ourselves.

The Biden administration has an opportunity to revisit the great legislative achievements of the mid-1960s and this time make sure that our values are aligned.

Jon Christensen is an adjunct assistant professor in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Luskin Center for Innovation at UCLA. Follow him on Twitter @the_wrangler.  

Yvette Lopez-Ledesma is the Urban to Wild director at The Wilderness Society, a national conservation organization. Follow her on Twitter @parksandbuses.