Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson launches environmental justice initiative, pledges hiring and legal action

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson onstage at a symposium co-hosted with Gonzaga Law School announced a new environmental justice initiative and outlined steps his office is taking to address disproportionate pollution burdens on frontline communities.

"Science shows that black, indigenous, and people of color and low income communities bear the brunt of the impacts of environmental problems and climate change," Ferguson said, citing studies that found racial disparities in exposure to air pollution.

Ferguson summarized research led by the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota that, he said, shows white Americans experience about 70% less of the air pollution they generate while Black and Hispanic Americans experience substantially more (Ferguson cited figures of roughly 56% more for Black Americans and 63% more for Hispanic Americans). He also referenced a 2018 analysis from the EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment that found Black Americans were exposed to about 1.5 times more particulate matter than the national average and that race was the strongest predictor of exposure.

Ferguson described state-level work mapping environmental health disparities conducted in partnership with the University of Washington, the Washington State Department of Health, the Department of Ecology, and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, and said those maps show how where people live, their income, race, or language ability can increase risk of exposure to harmful pollution.

He highlighted impacts on tribal communities, saying tribal salmon harvests in Washington have declined because of warming waters and habitat degradation. To underscore that point, he cited a 2016 Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission report, noting it states "virtually all of the activities that our treaties protect are influenced by the effects of climate change."

As part of the initiative, Ferguson announced his office will hire an environmental justice attorney and said research fellows are preparing a report on environmental justice and housing; the hiring process was "currently in the hiring process," he added. Ferguson also said his office started a tribal consultation and consent policy, which he described as the first of its kind in the country, and that the office had filed a lawsuit intended to protect the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and preserve public input in federal agency decision-making affecting Northwestern communities.

Ferguson said the initiative aims to lift up community efforts, to inform policy proposals, and to target litigation where federal decisions could produce profound local impacts. He closed by announcing keynote speakers and urging attendees to engage with his staff during the symposium.

The office did not provide onstage details about the timeline for the attorney hire, the contents or release date of the research fellows' report, or the specific legal claims in the NEPA lawsuit beyond protecting public input; attendees were invited to contact the Attorney General's office for further information.