DOD takes slow road on environmental justice update

摘要

Part two of a two-part series. Click here for part one. An attempt to update the Defense Department's Clinton-era environmental justice strategy fizzled out during the Obama years. Now the agency is trying again, but progress is slow. The department first published its strategy in 1995, following a Clinton executive order directing federal agencies to prioritize environmental justice. It hasn't been updated since then. John Conger, who was acting deputy undersecretary of Defense for installations and environment between 2012 and 2014, recalled seeing a draft update during his tenure. "Last I remember, there was a pretty solid draft, and it didn't get to the point where it came to me for approval yet," said Conger, now director of the Center for Climate & Security. DOD signed a memorandum of understanding in 2011 to update its environmental justice strategy by early 2012, according to a Government Accountability Office report last year.