Biden signs order prioritizing 'environmental justice'

President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order that would create the White House Office of Environmental Justice.The White House said it wants to ensure that poverty, race and ethnic status do not lead to worse exposure to pollution and environmental harm.

The order tells executive branch agencies to use data and scientific research to understand how pollution hurts people's health, so that work can be done to limit any damage. Under the order, executive agencies would be required to inform nearby communities if toxic substances were released from a federal facility.

The order puts more pressure on federal agencies and the White House itself to deliver on promises the Biden administration has made to clean up the environment in communities of color and poor communities and prepare them for the effects of climate change.