Colette Pichon Battle, attorney, founder, and executive director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy. Colette Pichon Battle
By Karen L. Smith-Janssen
Colette Pichon Battle gave a December 2019 TEDWomen Talk on the stark realities of climate change displacement, and people took notice. The video racked up a million views in about two weeks. The attorney, founder, and executive director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy (GCCLP) advocates for climate justice in communities of color. Confronted with evidence showing how her own South Louisiana coastal home of Bayou Liberty will be lost to flooding in coming years, the 2019 Obama Fellow dedicates herself to helping others still reeling from the impacts of Katrina face the heavy toll that climate change has taken—and will take—on their lives and homelands. Her work focuses on strengthening multiracial coalitions, advocating for federal, state, and local disaster mitigation measures, and redirecting resources toward Black communities across the Gulf South.
<h4>How did Hurricane Katrina—which <a href="https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/150082.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">displaced more than 1 million people</a> in the Gulf region—propel your work, and how does it shape your mission today?</h4><p>I got into this work in the aftermath of the hurricane in 2005, and it's been 15 years as of August 29. Katrina was a massive disaster that I felt compelled to respond to. It was my hometown. I stayed because I began to understand how that disaster was a manifestation of a global climate reality.</p><p>We are anchoring the <a href="https://m4bl.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Movement for Black Lives</a> work that's centered around a national black climate agenda, and part of that will include in-depth communications to bring climate into the realm of Black lives—into communities that have been marginalized and targeted by our colonizing system. Part of our work is to begin a process of acknowledging the trauma that comes with being a person of color in this country, being in an environmental justice community and being poisoned every day, and going through a climate disaster. <em>We</em> are on the frontlines.</p>
<h4>How do you help communities heal from this trauma when the underlying problems have not been solved? </h4><p>The most difficult and time-consuming layer is building, healing, and strengthening relationships between different communities and acknowledging that many of us, especially people of color, have been systematically pitted against each other as part of a broader social infrastructure. What does it mean to reconcile these communities with each other? For example, we're making a <a href="https://www.gcclp.org/heal-and-reconcile" target="_blank">Sacred Waters Pilgrimage</a> down the Mississippi River for Black and Indigenous women to address the tensions between those two communities in the U.S. and begin to heal those relationships. In the climate movement, these are the people who are tokenized; it's just assumed they can stand on the frontlines together with no acknowledgment that there's a deep history of mistrust and tension between these groups—not of their own creation, and rooted in colonization. You've got to take some time to understand how the cultures are different and how people are perceived. You've got to reconcile and heal before you can work, and only then can the work that you do together stand. Otherwise, the work that you do together will fall.</p>
<h4>In addition to building coalitions, what kinds of services does the GCCLP provide to help residents cope with the impacts of extreme storms?</h4><p>We started out providing free legal services to folks recovering after a disaster. We are there as service providers but we also offer a political education about what is happening to you and why. We don't just get your <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/going-under-long-wait-times-post-flood-buyouts-leave-homeowners-underwater" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FEMA paperwork completed for flood remittance</a>, although that's part of what we'll do. You're also going to leave with an understanding of the frequency of flooding, the climate impacts, and how your area in particular has just been affected and is going to be affected in the future.</p><p>Today, we have four main programs, and in each, we have a level of advocacy within them: We do Equitable Disaster Recovery; Water Equity/Water Economy; <a href="https://www.gcclp.org/copy-of-equitable-disaster-recovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sustainable Economy/Energy Democracy</a>; and Land, Labor and Just Transition. Our federal disaster advocacy work centers around the modification and re-envisioning of the Stafford Act, which controls and activates FEMA. We also do some state-level advocacy around mitigation planning here in the five Gulf South states. That involves educating decision makers not just on what the community needs but pointing out what's out there and within our budgetary reach or legislative duty. </p>
<h4>A lot of the initial recovery work following Katrina centered around <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-best-rebuild-hurricane-ravaged-city-listen-residents-says-new-orleans-native" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">building climate-resilient communities</a> that could withstand future storms. Has that work been successful?</h4><p>Over the years, as we've watched people trying to create resilient communities that are more physically ready for the storms that are coming, we've seen it either lead to gentrification or segregation or investment in non-Black, non-Native places. Money never makes it to the frontline. So we've got to put in our own infrastructure systems at the community level, rooted in political education around economy, racialized capitalism, and wealth-building.</p><p>In our understanding of climate change, the economy plays a major (if not <em>the</em> major) role in how we got to this place. The economic philosophy of this country is one of extraction; it's an extractive economy that started with the attempted genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans, all for profit, power, land, and control. So, we help communities to practice receiving, making decisions about, and distributing money to places where they want to see their dollars go—which is basically holding Black wealth. We help local organizations set up community-controlled funds all across the Gulf South region after every disaster. Yes, the community receives dollars, but they also go through a 12-month process to collectively develop a system of shared governance so that, should this happen again, we have systems of our own around our own money and its destination.</p>
<h4>The practice of "<a href="https://qz.com/1876202/new-flood-risk-maps-could-undermine-marginalized-neighborhoods/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">blue-lining</a>" is a new climate-driven threat that withdraws support for vulnerable communities living in high-risk flood areas. How did that manifest in New Orleans after Katrina, and how might it impact other areas?</h4><p>It's happening already in places south of New Orleans where decision makers have understood we will not make it. We're going to lose those areas. My community is one. You watch as <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/our-national-flood-insurance-program-going-underwater" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">federal flood insurance becomes impossible</a> because of the designations of flood risk by the Army Corps of Engineers. A point comes when you can't even get flood insurance to protect your home. After Katrina, officials said, "Everything below Interstate 10 is pretty much written off so if you live below I-10, you should begin to plan to move."</p><p>I think we're going to see false information about flood lines. On flood maps of south Louisiana, the city of New Orleans is not shown in the flood zone because of the levee system, which was only rebuilt to the standards that failed the first time. As a result, people in New Orleans can get insurance but people south of New Orleans can't.</p>
<h4>How do you reach community members who are not already part of the climate conversation but face climate change impacts in their immediate futures?</h4><p>Outreach is mainly folks just talking to the people they know. And we're part of larger coalitions that help us build new relationships. The problem is that the climate conversation has not yet made it into the daily rhetoric of Black, Indigenous, and brown communities, so giving generic information is not good enough. We're going to do more virtual education because video and social media are just how people get their information now in this COVID reality.</p><p>But the majority of folks we're trying to reach do not sit on a computer all day so there's still the problem of how to make it real. You have to understand that communication is not just words, especially down here in the South. You can sit under a tree next to somebody for a long time without words, yet a lot is actually being communicated, and they can feel that your energy is serious and authentic. I never had a problem communicating urgency to people of the Gulf South. They know I'm from here, that I love this place, and that I wouldn't be taking their time talking like this if it weren't serious.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/connector-gulf-south-15-years-and-counting" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a>.</em></p>
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EPA Chief Previews a Second Trump Term: More Deregulation, Fewer Environmental Protections
04 September
Politics
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler speaks at the Nixon Library on Sept. 3, 2020. Richard Nixon Foundation / YouTube
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (EPA) Andrew Wheeler gave a speech Thursday where he accused Democratic efforts to stop the climate crisis as actions that have hurt poor and vulnerable communities. He also laid out a vision for a second Trump term, saying it would bring a new wave of deregulation and support for economic development, according to Reuters.
<p>The speech was given to celebrate the agency's 50th anniversary and was streamed live on YouTube. Wheeler took the opportunity to celebrate the Trump administration's rollbacks of environmental protections and promised more to come. He also used his platform to say the agency would focus less on preventive measures that stop pollution, but concentrate on the cleanup of toxic areas, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/fb0ad1ef15443dfdddec52f5081eb094" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Associated Press</a> (AP).</p><p>"We need to make sure we are speaking to people where they live and we're addressing the problems they see on a daily basis," Wheeler told the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-will-roll-back-more-regulations-if-re-elected-epa-chief-says-11599130805" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal</a> Thursday.</p><p>Wheeler said that a second Trump term would mean the EPA would turn its attention to community revitalization, water quality, permitting reform, Superfund cleanups and pesticide administration, according to Reuters.</p>
<p>"I believe that by focusing EPA toward communities in the coming years, our agency can change the future for people living in this country who have been left behind simply for living in polluted places," he said, as <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/515055-epa-chief-pushing-for-second-trump-term-outlines-vision-for-agency" target="_blank">The Hill</a> reported.</p><p>He argued that the actions that supported development and cleanup were actually designed to help poor communities.</p><p>"This will do more for environmental justice than all the rhetoric in political campaigns," Wheeler claimed, as Reuters reported.</p><p>He also added that in a second term, he would continue rules he implemented that limit what scientific research could be considered in decision-making and another that reevaluates how the agency predicts climate risk, according to The Hill. Both of those rules have been criticized by experts for eschewing <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a> and for fuzzy math.</p>
<p>While Wheeler argued that policies meant to mitigate pollution are hurting poor communities, many experts see it differently. They argue that the more than 100 environmental rollbacks that have happened under the Trump administration will increase air and water pollution around the nation's most vulnerable communities, leading to more illness and premature deaths, according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/03/epa-chief-trump-will-roll-back-more-environmental-rules-if-re-elected.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a>.</p><p>"EPA was founded to protect people — you, me and our families — but the Trump administration has turned it into an agency to protect polluters," said Gina McCarthy, who led the agency during the Obama administration and now is president of the NRDC Action Fund, the political arm of the Natural Resources Defense Council, as the AP reported</p><p>In an attempt at revisionism, Wheeler said it was the Obama administration that hurt poor communities by regulating industry.</p><p>"The Obama-Biden administration only focused on climate change at the expense of the communities here in the United States and the expense of reducing pollution where people live," Wheeler told the Wall Street Journal.</p>
<p>Former EPA officials like McCarthy, both from Republican and Democratic administrations, have banded together to denounce the policies put forth by Trump and Wheeler. Five former EPA administrators issued a joint statement that said, "Actions during the Trump administration have further decreased public confidence in the agency's credibility, undercut its historic dedication to high ethical standards, and affected employee morale," according to the AP.</p><p>"Every one of the actions they have taken, either by weakening or rolling back basic protections, has put environmental justice communities — front-line communities — in greater harm," Mustafa Santiago Ali, a longtime EPA official who now works on environmental justice and climate issues for the National Wildlife Federation, said in an interview, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/09/03/wheeler-epa-trump-climate/?hpid=hp_national1-8-12_epa-540p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported. "I have seen no actions that lead me to believe they have any interest in protecting those lives."</p><p>Mike Flynn, who worked at the EPA for nearly four decades before retiring in 2018, told The Washington Post: "The Trump administration has transformed EPA into an agency that's failing to meet the fundamental mission of the agency, protecting public health and environment."</p><p>He added that the staff there "is really demoralized."</p>
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A Look at Why Environmentalism Is So Homogeneous — and How Organizations Might Cultivate Genuine Diversity
22 August
Climate
Protesters marching in Bushwick on June 13 holding a Pipelines Threaten Black Lives banner. Erik McGregor / LightRocket / Getty Images
By Ambika Chawla
As a child growing up in Los Angeles, Erynn Castellanos would spend hours exploring her grandmother's backyard garden, an oasis of greenery filled with oranges, sugarcane, yerba buena, guava and herbs.
<p>"Playing with my brother and cousins in my grandmother's backyard, climbing the trees, and trying different fruits — those experiences made me appreciate natural spaces," she says. "I think that is where I got my sense of exploration, of wanting to go to forests, mountains and rivers."</p>
<p><br/></p>
<p>Now a graduate student of environmental studies at the University of Montana and an active member of the environmental organization <a href="https://latinooutdoors.org/" target="_blank">Latino Outdoors</a>, Castellanos is passionate about educating young people of color about the importance of connecting with nature, hoping to inspire them to help protect the environment.</p><p>"Most of the people in camping advertisements are white people. You don't see people like yourself in the field of conservation," she says. "It is always this distant figure of someone else doing it, but not someone who looks like you."</p><p>Castellanos' perception that people of color are underrepresented in the environmental movement is accurate. Even though communities of color are disproportionately affected by environmental hazards, the environmental workforce remains overwhelmingly white.</p><p>As efforts grow around the U.S. to recognize and eradicate systemic racism, people of color can offer unique perspectives on both why <a href="https://ensia.com/features/diversity/" target="_blank">diversity is lacking in the green sector</a> and <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/05/diversity-and-inclusion-efforts-that-really-work" target="_blank">what organizations can do to diversify the environmental workforce</a>.</p>
Underrepresented
<p>In 2014, Dorceta Taylor, a professor of environmental justice and food systems and the director of diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Michigan's School for Environment and Sustainability, published a landmark <a href="https://www.diversegreen.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ExecutiveSummary_Green2.0_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">study</a> of racial diversity in green NGOs, government agencies and foundations. She reported that 16% or fewer of staff in these organizations were people of color and less than 12% occupied leadership positions.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.diversegreen.org/leaking-talent/" target="_blank">follow-up study</a> published in 2019 by Stefanie K. Johnson, associate professor of Management at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado, reviewed 40 green NGOs and foundations and found that green organizations were still overwhelmingly white, with only 20% of NGO staff identifying as people of color. In fact, the study found that from 2017 to 2018, the percent of senior staff positions at green foundations held by people of color fell from 33% to 4%.</p><p>And a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/broadcast-networks/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2019" target="_blank">recent study</a> by Media Matters for America found that people of color comprised only 10% of people interviewed or featured in media coverage on climate change.</p>Root Causes
<p>What's behind the lack of proportional representation of communities of color in the environmental workforce?</p><p>Peggy Shepard, co-founder and director of <a href="https://www.weact.org/" target="_blank">WE ACT for Environmental Justice</a>, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes underrepresented communities around environmental justice education, energy efficiency, toxins in consumer products, climate justice, clean air and more, says it's part of a far larger societal malaise. WE ACT also engages in policy advocacy at the city, state and federal levels.</p><p>"I see the fight for environmental justice, housing justice, Black Lives Matter, prison reform — all of those are linked by the underlying systemic racism that really mandates that we have organizations to safeguard our lives from the police, and to safeguard our environment," she says. "All of those issues that are about protecting rights, and justice is what really links us all."</p><p>Castellanos says that, in addition to not seeing people like them already engaged, some members of the <a href="https://ensia.com/articles/latinos-care-about-the-environment-so-why-arent-green-groups-engaging-them-more/" target="_blank">Latino community</a> view environmental problems as less pressing than other issues. "Immigration is number one, with people being detained," she says. "How can you tell your students to care about the environment when they are afraid that their parents won't be home?"</p><p>Virginia Palacios, a climate change consultant for <a href="http://www.greenlatinos.org/" target="_blank">GreenLatinos</a><u>,</u> says that people of color may have fewer opportunities to engage in environment-oriented activities that require financial resources when they are growing up, such as summer camps. As a result, they may not have a background that predisposes them to moving into green careers or being active in environmental groups.</p><p>"People who are low income are more likely to be people of color," Palacios says. "When you are coming from that background, you are not going to have the same opportunities as a person who is more affluent had in their life. You might not have been able to go to the summer camp that prepared you to go to college. You probably didn't get to do all the extra stuff that people use to stack up their resume."</p><p>One of the findings in Taylor's 2014 report was that in addition to overt discrimination, unconscious bias often perpetuates workplaces that lack diversity in hiring and promotion practices.</p><p>"Homogeneous workplaces arise because of adherence to particular cultural norms, filtering, network structure, and recruitment practices. These are forms of unconscious or inadvertent biases that can lead to or perpetuate institutional homogeneity," states the report.</p><p>Palacios contends that implicit bias often occurs as part of the hiring practices of green groups. "People tend to hire people who look like them or who went to the same schools as they did. Or, they get a good feeling from this person because they are like them."</p>Strategies for Change
<p>Palacios says she believes training workshops on implicit bias can be an effective strategy for increasing diversity.</p><p>"Organizations that want to improve diversity have to know that they have unconscious bias. They will have to go through a process of unlearning habits," she says. "One of the things that has been the most successful in my experience are being able to go through an in-person training with your peers and then being able to have a conversation, to process things verbally. I think unconscious bias trainings are one of the first things that white folks can do to understand how they have been programmed."</p><p>The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has begun such trainings, according to senior vice president and chief human resources officer Sean Cook, in addition to other initiatives to promote diversity in the environmental workforce, such as fellowships and partnerships with universities.</p><p>"One of the initiatives that we have recently undertaken is unconscious bias training. Last year, we worked with an outside firm called Kaleidoscope to help us roll out this training initiative, which included increasing our knowledge of race and equity, leading inclusively, leveraging differences, and building a diverse team. Individual trainers from Kaleidoscope went to our offices in New York, San Francisco, Sacramento and Washington D.C. and trained all managers on these subjects. We began these trainings at the ground level of our organization and went all of the way up to the board of directors," says Cook.</p><p>According to Cook, staff gave the conscious inclusion training high marks. In follow-up surveys, 95% agreed or strongly agreed that "cultural competence can improve my experience in the work environment," and 89% agreed or strongly agreed that "the material in the session felt relevant to our workplace."</p><p>Cook says EDF is also working to ensure that during the hiring process, applicants are not judged unfairly based upon their educational background. "We want to make sure that we are inclusive of all, whether you went to an Ivy League school, whether you were self-educated, whether you attended a community college, a liberal arts school or a state university."</p><p>Palacios also recommends that organizations create guidelines for the skills that are critical for a job position, and that hiring managers should "really have a rubric in mind of how you are going to be judging the person in front of you. That can help to reduce bias when you are having an interview with someone, so you don't ask, 'Did they go to the same school that I did? Did they play the same sports that I did?'"</p>Genuine Diversity
<p>Hodan Barreh, a youth environmental advocate passionate about bringing diversity to the environmental movement in her hometown of Austin, Texas — which <a href="https://www.statesman.com/business/20160924/report-austin-most-economically-segregated-major-metro-area-in-us" target="_blank">studies show</a> is one of the most economically segregated cities in the country — cautions green groups to avoid tokenization of people of color if they want to bring genuine diversity to the environmental movement.</p><p>"They bring in that one Latinx person, that one Indigenous person, that one person of color, and they think that's enough. They think that one perspective speaks for all of the community," Barreh says. "That's very problematic, because not one person can give you the full perspective of what a community entails."</p><p><span></span>Shepard points out that it's important to remember that the environmental movement is more than large green groups: It also includes a constellation of community-based groups advocating for environmental justice within their localities. The problem, she says, is that the media and decision-makers are often deaf to their voices.</p><p><span></span>"When elected officials and policymakers want to know about environmental justice, they don't necessarily call environmental justice groups, they'll call [the Natural Resources Defense Council] or Sierra Club," she says. "It's the devaluing that we have expertise, that we're knowledgeable about our own issues and about the places where we are living."</p><p><span></span><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://ensia.com/features/environmental-workforce-diversity-systemic-racism/" target="_blank">Ensia</a>. </em></p>
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Gina Luster, 42, and her daughter Kennedy Luster, 8, stand at a now-defunct water fountain in downtown Flint, Michigan on October 11, 2016. Brittany Greeson / For The Washington Post / Getty Images
The state of Michigan has reached a settlement with the victims of the Flint water crisis. Michigan agreed to pay $600 million, which will primarily benefit the city's children since they were most affected by the lead-tainted water, The Washington Post reported.
<p>The settlement will be officially announced on Friday. It is expected that tens of thousands of residents will be eligible for compensation, which is subject to approval by a federal judge in Michigan, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/us/flint-water-crisis-settlement.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have been entrenched in negotiations with lawyers for more than 18 months on behalf of the thousands of Flint residents who filed a lawsuit against the state, the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/be582ed788a70a2bb5ab29cd1132558e" target="_blank">AP</a> reported.</p><p>The issue in the case dates back to 2014, when Flint city officials changed the city's water supply source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. The decision was made under the leadership of a state-appointed emergency manager who overlooked safety precautions. This resulted in chemicals and lead leaching into Flint's drinking water through corroded pipes, <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/512856-michigan-to-pay-600m-to-victims-of-flint-water-crisis" target="_blank">The Hill</a> reported.</p>
<p>At the time, residents began to complain about discolored and foul-smelling water. Soon after that, residents reported skin rashes, but their concerns were ignored. Local pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha warned that abnormally high lead levels were appearing in children. Lead poisoning can severely harm brain development, The Washington Post reported.</p><p>Flint's water source is once again supplied by Lake Huron, but many residents continue to cook, drink and brush their teeth with bottled water. In 2016, researchers said there were no longer detectable levels of lead in many homes, according to the AP.</p><p>However, Flint's necessary pipe repairs remain unfinished. The repairs were supposed to be made by January, but were paused in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Hill reported.</p>
<p>Mayor Sheldon Neeley said the repairs are almost done.</p><p>The Washington Post reviewed the settlement and reported that 80 percent of the award is earmarked for Flint residents who were younger than 18 at the time of exposure, with more than half of that amount slotted for children who were under 6 at the time. The remainder of the settlement will go to plaintiffs who experienced lost revenue from property damage because of the water crisis.</p><p>Anyone living in Flint between 2014 and 2016 may be eligible for part of the settlement. The payments are expected to start next spring, and individual amounts will be in proportion to the plaintiff's degree of suffering, The New York Times reported.</p>
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A quality engineer examines new solar panels in a factory. alvarez / Getty Images
Transitioning to renewable energy can help reduce global warming, and Jennie Stephens of Northeastern University says it can also drive social change.
For example, she says that locally owned businesses can lead the local clean energy economy and create new jobs in underserved communities.
"We really need to think about … connecting climate and energy with other issues that people wake up every day really worried about," she says, "whether it be jobs, housing, transportation, health and well-being."
To maximize that potential, she says the energy sector must have more women and people of color in positions of influence. Research shows that leadership in the solar industry, for example, is currently dominated by white men.
"I think that a more inclusive, diverse leadership is essential to be able to effectively make these connections," Stephens says. "Diversity is not just about who people are and their identity, but the ideas and the priorities and the approaches and the lens that they bring to the world."
So she says by elevating diverse voices, organizations can better connect the climate benefits of clean energy with social and economic transformation.
Reposted with permission from Yale Climate Connections.
The Environmental Legacy of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s Newly-Announced Running Mate
12 August
Politics
California Senator Kamala Harris endorses Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden at a campaign rally at Renaissance High School in Detroit, Michigan on March 9, 2020. JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP via Getty Images
Former Vice President Joe Biden made a historic announcement Tuesday when he named California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate in the 2020 presidential election.
<p>Harris is now the first Black woman and the first person of Indian descent to run for national office for a major political party in the U.S., the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) pointed out. She also has a strong legacy of championing environmental justice throughout her career.</p><p>"Congratulations to Senator Kamala Harris, a true environmental champion!" LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld said in a <a href="https://www.lcv.org/article/lcv-action-fund-statement-joes-bidens-vp-pick-senator-kamala-harris/" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p>
<div id="dd1a3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="68af3c0112c4b985dfd2678d05cb02d9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1293294015278985217" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@JoeBiden @KamalaHarris Her stellar 91% lifetime score on LCV's Environmental Scorecard speaks for itself:… https://t.co/ZClO9w8soC</div> — LCV – League of Conservation Voters (@LCV – League of Conservation Voters)<a href="https://twitter.com/LCVoters/statuses/1293294015278985217">1597180296.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Harris has a lifetime LCV environmental voting score of 91 percent, better than Biden's 83 percent, <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11082020/kamala-harris-joe-biden-election-2020-climate-change" target="_blank">InsideClimate News noted</a>. Her selection won praise from several mainstream environmental groups, including the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2020/08/sierra-club-statement-biden-harris-2020" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a>, <a href="https://foeaction.org/news/friends-of-the-earth-action-applauds-the-historic-selection-of-kamala-harris-as-the-democratic-nominee-for-vice-president/" target="_blank">Friends of the Earth Action</a> and <a href="https://www.nrdcactionfund.org/kamala-harris-for-vice-president/?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=tweet&utm_campaign=AFciven" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund</a>.</p><p>Harris is a co-sponsor of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/green-new-deal" target="_self">Green New Deal</a> resolution, according to <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/what-the-kamala-harris-vp-pick-means-for-bidens-energy-and-climate-platform" target="_blank">Greentech Media</a>, and promised to end the filibuster during her own presidential campaign so that the major climate legislation would have a chance at passing. Her unique contribution to the green movement, however, is her lifetime focus on environmental justice in particular. This is a key issue for the Biden campaign as a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/2020-election-climate-change-abortion-2638025748.html" target="_self">growing awareness</a> of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> corresponds with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-activist-racial-justice-2646152490.html" target="_self">nationwide protests over racial injustice</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/black--hispanic-americans-coronavirus-2645677258.html" target="_self">health disparities</a> made starker by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic.</p>
<h3>Environmental Justice</h3><p>When Harris served as San Francisco district attorney, she created the office's first environmental justice unit in 2005, InsideClimate News reported.</p><p>"Crimes against the environment are crimes against communities, people who are often poor and disenfranchised," Harris said at the time, as <a href="https://grist.org/politics/kamala-harris-is-bidens-vp-pick-what-does-that-mean-for-the-climate/" target="_blank">Grist reported</a>.</p><p>She has continued championing the issue as a Senator. This summer, she introduced the Environmental Justice for All Act with Senators Tammy Duckworth and Cory Booker to ensure the federal government considers low income communities and communities of color when issuing permits, Greentech Media reported.</p><p>She also teamed up with New York Representative and Green New Deal champion <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_self">Alexandria Ocasio Cortez</a> to introduce the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/harris-aoc-climate-legislation-2639501313.html" target="_self">Climate Equity Act</a>, which would create a new Office of Climate and Environmental Justice Accountability within the Office of Management and Budget to make sure that all environmental legislation and regulations are assessed based on their impact on frontline communities.</p><p>The duo first proposed the act last summer and formally introduced it last week.</p>
<div id="c4f11" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="67da6c1aa88b185f74fa063adbac316a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1292181834571354115" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This week, @RepAOC and I introduced the Climate Equity Act, legislation to ensure that we center the fight against… https://t.co/bpQi8aELxk</div> — Kamala Harris (@Kamala Harris)<a href="https://twitter.com/SenKamalaHarris/statuses/1292181834571354115">1596915131.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"COVID-19 has laid bare the realities of systemic racial, health, economic, and environmental injustices that persist in our country," Harris said in a statement about the new legislation reported by <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/510920-harris-aoc-push-climate-equity-bill-with-green-new-deal-roots" target="_blank">The Hill</a>. "The environment we live in cannot be disentangled from the rest of our lives, and it is more important than ever that we work toward a more just and equitable future."</p>
<h3>Climate Liability</h3><p>During her presidential campaign and her time as California attorney general, Harris also emphasized holding <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuel" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> companies accountable for their pollution, InsideClimate News pointed out.</p><p>As attorney general, she opposed a Chevron refinery expansion in Richmond, a majority Black and Hispanic community. She also sued Southern California Gas Co. over a methane blowout near Los Angeles.</p><p>Finally, she joined AGs United for Clean Power, a group of 17 attorneys general who said they would hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate change. However, Harris never actually sued ExxonMobil, despite mistakenly claiming she had during a debate last year. She did repeatedly emphasize the need to hold fossil fuel companies responsible on the campaign trail and promised to have the Department of Justice launch an investigation.</p><p>"They are causing harm and death in communities. And there has been no accountability," she said at a CNN Town Hall on climate change.</p>
<h3>Weaknesses</h3><p>But Harris' prosecutorial record has another side. She has faced criticism from Black and progressive voters for her role as top prosecutor in a state that incarcerates African Americans at a rate five times higher than their share of the population. This has dampened her image somewhat with younger climate activists.</p><p>"I think Kamala Harris is a big win for women of color and environmental justice, however she definitely has some work to do in order to show our generation that she's become more progressive since her prosecutor days," 15-year-old climate activist and <a href="https://earthuprising.org/" target="_blank">Earth Uprising</a> founder Alexandria Villaseñor told InsideClimate News.</p><p>On the environmental front, Harris' weaknesses include the fact that she was one of the last Democratic candidates to unveil a climate plan, and, when she did, it did not include a ban on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/fracking/" target="_self">fracking</a>, Grist pointed out. She has also accepted donations from fossil fuel companies in the past, though she pledged not to do so this election.</p><p>Weighing Harris' legacy, <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement</a> co-founder Varshini Prakash said the Senator was willing to grow in response to criticism.</p><p>"Throughout the course of her campaign for President, Senator Kamala Harris showed her responsiveness to activist and movement pressure to make climate a top priority, and demonstrated her willingness to be held accountable," Prakash said in a statement reported by Greentech Media. "I'm also deeply aware of Senator Harris' record as a prosecutor and the ways in which a number of her decisions harmed communities of color, which our movement has spoken about in the past and will continue to."</p>
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The Anderson Community Group. Left to right, Caroline Laur, Anita Foust, the Rev. Bryon Shoffner, and Bill Compton, came together to fight for environmental justice in their community. Anderson Community Group
By Isabella Garcia
On Thanksgiving Day 2019, right after Caroline Laur had finished giving thanks for her home, a neighbor at church told her that a company had submitted permit requests to build an asphalt plant in their community. The plans indicated the plant would be 250 feet from Laur's backdoor.
<p>Laur has a premalignant blood disease, and for the past two years, she has been trying to build up her immune system to prevent the disease from evolving into a terminal form of cancer. "When I heard about this plant," Laur says, "I went to the Duke Cancer Research Center, and a Duke scholar in my illness told me this would be a life-threatening situation for me, and I would have to leave." Having to move from her home, where she has lived for 15 years, would be devastating for Laur, not to mention a monetary loss. Who would buy a home 250 feet from an asphalt plant?</p>
<p>Laur lives in Anderson, North Carolina, a rural <a href="https://northcarolina.hometownlocator.com/counties/subdivisions/data,n,township%2520of%2520anderson,id,3703390056,cfips,033.cfm" target="_blank">township with just over 2,000 people</a> (and zero cell towers). It is one of the many predominantly Black communities in the United States experiencing a perfect storm of injustices threatening the health of residents and their environment.</p><p>An informal community survey shows that more than 70% of Anderson residents are Black, while the <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/caswellcountynorthcarolina,NC/PST045219" target="_blank">county and state's populations</a> are 32% and 22% Black, respectively. Predominantly <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5844406/" target="_blank">Black neighborhoods in the U.S. have historically been exposed to higher rates of air pollution</a>. Specifically, Black people in America are exposed to about 1.5 times more particulate matter—a form of air pollution known to cause cancer—than White people. This <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/health-and-environmental-effects-particulate-matter-pm" target="_blank">exposure leads to higher incidences of health problems</a> such as heart attacks, asthma, and decreased lung function.</p><p>A growing number of studies show <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412016301386" target="_blank">polluting facilities are disproportionately located in Black and minority communities</a>, so it's hardly surprising that the asphalt plant was slated for construction in Anderson. A 2018 study from the Environmental Protection Agency concluded that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5844406/" target="_blank">the discrepancy goes beyond geography or poverty</a>, too: Not only are more factories in minority neighborhoods, but these factories are more likely to produce greater emissions than those in non-minority neighborhoods.</p><p>These days, the risks are even higher. Because <a href="https://www.who.int/airpollution/ambient/health-impacts/en/" target="_blank">exposure to air pollutants decreases lung function</a>, communities in polluted areas are more susceptible to COVID-19; a recent <a href="https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/covid-pm" target="_blank">Harvard study found that people in areas with high particulate matter are 8% more likely to die</a> of the coronavirus than those in areas where the pollution is just one unit lower. That's been borne out in North Carolina, where <a href="https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/cases" target="_blank">Black residents make up 33% of the state's 1,568 COVID deaths as of July 15</a>, despite only making up only 22% of the population.</p><p>"This is not just an Anderson community health crisis," Laur says. "This is a North Carolina health crisis. It's an American health crisis."</p>
Grassroots Resistance
<p>The plant that would threaten Laur's health and home was awaiting the approval of an air permit by the North Carolina Department of Air Quality which, if approved, would basically greenlight the project. "This made me get out and go door to door," Laur says. One by one, she alerted her neighbors to the prospect of the asphalt plant. "I got to meet some of my neighbors I never knew before," she says. "There's no secret that there has always been a pretty strong line between the White community and the Black community here." In the end, three neighbors joined her efforts—the Rev. Bryon Shoffner, Anita Foust, and Bill Compton. Together, they formed the Anderson Community Group to advocate for environmental justice in their community.</p><p>"We are all the four corners of the community," Laur says with a laugh. "You've got a sick old White lady, Rev. Shoffner is a disabled vet, you've got Anita, who is a Black woman, and you've got a White, old country farmer. We all come from different faiths, but we've all come together as one."</p><p>Suddenly thrust into activism, the group contacted the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, a coalition that provides resources and connections with other groups. "We advocate, we organize, and we assist communities with whatever actions they are thinking of trying to protect themselves," says Naeema Muhammad, the network's co-director. Muhammad met with the activists from Anderson and recognized their need for legal advice, so she connected them with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The legal resources were key when the group determined that the data from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's environmental justice report wasn't adding up.</p><p>The report—a requirement for all DEQ permit requests—stated that the Anderson community was 33% minority. That seemed far too low to the residents, so the Anderson Community Group did a census of each house within a 1-mile radius of the proposed plant—the same radius considered in the DEQ's environmental justice report.</p><p>"Rev. Shoffner went out into the community and did his own survey and found out that it was more than 70% minority," Laur says. "That was huge, because that changed the situation to a Title VI matter." Title VI is a federal civil rights law that prevents people from being discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin. Title VI cases require a more rigorous and comprehensive environmental justice report, so recognizing the Anderson community as a Title VI matter increases the strength of their request for a more in-depth report.</p><p>The massive difference in race demographics comes down to census data, Laur says. The DEQ was using race data from the 2010 census, which was only <a href="https://www.censushardtocountmaps2020.us/?latlng=35.77385,-78.73807&z=7&query=coordinates::36.44038,-79.36343&promotedfeaturetype=states&arp=arpRaceEthnicity&baselayerstate=4&rtrYear=sR2010&infotab=info-rtrselfresponse&filterQuery=false" target="_blank">completed by about 64% of the population of Caswell County</a>—the county where Anderson is located. Laur says the Anderson population response rate could be even lower because the community is considered <a href="https://www.nccensus.org/about-the-census#hard-to-count-communities" target="_blank">"hard-to-count" by the U.S. Census Bureau</a>.</p><p>"The people who don't fill it out are rural people who want to keep their land and don't want zoning and minorities," Laur says, which creates skewed race demographics. The Anderson Community Group said that when they brought up this issue with the director of North Carolina DEQ, he said he was aware of the problem.</p><p>"So that tells me that all the EJ reports in North Carolina that have been done may not even be valid, just like ours," Laur says. "We were told that we are the first [community members] who have ever doubted it and checked it out."</p>Elevating Voices
<p>Determined to have new data collected, the Anderson Community Group rallied in early 2020. After learning from the state Department of Air Quality, the department responsible for approving or rejecting the asphalt air permit, that 100 statements of concern from community members would be sufficient to trigger a public hearing, the Anderson group gathered letters of concern from their community. They submitted more than 108.</p><p>"Then we were told there wasn't enough concern to have a public hearing," Laur says. "So, we started inundating the [Department of Air Quality director with emails and phone calls from the community."</p><p>Finally, in February 2020, the DEQ declared a public comment period for the issue, effectively placing the air permit for the asphalt plant on hold until a public hearing August 3. The public hearing will be held online because of COVID-19, but Laur says most people in Anderson don't own computers, and won't be able to attend. When the community group filed a complaint regarding accessibility, the DEQ then allowed public comments to be submitted via voicemail.</p><p>"Well, we don't have a cell tower out here," Laur says. She has personally never been able to use her cellphone in her home, and even her landline phone drops calls frequently. Even being able to afford a landline is a luxury in Anderson, Laur says.</p><p>To make sure community voices are heard, Laur says, the Anderson Community Group is "begging, fighting, scratching, and screaming" for the public comment period to be extended until the hearing can be held in person. The group fears that the community won't be able to properly participate, and as a result, the DEQ will approve the asphalt permit without listening to residents' concerns or considering accurate data.</p><p>The health impacts on the community could be huge. During Shoffner's unofficial survey, he also found that more than 90% of those within a 1-mile radius of the proposed plant have health conditions such as asthma, lung disease, and previous strokes and heart attacks that would be exacerbated by polluting industries.</p><p>"That's the thing that we feel they are truly missing: They're not allowing data to catch up," Shoffner says. Not only is the existing data outdated and inaccurate, he argues, but even data from 2018 would only provide a partial picture, because it does not account for the effects of COVID-19 on the community. "Of course, our ultimate goal is for them to say they're not going to build a polluting industry in a Black neighborhood, but our next move is to get them to postpone it until they get the data that shows how the asphalt plant and COVID-19 is affecting Black and brown people."</p><p>Shoffner says that the pandemic has thankfully slowed down the whirlwind of decisions on the asphalt plant and given the team time to consider what else they can do to halt its construction. For example, in July, the group <a href="https://acejustice.org/ej-petition" target="_blank">created a mail-in petition</a> for the North Carolina governor to stop the permit process.</p><p>"This team has been able to research and dig and get in a lot of doors," he says, noting that they have had productive conversations with leaders from the North Carolina DEQ. "We're winning as long as we're on the phone and getting conference calls. When they stop taking our calls, that's when we'll start asking what to do now."</p><p><em>CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Anita Foust. Text has been updated.</em></p><p><em>Isabella Garcia </em><em>is a former solutions journalism intern for YES!.</em></p><p><em><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2020/07/23/north-carolina-community-pollution/" target="_blank">YES! Magazine</a>.<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2646927403#/" target="_self"></a></em><em></em></em></p>
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The European Commission launched a new Farm to Fork strategy in an effort to reduce the social and environmental impact of the European food system. European Environmental Agency / Flickr / CC by 2.0
By Katell Ané
The European Commission launched a new Farm to Fork strategy in an effort to reduce the social and environmental impact of the European food system. It is the newest strategy under the European Green Deal, setting sustainability targets for farmers, consumers, and policymakers.
<p>"Farmers are under extreme pressure," Stefan de Keersmaeker, European Commission Spokesperson for Public Health and Food Safety, tells Food Tank. "But our environment and health are under pressure." </p><p>The strategy aims to reduce the use of chemical pesticides by 50 percent, increase the proportion of land used for organic farming to 25 percent, and reduce nutrient loss by 50 percent before 2030. It is also working to tackle food waste, loss of biodiversity, and unfair wages in the food chain. </p><p>Olivier de Schutter, Co-Chair of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, explains on <a href="https://foodtank.com/news/2020/06/new-on-the-podcast-olivier-de-schutter-on-democratic-food-policy-reform/" target="_blank">Food Tank Live</a> that the strategy comes after calls for a single, integrated food policy framework. After three years of advocacy, a <a href="https://www.arc2020.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/EU-FPC_Open-Letter-F2F-2.pdf" target="_blank">coalition</a> of more than 250 European organizations persuaded the newly elected European Commission to consolidate existing agricultural, health, trade, and environmental policies.</p>
<p>To achieve its goals, the European Commission plans to <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/food-farming-fisheries/sustainability_and_natural_resources/documents/analysis-of-links-between-cap-and-green-deal_en.pdf" target="_blank">reformulate</a> the Common Agricultural Policy (<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-policy/cap-glance_en" target="_blank">CAP</a>), which provides funding for farmers and rural development. The revised CAP will create <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:ea0f9f73-9ab2-11ea-9d2d-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_1&format=PDF" target="_blank">eco-schemes</a> to support farmers engaging in sustainable agricultural practices. This new system will reward precision agriculture, agroecology, carbon farming, and agroforestry, amongst other practices.</p><p>"We really believe that if we take this step…if we can set the standard, this will be a win-win situation for all involved," de Keersmaecker tells FoodTank. "What's important is that we ensure that the ensuing value is fairly distributed along the food chain so that those that really invest in this transition are actually rewarded."</p><p>But while de Keersmaekcker says the strategy marks a turning point in food systems legislation, some activists argue that it must go further. </p>
<p>Madeleine Coste, Policy Officer at <a href="https://www.slowfood.com/sloweurope/en/" target="_blank">Slow Food Europe</a>, warns that the 50 percent pesticide reduction target is still too low. </p><p>"[We] are worried that these targets do not go far enough to trigger a much-needed radical shift to agroecological practices," Coste tells Food Tank. If member states do not help farmers transition to more sustainable practices, she explains, "bee and pollinator [species will] continue to be wiped out due to the perpetuation of a farming system based on monoculture and…chemical inputs." </p><p>Coste also fears the European Commission's focus on food waste is too narrow by accounting only for consumer and retail waste. Alongside the <a href="https://eeb.org/" target="_blank">European Environmental Bureau</a> and the <a href="https://www.wwf.eu/" target="_blank">World Wildlife Fund</a>, Slow Food Europe advocates targeting<a href="https://foodpolicycoalition.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/NGO-Joint-letter_EC-Commitment-on-Tackling-Food-Waste-in-the-F2F-Strategy.pdf" target="_blank"> pre-retail waste</a>, which makes up 30-59 percent of Europe's total food waste, according to the <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/mb060e/mb060e.pdf" target="_blank">U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization</a>. </p>
<p>Others worry about the Farm to Fork's stance on industrial animal agriculture. The <a href="https://www.eurovia.org/" target="_blank">European Coordination of Via Campesina</a> (ECVC), joined by more than a dozen civil society organizations, <a href="https://actionaid.org/sites/default/files/publications/Less%20and%20better%20animal%20products%20in%20the%20Farm%20to%20Fork%20strategy.pdf" target="_blank">counseled</a> the European Commission to tackle the overconsumption of meat, dairy, and eggs.</p><p>These organizations argue that a reduction in the consumption of animal products would have a positive effect on the environment. But Pierre Maison, Coordination Committee Member of ECVC tells Food Tank, "we believe the capacity of the Farm to Fork strategy to facilitate this transition is very weak." Maison fears that the current policy environment may thwart the Farm to Fork's chances of moving Europe away from large industrial animal agriculture, and reaching its soil health and organic farming targets.</p><p>In order to meet the Farm to Fork's targets, the CAP must enhance <a href="https://www.eurovia.org/report-and-video-of-the-webinar-food-sovereignty-and-the-farm-to-fork-strategy-building-a-fairer-and-more-just-agricultural-model-in-the-eu/" target="_blank">food sovereignty</a> by centering small farmers, according to Maison. "Without market and product regulation, farmers will not receive decent and stable revenue, which will hinder their transition towards sustainable production systems," Maison tells Food Tank.</p>
<p>But by re-localizing supply chains and improving the resilience of farms, he believes the Farm to Fork strategy has the potential to empower small farmers. And Maison says that while organizers have a long way to go, the strategy is an important first step.</p><p>"The transition towards sustainable food systems cannot be successfully achieved if we do it on our own," de Keersmacker tells Food Tank, "it's a fight we're in together."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://foodtank.com/news/2020/08/social-and-environmental-justice-activists-react-to-eu-farm-to-fork-strategy/" target="_blank">Food Tank.</a></em></p>
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Tens of thousands of people attend a Black Lives Matter protest which was mainly peaceful on June 6 in London, United Kingdom. Phil Clarke Hill / In Pictures / Getty Images
As climate activists, we can't fight the climate crisis without considering the systemic impacts that environmental racism and White supremacy have on the frontline communities most affected by pollution and our warming world.
<p>Over the last few months, many around the world have taken time to recognize and educate themselves about the fight against police brutality, racism, and inequity. While this fight has been going on for decades, it's time for White activists, in particular, to step up our game and do everything we can to become effective allies to those leading the fight for social and environmental justice.</p><p>You've probably seen articles and social media posts about supporting Black Lives Matter and environmental justice, but what can we do online to help amplify the voices of these organizers – and how can we stand with them?\</p>
Do a Social Media Audit and Reconsider Who You Follow
<p>As the movement for social and environmental justice continues, it's important to pay attention to the voices and media outlets you're consuming information from. Take a few minutes to look at your social media feeds – do you follow people of color and diverse voices? Do you follow credible news sources?</p><p>Take a look at what you've posted so far and think about <em>why </em>you posted. As allies, we can help the movement by centering our posts and online actions around supporting the activists and organizers on the ground. Think or ask about how you can best amplify these causes – for many that could mean retweeting or reposting, educating your followers, or even by directing followers to donation or petition pages.</p><p>Next, take a look at who you follow. It can be easy to get stuck in a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/problem-social-media-reinforcement-bubbles-what-you-can-do-about-ncna1063896" target="_blank">social media bubble</a>, where your social feed will filter out opinions you may not necessarily agree with. By continuing to audit your social media and expand your range of news sources or pages you follow to have varying opinions or backgrounds, you ensure you have a well-rounded news feed and could even hear about a news story that you may not have known about before!</p><p>For many environmental justice fights around the US and world, local news outlets and activists may be the ones covering the story first. By taking a look at our follower lists, it gives us space to recognize any information gaps! Check out the accounts of people you trust to follow useful resources and activists.</p><p>Need some recommendations to start you off? Here are some of the <a href="https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/top-climate-experts-follow-twitter" target="_blank">top climate scientists</a> and <a href="https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/young-climate-activists-follow-twitter" target="_blank">youth activists</a> we suggest you follow on social media.</p>Challenge Yourself and Others to Continue Learning
<p>It's okay not to know everything. In fact, it's completely normal.</p><p>One of the best parts of being a climate advocate is that we continue to learn and grow with the climate movement and science. To protect our air, water, and land from pollution, we have to stay up to date with the newest science and solutions – it's the same thing when advocating for social and environmental justice!</p><p>For many, this means keeping up to date on social media and in the news with what protests are happening and why, how we can support them, and what local organizations are doing to defend their communities. It also means trying to keep an ear out for the stories that major outlets aren't covering extensively.</p><p>Take the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/atlantic-coast-pipeline-canceled-after-years-delays-accusations-environmental-injustice-n1232987" target="_blank">recent victory in the fight against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline for example</a>. Local environmental justice groups in West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina had been fighting for years against the pipeline. When it was canceled a few weeks ago, activists celebrated, but the story never seemed to get the same level of attention as the latest tweet from the White House.</p><p>Social media gives us the opportunity to learn from others with varied experiences and gain resources to information that can make us better activists.</p>Expect to Make Mistakes and Learn to Listen
<p>We will all make mistakes. It's a part of continuing to educate ourselves and growing as an ally and activist. Even the most experienced advocates have said the wrong thing or made a mistake in their time.</p><p>For many of us, especially White climate activists, these may be relatively new concepts, but we must make the fight against racism our fight. Take a look back at what you've posted before and learn from any past mistakes, using this moment to learn what went wrong and share what you learned with others. By educating yourself, you can help others who may be experiencing similar mistakes or have questions.</p><p>Additionally, the best way to learn about the impacts of systemic racism on frontline communities being impacted by police brutality or climate change is to listen. Give Black activists and people of color an opportunity to tell their stories and give yourself time to reflect on their experiences. It may (and probably will be) uncomfortable in some moments but it's necessary to make progress in a movement where we can fight together for long-awaited justice.</p>Use Your Platform and Following to Amplify Diverse Voices
<p>Whether you have a big social media following, only follow close family and friends on social media, or don't have social media accounts at all – use the platform or online environment you have to amplify the voices of Black activists and people of color.</p><p>It can be as simple as sending an email to close friends or retweeting posts from local organizers. Sharing information from those on the front lines to those who trust and follow you not only helps local activists but can help educate others!</p><p>For many, you're a trusted messenger. What does that mean? You can read more about it in one of our <a href="https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/why-trusted-messengers-matter" target="_blank">past blogs</a>, but here's a quick definition from <a href="https://www.bu.edu/ise/2019/04/16/trusted-messenger/" target="_blank">Boston University:</a><br>"People believe people whom they trust, and they're more likely to act based on the recommendation of that influential other person."</p><p>Your family, friends, and followers trust you – use that privilege as an opportunity to educate them and amplify the voices of those leading the social and environmental justice fight!</p>Want to Learn More About Climate Activism and Environmental Justice?
<p>Feeling inspired to join the movement for environmental and climate justice? Sign up to learn more by becoming a Climate Reality Leader.</p><p>By signing up for one of our Climate Reality Leadership Corps trainings, you'll learn about fossil fuel pollution and climate impacts on low-income families and communities of color, and how to build the broad, inclusive, and powerful coalitions necessary to fight back.</p><p>Join former Vice President Al Gore and an all-star lineup of environmental justice leaders, climate scientists, business leaders, and more to learn how to fight for a just, healthy future for all.</p>
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U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) speaks at a hearing of the Judiciary Committee on June 11, 2020 in Washington, DC. Carolyn Kaster-Pool / Getty Images
By Yvette Cabrera
This story was originally published on Grist on July 30, 2020
Fifteen years ago, Kamala Harris — San Francisco's District Attorney at the time — created an environmental justice unit in her office. The goal was to go after the perpetrators of environmental crimes that were hurting some of the city's poorest residents.
<p>The state attorney general's office had emphasized the need for state and local law enforcement to step up because of a void left by federal authorities in the Bush administration who were busy rolling back environmental protections. "One of the best tools out there to go after polluters is to go after them on a criminal basis," a spokesperson for then–State Attorney General Bill Lockyer told <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/SAN-FRANCISCO-D-A-creates-environmental-unit-2666667.php" target="_blank">SFGate</a> in 2005. Across the country, communities burdened by pollution and contamination have been calling for that type of accountability at the federal level for decades.</p><p>Now, even as the Trump administration continues to aggressively roll back environmental regulations, that dream has a better chance of materializing. Harris, as California's junior senator, is fighting for a comprehensive piece of legislation that will give vulnerable communities the tools they need to address environmental disparities. On Thursday, Harris plans to introduce a companion bill in the Senate to the <a href="https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Environmental%20Justice%20for%20All%20Act%20Bill%20Text.pdf" target="_blank">Environmental Justice for All Act</a> introduced <a href="https://grist.org/justice/an-effort-to-bring-environmental-justice-for-all-goes-virtual/" target="_blank">earlier</a> this year in the House of Representatives by Democrats A. Donald McEachin of Virginia and Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona.</p>
<p>"Environmental justice is interconnected with every aspect of our fight for justice. From racial justice and economic justice, to housing justice and educational justice, we cannot disentangle the environment people live in from the lives they live," Harris told Grist in an email. "These crises we are experiencing have exposed injustices in our nation that many of us have known and fought our entire lives."</p><p>The Senate bill, whose lead cosponsors are Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, acknowledges how factors such as segregation and racist zoning codes have rendered communities of color more vulnerable to the effects of climate change and left them with limited resources to address ongoing environmental health disparities. To address this, the act aims broadly to meaningfully engage impacted communities in government decision-making processes, such as federal permitting decisions for infrastructure projects, the creation of climate resiliency plans, and the transition to clean energy.</p><p>For more than two years, Grijalva and McEachin have worked alongside environmental justice advocates to address these inequities during the drafting of the act. That work was underway well before the COVID-19 pandemic struck and before the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the hands of a police officer this spring, which unleashed massive protests calling for the country to reckon with systemic racism. While the health crisis and movement for racial justice has put vulnerable communities in the spotlight, Grijalva told Grist that their aim was always to deliver a comprehensive environmental justice bill that could help these communities.</p>
<p>"The premise was … that we were going to deal with the systemic root causes, with the systemic solutions, not just cover up the problem or change one little thing or create another task force," said Grijalva, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee. "There had to be codified into law a systemic response to that systemic racism that created the situation."</p><p>The Environmental Justice for All Act would amend the Civil Rights Act to allow private citizens and organizations that experience discrimination to seek legal remedies when a program, policy, or practice causes a disparate impact. It would also require federal agencies to consider health effects that might compound over time when making permitting decisions under the federal Clean Air and Clean Water acts. In addition, it would fund research on and programs to reduce health disparities and improve public health in disadvantaged communities. Under the act, new fees on oil, gas, and coal companies would go toward a fund to support workers and communities transitioning away from fossil fuel jobs. Finally, the act also intends to codify and make enforceable a longstanding executive order on environmental justice that then–President Bill Clinton signed in 1994.</p><p>McEachin told Grist that the House and Senate bills acknowledge the racist roots of environmental burdens in low-income communities and communities of color. "This is a moment in time that does not just focus on police brutality, does not just focus on confederate memorabilia. The focus is on 401 years of racial injustice in this nation, and part of that has to be environmental justice," said McEachin. "If we're going to achieve a clean energy future, climate justice, and relief for those communities, the frontline community has to be the very centerpiece of that plan."</p>
<p>The Black Lives Matter movement has helped the act gain momentum toward passage in the House — Grijalva is optimistic that he'll be able to bring the bill to the floor of the House for a vote by September. Some of the act has also been incorporated into other Democratic proposals, like <a href="https://grist.org/politics/house-democrats-finally-have-a-goddamn-climate-plan/" target="_blank">the 538-page climate plan</a> recently released by the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. Some of the act's proposals are also reflected in the environmental justice <a href="https://joebiden.com/environmental-justice/" target="_blank">plan</a> released by presumed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, said Grijalva.</p><p>For example, Biden plans to revise and reinvigorate Clinton's executive order that directs federal agencies to review programs that may have disproportionately high or adverse health and environmental effects. Historically, the agencies have been inconsistent in addressing environmental justice within their strategic plans.</p><p>Environmental advocates who were involved in the creation of the House bill expressed enthusiasm for Harris' sponsorship of the bill in the Senate and said that the legislation could be a game-changer for frontline communities. Kerene Nicole Tayloe, director of federal legislative affairs for the New York City–based nonprofit WE ACT for Environmental Justice, said that the consideration of cumulative health impacts during permitting processes would be particularly important, especially in states like Louisiana that don't have meaningful environmental legislation on the books.</p>
<p>"Having something like the EJ for All bill, to consider cumulative effects in Cancer Alley and all of those kinds of places that have long been a dumping ground for companies and industry, I think would start to give communities the legal protections they need and put the tools in place," said Tayloe.</p><p>Angelo Logan, who is the campaign director of the Los-Angeles-based Moving Forward Network and who was also involved in crafting the House bill, told Grist that he hopes the act sets the stage for more community involvement in creating legislation at the local, state, and federal levels. "I think there'll be a dramatic change, a complete positive impact on communities that are the most impacted by environmental racism," said Logan. "And the multiplying effects that it would have on communities is tremendous."</p><p>As a <a href="https://kamalaharris.org/issue/climate-change/" target="_blank">presidential candidate</a>, Harris made acting on climate change a top priority. Last year, while running for president, she <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/us/politics/kamala-harris-aoc-climate-change.html" target="_blank">unveiled</a> a climate equity plan with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and created a climate <a href="https://kamalaharris.org/policies/climate/full-policy/" target="_blank">agenda</a> that would address the climate crisis and environmental injustices while building a clean economy with well-paying jobs. As California's attorney general, she defended the state's landmark climate laws in court and sued Chevron U.S.A. Inc. for <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-announces-proposed-245-million-settlement" target="_blank">damaging</a> the environment. Holding polluters accountable will be critical moving forward, and the Environmental Justice for All Act will help communities do just that, Harris told Grist via email.</p><p>Race, she noted, is the No. 1 predictor of where polluting facilities in America are located. And 70 percent of Americans who live in the highest air pollution areas of our country are people of color. "These disparities were in part intentionally created and so we must intentionally address them," said Harris. "That's what this bill does."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://grist.org/justice/exclusive-kamala-harris-to-introduce-comprehensive-environmental-justice-bill-in-senate/" target="_blank">Grist</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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- The Environmental Legacy of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s Newly-Announced Running Mate - EcoWatch ›
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A floral offering for the Mexican environmental activist Samir Flores Soberanes on Feb. 22, 2019 in Mexico City, Mexico. The activist was found dead in his home before a controversial thermal-electric plant and pipeline referendum that he opposed. Carlos Tischler / Getty Images
While 2019 saw a massive uptick in environmental activism around the world, with climate strikes and the Extinction Rebellion campaign surging in popularity, the work of defending the environment on the front lines became more deadly than ever.
<p>In 2019, a record number of environmental activists were killed for trying to protect land and water resources from mining, agribusiness and fossil fuel interests, according to a <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/defending-tomorrow/" target="_blank">report</a> released Wednesday by <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/defending-tomorrow/" target="_blank">Global Witness</a>, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/29/world/global-witness-2019-defenders-report-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>The number of activist deaths that Global Witness recorded was 212, a nearly 30 percent increase from 2018, when the organization recorded 164 deaths linked to environmental activism. The NGO also warned that the true number is likely higher since many deaths go unreported, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/29/record-212-land-and-environment-activists-killed-last-year" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Global Witness says the problem has continued during 2020, as the COVID-19 lockdowns have left environmental activists as "sitting ducks" inside their own homes, as The Guardian reported.</p>
<p>"Agribusiness and oil, gas and mining have been consistently the biggest drivers of attacks against land and environmental defenders – and they are also the industries pushing us further into runaway climate change through <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation">deforestation</a> and increasing carbon emissions," said Rachel Cox, a campaigner at Global Witness, as The Guardian reported.</p><p>"Many of the world's worst environmental and human rights abuses are driven by the exploitation of natural resources and corruption in the global political and economic system. Land and environmental defenders are the people who take a stand against this," she added.</p>
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<p>Colombia replaced the Philippines as the deadliest spot for environmental activists. The report found 64 land rights activists were killed in Colombia last year – up from 25 in 2018 – the highest level Global Witness has ever recorded in the country, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-violence-environment/colombia-was-deadliest-country-for-land-rights-activists-in-2019-idUSKCN24U16G#:~:text=BOGOTA%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20Colombia%20was,group%20Global%20Witness%20on%20Wednesday." target="_blank">Reuters</a>. The Philippines had 43 killings. Brazil was third on the list with 24 murders. Ninety percent of them took place in the Amazon region, according to CNN. More than two-thirds of the 2019 killings took place in Latin America.</p><p>A change in the power dynamics after the 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC rebels has been pinpointed as a potential driver of the rising violence, especially in rural areas, where criminal gangs are repositioning themselves in formerly guerrilla-held regions, according to The Guardian.</p><p>Colombia's Cauca province saw the highest number of killings last year, with 24 land defenders murdered. A report from the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre this year found 44 percent of attacks from 2015 to 2019 linked to operations in Colombia were against defenders who raised concerns about five companies including Cerrejón, which is jointly owned by BHP, Anglo American and Glencore, as Reuters reported.</p>
<p>The Philippines was the deadliest country in Asia, and the second deadliest worldwide, according to the report. The policies of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte criminalize environmental activism as a terrorist act against the country, making it increasingly difficult for people to protect forests and waterways.</p><p>"[The Philippines] has been consistently named as one of the worst places in Asia for attacks against defenders," the report says, as <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/criminalizing-dissent-martial-law-fuel-attacks-on-philippine-environmental-defenders/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a> reported. "The relentless vilification of defenders by the government and widespread impunity for their attackers may well be driving the increase."</p><p>Europe remains the least affected region, with two killings in Romania related to illegal logging. Seven killings were recorded in Africa, but verifying cases is a problem in the region, said Global Witness, as CNN reported.</p><p>"If we really want to make plans for a green recovery that puts the safety, health and well-being of people at its heart, we must tackle the root causes of attacks on defenders, and follow their lead in protecting the environment and halting climate breakdown," said Cox in a press release, according to CNN.</p>
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Indian Territory, which occupied all Oklahoma minus the panhandle, was almost 44 million acres of fertile rolling prairies, rivers and groves of enormous trees. Hugh Pickens / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 3.0
By Dwanna L. McKay
Some Oklahomans are expressing trepidation about the Supreme Court's recent ruling that much of the eastern part of the state belongs to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. They wonder whether they must now pay taxes to or be governed by the Muscogee.
<p>In alarmist language, <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1281269895519514625?s=20" target="_blank">Sen. Ted Cruz of neighboring Texas tweeted</a> that the Supreme Court "just gave away half of Oklahoma, literally. Manhattan is next."</p><p>In fact, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-upholds-american-indian-treaty-promises-orders-oklahoma-to-follow-federal-law-142459" target="_blank">landmark July 9 decision</a> applies only to criminal law. It gives federal and tribal courts jurisdiction over felonies committed by tribal citizens within the Creek reservation, not the state of Oklahoma.</p><p>Any shock that tribal nations <a href="http://www.ncai.org/policy-issues/tribal-governance" target="_blank">have sovereignty</a> over their own land reflects a serious misunderstanding of American history. For Oklahoma – indeed, all of North America – has always been, for lack of a better term, Indian Country.</p>
‘Indian Country’
<p>As both an <a href="https://www.coloradocollege.edu/academics/dept/raceethnicitymigration/people/profile.html?person=mckay_dwanna_lynn" target="_blank">educator</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9h85fD8AAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">scholar</a>, I work to correct the erasure of Indigenous histories through my research and teaching.</p><p>North America was not a vast, unpopulated wilderness when white colonizers arrived in 1620. Up to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/American-Indian-Holocaust-Survival-Civilization/dp/080612220X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=9780806120744&linkCode=qs&qid=1594487258&s=books&sr=1-1" target="_blank">100 million people</a> of more than 1,000 sovereign Indigenous nations occupied the area that would become the United States. At the time, fewer than 80 million people lived in Europe.</p><p>America's Indigenous nations were incredibly advanced, with extensive trade networks and economic centers, superior agricultural cultivation, well developed metalwork, pottery and weaving practices, as historian <a href="http://www.beacon.org/An-Indigenous-Peoples-History-of-the-United-States-P1164.aspx" target="_blank">Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz</a> has comprehensively detailed.</p><p>Unlike Europe, with its periodic epidemics, North America had little disease, Dunbar-Ortiz says. People used herbal medicines, dentistry, surgery and daily hygienic bathing to salubrious effect.</p><p>Historically, Indigenous nations <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-people-invented-the-so-called-american-dream-85351" target="_blank">emphasized equity</a>, consensus and community. Though individualism would come to define the United States, my <a href="https://doi.org/10.17953/aicr.37.4.g0rj7q5jp961q581" target="_blank">research</a> finds that Native Americans retain these values today, along with our guiding principles of respect, responsibility and reciprocity.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ2MzI1OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNjE3Njk4M30.rseHgswjEJ5mRvWLXVUyvJGvdcR2pLYPo5GkenpVTGw/img.jpg?width=980" id="42039" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6c0db2d6ec4e958d48d101c67e0d7d52" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The US has violated every treaty it has made with Indian Tribes. Public.Resource.Org
Broken Promises and Stolen Lands
<p>European and American colonizers <a href="http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/becomingamer/peoples/text3/indianscolonists.pdf" target="_blank">did not hold these same values</a>. From 1492 to 1900, they pushed inexorably westward across the North American continent, <a href="http://www.beacon.org/An-Indigenous-Peoples-History-of-the-United-States-P1164.aspx" target="_blank">burning Native villages, destroying crops</a>, <a href="https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1157&context=facsch" target="_blank">committing sexual assaults</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Indians-Tribal-Deborah-Miranda/dp/1597142018" target="_blank">enslaving people</a> and <a href="https://www.nps.gov/sand/learn/historyculture/index.htm" target="_blank">perpetrating massacres</a>. The government did not punish these atrocities against Indigenous Nations and their citizens.</p><p>Citing the so-called "<a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579815.001.0001/acprof-9780199579815" target="_blank">Doctrine of Discovery</a>" and <a href="https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1373&context=wvlr" target="_blank">Manifest Destiny</a>, U.S. policymakers argued that the federal government had a divine duty to fully develop the region. <a href="https://time.com/5851864/institutional-racism-america/" target="_blank">Racist in language and logic</a>, they contended that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649218821450" target="_blank">"Indians" did not know how to work or to care for the land</a> because they were inferior to whites.</p><p>Oklahoma was born of this <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TXjNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA190&lpg=PA190&dq=normalcy+of+legitimized+racism&source=bl&ots=CUXMMH5VZ4&sig=ACfU3U37fr_T2Ie4oh0qrhyW3BlnLqo_4Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiz14Ljz8rqAhUhgK0KHeAGCggQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=normalcy%20of%20legitimized%20racism&f=false" target="_blank">institutionalized racism</a>.</p><p>Under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole nations – known as the Five Tribes – were forced from their ancestral homelands in the southeast and relocated to "Indian Territory," as Oklahoma was then designated. Half of the Muscogee and Cherokee populations died from brutal and inhumane treatment as they were forcibly marched 2,200 miles across nine states to their new homelands in what most Americans call the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/trte/index.htm" target="_blank">Trail of Tears</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1890e1-01.pdf" target="_blank">Indian Territory</a>, which occupied all Oklahoma minus the panhandle, was almost 44 million acres of fertile rolling prairies, rivers and groves of enormous trees. Several Indian nations already lived in the area, including the Apache, Arapaho, Comanche, Kiowa, Osage and Wichita.</p><p>Legally, Indian Territory <a href="https://www.narf.org/nill/documents/icc_final_report.pdf" target="_blank">was to belong to the tribal nations forever</a>, and trespass by settlers was forbidden. But over the next two centuries, Congress would violate every one of the 375 treaties it made with Indian tribes as well as numerous statutory acts, <a href="https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/2018/12-20-Broken-Promises.pdf" target="_blank">according the United States Commission on Civil Rights</a>.</p><p>By 1890, only about 25 million acres of Indian Territory remained. The Muscogee lost nearly half their lands in an <a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=RE001" target="_blank">1866 Reconstruction-era treaty</a>. And in 1889, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Road-Disappearance-History-Civilization-American/dp/0806115327" target="_blank">almost 2 million acres in western Oklahoma</a> were redesignated as "Unassigned Lands" and opened to "white settlement." By 1890, the U.S. Census showed that only 28% of people in Indian Territory were actually "Indian."</p><p>With statehood in 1907, Oklahoma assumed jurisdiction over all its territory, ultimately <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-9526/132680/20200211152306523_Amicus%20Brief%20of%20Muscogee%20Creek%20Nation.pdf" target="_blank">denying that the Muscogee had ever had a reservation</a> there. That is the historic injustice corrected by the Supreme Court on July 9.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ2MzI0MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNjc3NTg5M30.l0WZps3rnms0p6asMW6L5ZyglGPda15E_eKlo0OB54s/img.png?width=980" id="653db" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="919b544e0453b51390be95886cc2b7d2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Eastern Oklahoma was granted by Congress to Native tribes in the 19th century. Kmusser / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Respect, Responsibility and Reciprocity
<p>Despite all the brutality and broken promises, the Five Tribes have contributed socially, culturally and economically to Oklahoma far beyond the shrinking bounds of their territories, in ways that benefit all residents.</p><p>The public school system created by the Choctaws shortly after their arrival became the model for Oklahoma schools that exists today. Last year, <a href="https://oklahoman.com/article/5653531/caught-in-the-middle-130-million-in-education-funding-embroiled-in-tribal-gaming-clash" target="_blank">Oklahoma tribes</a> contributed over US$130 million to Oklahoma public schools.</p><p>Oklahoma tribes also <a href="https://www.tribalselfgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Alltribe-2019-Impact-Report.pdf" target="_blank">enrich</a> Oklahoma's economy, employing over 96,000 people – most of them non-Native – and attracting tourists with their cultural events. In 2017, Oklahoma tribes produced almost $13 billion in goods and services and paid out $4.6 billion in wages and benefits.</p><p>The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, in particular, <a href="http://www.mcnimpact.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MCN_Impact_Report_June-26-2019.pdf" target="_blank">invests heavily</a> in the state, creating businesses, building roads and providing jobs, health care and social services in 11 Oklahoma counties.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ2MzI0NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzQyODE1Nn0.SOL7ZvG2JgfChlr5IldYnxUntjAmP8_A8NzM13_O_2E/img.jpg?width=980" id="01d5a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f925fbee6cf262ac00611918897d6857" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
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<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dwanna-l-mckay-1135133" target="_blank">Dwanna L. McKay</a> is an</em><em> Assistant Professor of Race, Ethnicity, and Indigenous Studies, Colorado College.<br/>
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<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em><em>Dwanna L. McKay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em></em>
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<em><em></em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/oklahoma-is-and-always-has-been-native-land-142546" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><iframe height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142546/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" width="1"></iframe>A 2012 exhibition on Muscogee achievement at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian. Tim Evanson / flickr, CC BY 4.0
<h2>Still Our Homelands</h2><p>Citizens of the Five Tribes have also contributed to broader American society.</p><p>Before the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choctaw_code_talkers" target="_blank">Choctaw Code Talkers</a> used their language as code for the United States in World War I. Lt. Col <a href="https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/creek-indian-wins-medal-of-honor" target="_blank">Ernest Childers</a>, a Muscogee, won the Medal of Honor for his service in World War II. U.S. Poet Laureate <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/books/joy-harjo-poet-laureate-second-term.html#:%7E:text=Joy%20Harjo%20has%20been%20appointed,writers%20such%20as%20Tracy%20K." target="_blank">Joy Harjo</a>, also a Muscogee, is the first Indigenous poet laureate. <a href="https://www.nps.gov/people/mary-g-ross.htm" target="_blank">Mary Ross</a>, a Cherokee, was the first known Indigenous woman engineer. And <a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=HE024" target="_blank">John Herrington</a>, Chickasaw, was a NASA astronaut. These are but a few examples.</p><p>The strong collaborative leadership of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation was <a href="https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/post/tribes-state-officials-react-historic-scotus-ruling-mcgirt-v-oklahoma" target="_blank">apparent after the Supreme Court's ruling</a> in Principal Chief David Hill's official response.</p><p>"Today's decision will allow the Nation to honor our ancestors by maintaining our established sovereignty and territorial boundaries," Hill said, adding: "We will continue to work with federal and state law enforcement agencies to ensure that public safety will be maintained."</p>From Your Site Articles
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World Mayors Call for Car-Free Streets, End to Fossil Fuel Subsidies as Part of ‘Green and Just Recovery’
16 July
Politics
Cyclists ride through an intersection in downtown Brooklyn on July 30, 2019 in New York City. Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Mayors from some of the world's major cities have unveiled their vision for how the world can recover from the coronavirus pandemic while encouraging environmental justice and fighting the climate crisis.
<p>The <a href="https://c40.my.salesforce.com/sfc/p/#36000001Enhz/a/1Q000000kVoY/kuR1PLHMGR2K9eEbo8aivV.xPegZVTqwt.EjX.4a.hk" target="_blank">C40 Mayors' Agenda for a Green and Just Recovery</a>, announced Wednesday, includes measures already being adopted in many cities to recover from the pandemic in a way that addresses inequalities and keeps global heating to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. As part of their vision, the mayors are calling on national governments to end all subsidies for the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> industry.</p><p>"Nations must seize this moment to decisively move away from investments in high carbon and fossil fuel intensive industries and increase investments in a low carbon future," the mayors wrote, according to a press release emailed to EcoWatch.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.c40.org/about" target="_blank">C40 Cities</a> are a group of 96 world cities representing more than 700 million of the world's people and a quarter of the world's economy. In April, they formed the Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Task Force to craft a way to respond to the pandemic without abandoning their climate goals, <a href="https://grist.org/climate/the-worlds-mayors-want-a-pandemic-recovery-that-takes-cars-off-the-streets-covid/" target="_blank">Grist reported</a>, and Wednesday's proposal is the result.</p><p>"Right at the outset of the pandemic, C40 Mayors felt the need to collaborate even more closely, to be able to rapidly learn from each other and take the most appropriate decisions to tackle the COVID-19 challenge," task force chair and mayor of Milan, Italy Giuseppe Sala said in the press release. "A visionary Mayoral Task Force was created to elaborate on a pathway towards a new, better normal, to the benefit of all cities of the world."</p>
<p>The mayors' <a href="https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/C40-Mayors-Agenda-for-a-Green-and-Just-Recovery?language=en_US" target="_blank">agenda</a> is divided roughly into two parts: what cities can do on their own, and what they are calling on national and international institutions to help them achieve. On the city level, the mayors called for green jobs, support for essential workers, investments in public services and the creation of greener, more livable cities.</p><p>Part of this vision means a shift away from cars and towards public transportation, walking and cycling, Grist pointed out. The plan includes calls to "give streets back to people" by devoting more roadspace to pedestrian or bike paths. It also promotes the idea of a 15-minute city, in which residents can find everything they need within a short walk or bike-ride of their home.</p><p>These changes are already being implemented in some cities, <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20200716113048-9jhn0" target="_blank">Thomson Reuters Foundation reported</a>. Seattle, for example, has permanently banned cars from 20 miles of city streets. Montreal has created 185 miles of new bike and walking paths in two months. Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, is working on building a network of electric cable cars.</p>
<p>Cities are also investing in green jobs and green energy. Los Angeles has supported the installation of solar panels on the homes of almost 2,000 low-income families and hired 200 recently incarcerated people to do it. Cape Town, South Africa is training and paying people from low-income communities to retrofit houses.</p><p>"Once again, it is city mayors who are showing us the way forward in confronting the COVID-19 public health crisis, reducing inequality and addressing the climate crisis. City mayors understand that we must take action that protects people's lives and livelihoods now and in the future by recovering better and building a more resilient and sustainable economy," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in support. "Cities are agents and engines of change and they can deliver solutions that will reduce carbon emissions to get to carbon neutrality by 2050 while creating better and more sustainable jobs."</p>
<p>But the mayors also acknowledged that they could not achieve this vision alone. They called on national and international governments and institutions to support them by adapting six commitments. In addition to ending fossil fuel subsidies, the other commitments are:</p><ol><li>Ensuring all recovery plans are green</li><li>Ensuring all recovery plans prioritize equality and inclusivity</li><li>Supporting public transportation</li><li>Supporting clean energy</li><li>Investing in cities to help with the recovery</li></ol><p>The plan also has the support of youth climate activists like University of California, Los Angeles undergraduate Briana Carbajal.</p><p>"COVID-19 made us face ourselves at our worst. We began questioning everything we know about how we exist on this planet. Out of this tragedy, I am hopeful that it has provided us with a grim enough reflection on the ways we have failed each other, and our home, so that we may move forward to remedy ourselves of racial injustice, environmental degradation, and willful ignorance," she said in the press release. "The Green and Just Recovery is a necessity on the path to healing. A path I am grateful my generation is leading."</p>
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