Jobs and justice are two key areas where Biden can focus attention to push transformative climate action. DisobeyArt / Getty Images
By Steve Trent
Joe Biden's election is a huge positive in a year that has been extremely difficult across the globe. I speak for a vast number of people who watched anxiously from outside the United States when I heartily thank those who mobilized, campaigned and voted to make it happen. Your hard work affects us all.
But we're not at the end of the line. Far from it.
<p>Biden shows promise, but there can be no backsliding and or watering down. In fact, the ambition needs to grow. Now is the time for truly bold vision, leadership and action. For instance, Biden has said repeatedly that he will not ban fracking, a destructive and polluting practice that uses high-pressure injections of water, chemicals and sand to suck yet more fossil fuels from the ground. Instead he turns to carbon capture to offset these emissions, a plan that relies on untested technology and does nothing to deal with fracking's <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/fracking-boom-tied-to-methane-spike-in-earths-atmosphere/" target="_blank">methane release</a>, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fracking-can-contaminate-drinking-water/" target="_blank">water pollution</a> and <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/12/e1603021" target="_blank">health issues</a>.</p><p>He can and must do better. And there are two key areas where he can focus to help push transformative climate action: jobs and justice.</p><h1>Jobs</h1><p>The fact that Biden ran and won with a proposal to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 highlights one key aspect he got right: A transformation to sustainability means innovation, new livelihoods, revitalization and importantly, jobs.</p><p>The green economy in the United States already <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2219927-us-green-economy-has-10-times-more-jobs-than-the-fossil-fuel-industry/" target="_blank">employs</a> 10 times as many people as the fossil fuel industry, and Biden's plan specifically focuses on the economic opportunities that tackling climate change will bring.<span></span></p>
<p>But climate action is not a flail that we must use to flog ourselves in penitence, seeking absolution for past sins. Action for our planet creates untold opportunities for us. It will provide different ways of living that will reimagine and reinvigorate our relationship with the natural world, making us <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/02/nature-fix-brain-happy-florence-williams/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">happier</a> and <a href="https://ejfoundation.org/reports/why-ban-commercial-wildlife-markets" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">healthier</a>.</p><p>It will give us livelihoods that are truly sustainable, not based on the myth of infinite growth on a finite planet.</p><p>Biden's plan for net zero in energy production by 2035 is a good example of how a climate-smart jobs boom could work. At present <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/07/30/biden-calls-100-percent-clean-electricity-by-2035-heres-how-far-we-have-go/?arc404=true" target="_blank">62%</a> of energy in the United States comes from fossil fuels. Wind, hydroelectric and solar power are all growing industries, and renewable energy is expected to be the biggest global energy source <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/10/renewable-energy-covid-19-record-growth-2020" target="_blank">by 2025</a>. Shifting U.S. energy production to net zero will create solid, reliable and well-paid jobs across the nation as renewable energy truly takes off. Funding training to enable workers to shift from fossil fuels will be a key part of that transition.</p>
<h1>Justice</h1><p> Biden has also referenced the need for equality in climate action, setting a goal for disadvantaged communities to receive 40% of all the clean energy and infrastructure benefits his plan would generate.</p><p>While this goal is a relatively small step for a big problem, the recognition is important. Ninety-nine percent of all deaths from weather-related disasters occur in the <a href="http://www.ghf-ge.org/human-impact-report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">world's 50 least developed countries</a> — countries that have contributed less than 1% of global carbon emissions.</p><p>In every nation around the world, including the United States, this is played out again on a smaller scale. We can't continue to allow the poorer, marginalized and more vulnerable communities to bear the brunt of a crisis they did not cause. </p><p>The U.S. government is uniquely placed to drive forward international progress on climate.</p><p>Biden's climate plan <a href="https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/" target="_blank">explicitly includes</a> environmental justice as a key target. Within the United States this encompasses standing up to polluters who disproportionately harm marginalized communities.</p>
<p>The United States must reduce its own emissions and maintain strong diplomacy with its international partners. This leadership will allow the Biden-Harris administration to champion environmental justice around the world.</p><p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/FijiPM/status/1324941240731840512" target="_blank">swift congratulations</a> on Biden's victory offered by Frank Bainimarama, the Fijian prime minister, show what can now be achieved. The United States being back in a leading role on global climate action means that small island nations, responsible for minimal emissions but suffering outsized, unjust climate impacts, may have a chance of survival. <a href="https://ejfoundation.org/what-we-do/climate/protecting-climate-refugees" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tens of millions</a> of people have already been displaced by climate breakdown, a grave global environmental injustice. The new administration has a chance to reverse this.</p><p>As a major developed economy and one of the worst emitters, action from the United States would put pressure on others — such as China — to do more. Meaningful progress within the United States and European Union, and strong, progressive voices from both parties at the negotiation table could be the change we need.</p><p>The votes for this election have been counted, but now the real work begins. We will all be needed — both in and outside the United States — to show again and again that we are watching and we will fight for our future, and our planet, with everything we have.</p>
<p class=""><em></em></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/stevetrent/" target="_blank"><em>Steve Trent </em></a><em>is executive director and co-founder of the </em><a href="https://ejfoundation.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Environmental Justice Foundation</em></a><em> and has more than 30 years experience in environmental and human rights campaigning. He also co-founded WildAid serving as president for over a decade, and leading WildAid's work in China and India. </em><em><em><a href="https://ejfoundation.org/" target="_blank">https://ejfoundation.org</a></em></em></p><p><em><em><a href="https://ejfoundation.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a></em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/biden-climate-plan-trent/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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What Portland’s Smoky Summer Can Do for Air Quality Equity Across the Country
23 November
Insights + Opinion
Smoke covers the skies over downtown Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 9, 2020. Diego Diaz / Icon Sportswire
By Isabella Garcia
September in Portland, Oregon, usually brings a slight chill to the air and an orange tinge to the leaves. This year, it brought smoke so thick it burned your throat and made your eyes strain to see more than 20 feet in front of you.
<p><br/></p>
<p>As historic wildfires burned more than 1 million acres and displaced more than 40,000 people in Oregon, photos of the red haze cloaking the Pacific Northwest were spotlighted on national newscasts and ogled on social media. Portland's air quality was the worst in the world for several days, peaking at <a href="https://aqicn.org/city/usa/oregon/portland/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an Air Quality Index </a>of 486 on Sept. 13. In comparison, the <a href="https://aqicn.org/city/beijing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mean AQI in September in Beijing</a>, known for its smoggy skies, was 77. Just a year before, in September 2019, Portland enjoyed an average AQI more typical for the city: 22.</p><p>The hazardous air of the 2020 fires brought a new awareness of air quality issues in areas that don't normally have to think about them. It prompted fresh conversations about climate change, too: A <a href="https://multco.us/air-quality-public-health-problem/news/wildfire-pollution-obliterates-portland-bad-air-records-and" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Multnomah County news release</a> called the wildfires a "full-on disaster siren that climate change is fully here."</p><p>But when the rain finally came on Sept. 19 and cleared the air, Portlanders rejoiced in the ability to breathe deeply again. The climate conversation and talk of air quality slowly but surely fell out of the news cycle, replaced with the election and the pandemic.</p><p>But what about the communities whose air is filled with dangerous emissions every day without the drama of an apocalyptic glow? What about the people who don't get the reprieve of a breath of fresh air? Poor air quality can be seen in metro areas across the U.S., but the distribution of that burden overwhelmingly falls on communities of color.</p><p>Communities in Texas and Michigan are home to some of the most polluted air in the country, but they are also home to groups that are fiercely fighting for — and making — change.</p>
<h2>Manchester United</h2><p>Houston is known as the energy capital of America, but that title comes with industrial refineries and chemical plants that release toxic emissions into the air. Having grown up in East Houston, near smokestacks and petrochemical plants, Bryan Parras knows this particular toxic air well. He now works for the Sierra Club as a healthy communities organizer and environmental justice advocate. His job is to identify local issues and leverage Sierra Club resources to address them most effectively.</p><p>"In some ways you're like a triage doctor, stopping the bleeding and dressing wounds," Parras explains. "In that process, you learn about the policy decisions that have led to things to begin with. You begin to understand the dynamics that people are dealing with, and you get a deeper grasp of the intersections of housing, environment, immigration status, and all these things."</p><p>Those intersections are clear in an ongoing case against Valero Energy, a midsize oil refinery that <a href="https://www.valero.com/en-us/Pages/Houston.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">produces 235,000 barrels of oil and petroleum products per day</a> in Houston's Manchester neighborhood. Valero applied for a permit to emit poisonous hydrogen cyanide in its refining process in March 2018. To fight back, Manchester community representatives are seeking party status during the permit hearings with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. According to the CDC, exposure to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_29750038.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this chemical asphyxiant</a> interferes with nearly every organ in the body, especially the brain, heart, and lungs, and can be fatal in high concentrations.</p><p>The toxin is better known in other contexts. Hydrogen cyanide has been <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-11-mn-180-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">used for lethal injection</a> and is the primary component of Zyklon B, the gas used for mass murder in Nazi WWII gas chambers. Parras says Valero has long been emitting hydrogen cyanide into the air in the Manchester community, but the amount is unclear because the emission was only discovered, or revealed, after a change in EPA requirements during the Obama administration.</p><p>The permit request is for 512 tons of hydrogen cyanide per year. To put that number in context, community leaders and elected officials in Denver were appalled when the <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/19/suncor-energy-cyanide-gas-poor-denver-neighborhoods/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment imposed a new limit</a> that allowed nearly 13 tons of hydrogen cyanide to be emitted in 2018.</p><p>The permit request in Houston caught the attention of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (t.e.j.a.s.), an organization aiming to provide Texas communities with environmental and legislative expertise to advocate for environmental justice. The group's co-directors, Juan and Ana Parras, founded the group in 1995. Bryan Parras is their son and a member of the t.e.j.a.s. board of directors.</p><p>"[Valero] were releasing without a permit for over 10 years," Ana says. "These people are just being dumped upon."</p>
<h2>Houstonians Can't Breathe</h2><p>Manchester is one of <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2013/04/23/houston-s-most-polluted-neighborhood-draws-line-keystone-tar-sands/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Houston's oldest neighborhoods</a>. It is surrounded on three sides by a chemical plant, synthetic rubber plant, oil refineries, and a car-crushing facility, all of which belly up to the Houston Ship Channel, one of the busiest sea ports in the world. The fourth side is a train yard.</p><p>A <a href="https://airalliancehouston.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AAH-Executive-Summary.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2019 study commissioned by Air Alliance Houston</a>, an environmental advocacy organization, found that the city's polluting facilities are routinely clustered in and around communities where most of the residents are people of color, or where more than 30% of households are considered low-income. Manchester qualifies as both. As of 2015, <a href="https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Demographics/docs_pdfs/SN/65_Harrisburg_Manchester.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">82% of Manchester residents are Hispanic</a>, 14% are Black, and 3% are White. Some 41% of residents make $25,000 or less per year.</p><p>The Valero Energy plant is just two blocks from nearby residential homes — or "fence line communities" as Ana and Juan Parras describe them. A <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/double-jeopardy-houston%252523.Wxa161OUv1y" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2016 study from the Union of Concerned Scientists</a> found that 90.2% of the Manchester population lives within 1 mile of at least one regulated industrial facility. The <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2013-11/documents/appendix-a-final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EPA estimates that each year, these types of facilities have about 150 catastrophic releases</a>, which can be fires, explosions, or emissions that pose immediate and significant danger to people and the environment.</p><p>The same study also found the Manchester neighborhood's respiratory hazard index to be 2.56. That far exceeds the EPA's acceptable level, which is less than 1.0. In comparison, Portland, Oregon, has an average <a href="https://regionalbarometer.oregonmetro.gov/datasets/respiratory-hazard-index-map" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">respiratory hazard index of 0.57</a>.</p><p>T.e.j.a.s and two other community representatives have received standing in the administrative hearings for the Valero permit moving forward. But Ana Parras anticipates the case lasting well into 2021, and all the while, Valero continues to emit hydrogen cyanide unrestricted.</p>
<h2>Pushing Back Against Discrimination</h2><p>On a faster track is the Title VI language justice case t.e.j.a.s. filed against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.</p><p>Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in programs that receive federal assistance. Many of the notifications for the community hearings for the Valero case were in English only, even though <a href="https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Demographics/docs_pdfs/SN/65_Harrisburg_Manchester.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">70% of Manchester residents speak Spanish</a> at home. Also, because there weren't adequate translators, Spanish-speaking parents would bring their bilingual children — some as young as 7 years old — to the hearings to translate for them.</p><p>In this case, t.e.j.a.s. is asking that all notifications be translated into languages congruent with the community demographics, not just the first notification as stated under the current rule.</p><p>"In an unprecedented two weeks, we had a hearing," Ana says.</p><p>The case has the potential to change the national EPA rules, in addition to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rule.</p><p>"The system is hard to change," Juan says, but if t.e.j.a.s. and other organizers stop fighting these systemic environmental ills, he says, the fence line communities will suffer even greater losses. "Community is always first."</p>
<h2>Environmental Justice Hot Spots</h2><p>In Michigan, organizers with the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition are using scientific research to find and calculate the impact of environmental racism in their state's fence line communities. For years, MEJC members had been showing up to permit hearings for industrial polluters, mobilizing and providing support for the various communities that were at risk. After a while, the coalition realized a flaw in the permitting system.</p><p>"We recognized that these permits were not being considered in relationship to each other," says Jamesa Johnson-Greer, the climate justice director at MEJC. "So, when an air permit is considered for nitrous oxide, for example, that's only considered for that one entity, and that's not considering the fact that these polluting facilities might by near other polluting facilities that are also emitting the same nitrous oxide." Those facilities are often concentrated in and around low-income neighborhoods of color.</p><p>The coalition commissioned a <a href="https://seas.umich.edu/sites/all/files/AssessingtheStateofEnvironmentalJusticeinMichigan_344.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cumulative impact study</a> by the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. Researchers assigned an environmental justice score for each census tract in the state based on social, demographic, and environmental data.</p><p>In 2019, the researchers reported hot spots of environmental injustice — communities around the state experiencing compounding impacts from 11 environmental factors, including the respiratory hazard index, diesel exposure, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/urban-air-toxics/about-urban-air-toxics" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air toxics cancer risks</a>, nearby hazardous waste facilities and regulated industrial facilities, as well as traffic proximity. Unsurprisingly, those hot spots were disproportionately clustered in communities of color that had higher levels of poverty, unemployment, and educational attainment (the percent of the population over 25 without a high school diploma) than the statewide average.</p><p>The report confirmed some of what MEJC already knew, such as the intense air pollution in southwest Detroit, particularly <a href="https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/struggling-to-breathe-in-48217-michigans-most-toxic-zip-code/Content?oid=23542211" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the 48217 ZIP code</a>, which is surrounded by more than two dozen industrial polluting facilities. The environmental justice scores around Detroit were as high as 87 out of 100. But there were also surprises, according to Johnson-Greer, like the fact that Grand Rapids, Michigan, had the highest EJ score in the state: 93.99. And despite the egregious water issues in Flint, Genesee County, where the city is located, didn't even make the top 10% of census tracts.</p><p>"That actually influenced the way we did our work this year," Johnson-Greer says, "recognizing that we needed to go and talk to people in those areas who have been doing work around environmental justice or social justice and see what the issues were on the ground."</p><p>By developing relationships with environmental advocates in Grand Rapids, MEJC learned that the town has a long history of logging and paper mills, considered <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/books/environmental-management-in-practice/pollution-prevention-in-the-pulp-and-paper-industries" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one of the most polluting industries in the world</a> because of the high concentration of chemicals in the wastewater. Johnson-Greer says that recognizing the patterns and similarities across the EJ hot spots throughout the state can help highlight the weaknesses — and, thus, the starting points for equitable environmental transitions — in statewide and national environmental policies.</p><p>In particular, she points to the importance of "prioritizing those communities that are most vulnerable and recognizing that those are the communities that we need to start resourcing immediately, because they have probably also been most under-resourced and have also been left behind in past policies."</p>
<h2>A Shift in the Collective Consciousness</h2><p>For Bakeyah Nelson, the executive director of Air Alliance Houston, putting the most affected communities' needs first means using a diversity of tactics. Air Alliance Houston supports community interests by advocating for long-term legislative solutions, like developing industrial zoning laws in Houston, and by responding as-needed to threats against local communities' air quality, such as monitoring permits for new concrete batch plants so they can alert the nearby residents of their options to fight the permit.</p><p>"In advocacy, I would say there is no one size fits all," Nelson says. "It can be proactive; we can work with groups and coalitions to put forth state level legislation to try to prevent concrete batch plants from being placed near neighborhoods. But, on a day-to-day basis, it's more reactive in that we are tracking the permits; we see a permit and then we respond."</p><p>With limited time and resources, striking an effective balance of reactive and proactive responses can be a challenge, says Bryan Parras of the Sierra Club. But Parras is inspired by the community he serves, as well as the overall shift in public conversation he's seen around pollution and climate change over the past few years. While affluent White communities are typically untouched by environmental racism, they are now facing the unavoidable sign of climate change, as was the case with Portland in this year's wildfires. That can prompt powerful empathy and is moving the needle toward action on environmental justice.</p><p>"Despite all of the problems, you see some real change happening in the collective consciousness," Parras says. "There is a growth, a renaissance of activism and participation in civic life that is really beautiful to see."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2020/11/18/smoke-portland-air-quality-equity/" target="_blank">YES! Magazine</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
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On September 4, 2019, a tree house with solar collectors has been rebuilt by the residents in the Hambach forest. Roland Weihrauch / picture alliance / Getty Images
By Jeannette Cwienk
Shubham Mani Tripathi, newspaper reporter, India: shot dead in June 2020 for exposing illegal sand mining. Maria Efigenia Vasquez Astudillo, radio reporter, Colombia: struck and killed by a projectile in October 2017 while covering clashes between the Indigenous community and local police. Joseph Oduha, journalist, South Sudan: fled the country in 2019 after imprisonment and torture for uncovering environmental destruction by international oil companies.
<p>These are just three of the individuals highlighted by Reporters without Borders (RSF). According to the press freedom group, at least 20 journalists have died over the past decade as a result of their reporting on cases of environmental destruction.</p>
Indigenous Communities Threatened
<p>Environmental journalists in Europe also face intimidation and harassment, said RSF spokesperson Christoph Dreyer, pointing to cases connected to the destruction of the Hambach Forest in northwestern Germany or unsustainable agriculture practices in Brittany, France. But most of these attacks, more than 65%, are recorded in Asia and the Americas.</p><p><span></span>"These cases exist in places where raw materials are being mined or where land is being seized for agriculture, in countries where the government is on the side of industry," said Dreyer.</p><p>It's in these areas, where Indigenous communities often live amid untapped natural resources and unspoiled forest, where local journalists are usually the first to report on the conflicts. Often, they're the only ones on the scene."</p><p>In some Latin American countries, the dominant traditional media are heavily controlled by the economic and political elites," said Dreyer. "They often hold back from critical reporting on environmental issues, because it clashes with their interests." As a result, when local media decide to take a closer look they're put under extreme pressure, he added.</p>Local Journalists Under Pressure
<p>The work of local journalists is extremely important for Indigenous communities, said Kathrin Wessendorf, head of the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA). "Each Indigenous community has its own language, and only community reporters can report in that language," she told DW. "They also know how best to approach the community to spread the message."</p><p>Patricia Gualinga, who fights for Indigenous rights in Ecuador, told DW that large national media networks are often slow to report on environmental and human rights issues. "It's really very difficult to get coverage on TV. And if an issue isn't reported by the media, it doesn't exist," she said.</p><p>Gualinga belongs to the Sarayaku Indigenous group who, in 2002, sued the state of Ecuador at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for giving the go-ahead to oil drilling ventures on their land without consulting them. Numerous attempts to intimidate the group were made during the litigation process — especially against Gualinga, who represented the Sarayaku in court. But in 2012, judges ruled in their favor and awarded the community $1.3 million (€1.1 million) in damages.</p><p>Violence against environmental activists has increased significantly in recent years, as shown in <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/defending-tomorrow/" target="_blank">a report</a> released by the environmental and human rights organization Global Witness in July. According to Global Witness, 212 environmentalists were murdered worldwide in 2019 — the highest number the group has recorded in a single year.</p>
Media Coverage Provides Protection
<p>Journalism is needed to bring such crimes to light, said Wessendorf, adding that international media have a particularly important responsibility.</p><p>"Journalists can bring the human rights violations often associated with environmental destruction to the attention of the wider public," she said. "This, in turn, can lead to international solidarity and put pressure on governments or companies."</p><p>Media coverage of the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/amazon-rainforest-fire-deforestation-mining-slash-and-burn-brazil/a-54486689" target="_blank">widespread fires in the Amazon region</a> in 2019 and 2020, for example, brought the issue to a global audience, highlighting the destructive practice of slash-and-burn agriculture and the treatment of Indigenous peoples. This has led to support from many international campaigns.</p><p>"International solidarity is very important for the local population," said Gualinga. "When they realize they're no longer alone, that they're visible and supported by others, it also helps ease their fear."</p>
Documenting Violence and Intimidation Across Borders
<p>Gualinga and other media workers from Latin America discussed the role of journalism in the fight for environmental protection and human rights during a <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/gmf-digital-session-tierra-de-resistentes-defending-the-planet/a-55397748" target="_blank">a recent panel discussion</a>at DW's Global Media Forum. Also taking part was Andres Bermudez Lievano, a Colombian journalist and one of the editors of <a href="https://tierraderesistentes.com/en/" target="_blank"><em>Tierra de Resistentes ("Land of Resistants"</em>)</a>. The investigative data journalism project, available in English, Spanish and Portuguese, was launched by Colombian Journalists' Association, Consejo de Redaccion, with the support of the DW Akademie.</p><p>In the project, journalists from 10 different countries documented the fates of hundreds of environmental activists in Latin America who have been threatened and killed for their work. Nearly 2,400 cases have been compiled to date, with some now taken up by UN organizations.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3b09babc35e312a3abf9c71bc089d4fa"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=376216886918307" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p>"It was only with this transnational project that we were able to realize how big the problem of violence and intimidation really is, and that ethnic minorities are particularly affected," said Lievano.</p><p>What also became clear was how little authorities were doing to address the problem. Of all the documented cases, only 12% made it to court — and just 10 victims saw justice. Bermudez highlighted a particularly shocking detail: in more than half of the cases, authorities were informed ahead of time of planned efforts to silence environmentalists.</p>
<p>Protecting sources, therefore, is a top priority for the <em>Tierra de Resistentes</em> project, and the reporters are very careful in their work. "In certain regions, we report back to the editorial office every hour, so that everyone knows where we are and whether everything is okay," said Bermudez. "We announce our route ahead of time, detail who we're meeting with and if anything has changed."</p><p>Using international associations, networks and public visibility, journalists can continue to report on environmental efforts. Without them, warns Reporters Without Borders, these stories will go untold — and the environmental destruction will continue.</p><p><em>This article has been adapted from German.</em></p><p><em></em><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/environmental-justice-reporters-face-deadly-threats-intimidation/a-55593140" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2648953447#/" target="_self"></a></p>
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Trending
Phil Roeder / CC BY 2.0
By John R. Platt
Well, that was interesting … and hair-raising. At press time the harrowing presidential race of 2020 remains too close to call, as do a few key congressional and Senate seats. The Senate may not even settle out until January, when Georgia will hold runoff elections and we'll find out which party controls that house of government.
But while we wait — patiently or otherwise — for those votes to be tallied, let's take a moment to step back and look at several big-picture environmental takeaways from the election season.
<h3>1. Climate Change Came Calling</h3><p>Despite the lack of real policy debate — let's face it, this was less an election of ideas and more a contest of ideologies — <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate</a> change played an unexpected and thankful role. That started most noticeably in the unannounced climate question during the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/30/presidential-debate-climate-crisis-question-trump-biden-analysis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first presidential debate</a>. After that several <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/29/us/elections/biden-leans-into-climate-change-with-two-new-ads.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">political ads</a> made climate an issue, and some Democrats stumped on it. We didn't see any speeches <em>solely </em>about climate, but Biden and Harris brought it up strongly several times during the last days of the campaign.</p><p>And yes, the very real risks of climate change played a role in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/01/climate/polls-what-voters-think-climate-global-warming.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">driving people to the polls</a>. A survey conducted last month found that 58% of Americans were either "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" about the threats of climate change. That included 90% of voters who favored Biden at the time. Biden and Harris spoke to that, and voters listened. Life lesson: When you talk about and take seriously issues that affect peoples' lives, they lend you their ears.</p><p>This growing support for climate action means that if Trump ultimately wins reelection, and then continues to ignore climate (as he obviously would), there will be prices to pay on the international stage starting in January and again at the polls in 2022.</p>
<h3>2. The Forgotten Crisis</h3><p>But the extinction crisis did not get any real play in this election, even from <a href="https://www.rollcall.com/2020/02/21/not-on-the-candidates-radar-the-sixth-great-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">progressive Democrats</a>. Considering the oversized role of wildlife trafficking in the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, preserving <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a> will need to become a major policy initiative moving forward.</p><p>Luckily many environmental organizations made this a key call during the campaign, so we can expect to see some progress on this if Biden is confirmed as the next president. (If not, expect more Trump attacks on the Endangered Species Act and other wildlife policies.)</p>
<h3>3. Equality</h3><p>Racial inequality was one of the main themes of the election, but the candidates did little to address income inequality, the <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/political-violence-inequality-us-election?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">greatest driver of political and social unrest</a> in this country. If we don't take dramatic action about that soon, it will give further strength to the Proud Boys, QAnon conspiracy junkies and their extremist ilk — and that will spill out into environmental issues like livestock ranching, public lands protection and environmental justice.</p><p>Fortunately the presidential and vice-presidential debates, and Democratic candidates themselves, made a big deal out of other issues related to inequality, such as racism, LGBTQA+ rights and women's rights. Unfortunately, the fact that nearly half the country voted to reelect a racist misogynist — and many other candidates who rode on his coattails — does not bode well for the future. These are all issues that have <a href="https://therevelator.org/racial-environmental-justice/" target="_blank">deep environmental implications</a>, so we as a people and as a country need to do a lot better.</p>
<h3>4. Suppression</h3><p>People like to vote. And record numbers turned out this year, even amidst the pandemic. But who knows how many more votes would have been counted — and how many races would have had different outcomes — if not for the <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/10/29-ways-trump-and-the-gop-are-making-it-harder-to-vote/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">29 Republican techniques for voter suppression</a> used during this election?</p><p>So come on, Republicans, stop trying to prevent our citizens from doing their democratic duty. If you can't play fair, get out of the game. (And while you're at it, stop suppressing science related to pandemics and climate change, 'K?)</p><p>Everyone else: Watch your back. The same Republican-appointed, Federalist Society loyalist judges who have ruled (and may yet rule) on so many of this year's voting lawsuits will soon find cases about climate change and other environmental threats on their dockets.</p>
<h3>5. Fossils</h3><p>The Democratic Party needs to refine its messaging on oil and gas. It's got some decent policies — such as ending subsidies and stopping development on federal land — but that doesn't ease the fears of people terrified by a forced transition in their lives and careers. The evidence is clear that these industries not only harm the planet and peoples' health, they're also failing financially. The faster we transition those jobs, the less pain we'll all feel when oil, gas and coal collapse like a house of cards.</p>
<h3>6. Faux News</h3><p>Speaking more broadly, the media landscape remains hopelessly bifurcated, and that seeds division within the country, reaching from politics to basic information such as COVID-19 safety measures and crises like climate change. That needs to change. To address this issue, education standards should include teaching media literacy — and all adults should be encouraged to learn how to spot disinformation and bias. (It's telling that <a href="https://medialiteracyweek.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Media Literacy Week 2020</a> was held the week before the election.)</p><p>It's all a bit bigger than this, obviously. Most people self-identify as belonging to — or diverging from — one political party first, then pick the media outlet that supports that worldview. But the right-wing media notoriously spreads more disinformation about environmental issues, so finding a way to break that chokehold will go a long way toward bridging that divide.</p>
<h3>7. Money, Money, Money</h3><p>An obscene amount of money was collected and spent on this election — a record <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/10/cost-of-2020-election-14billion-update/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$14 billion</a>, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks political spending.</p><p>On the one hand, we saw an amazing increase in small, individual donations. That's great.</p><p>But corporations and PACs poured cash into candidates' coffers (either directly or in support of their campaigns), and it felt like most of that went to fund blatantly dishonest campaign ads.</p><p>And what's the ultimate cost of those donations? Will special interests return with their hands out? We'll never know for sure, since most of those dollars (on both sides of the political aisle) are hidden from the public record, although it's certainly happened before. That needs to change if we ever hope to transform this economy and save the planet.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/environmental-takeaways-2020-election/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Global Climate Campaigners Want Public Banks to Fund Just Recovery and Green Transition
15 October
Business
Protesters representing various socio-economic groups rally against climate change on September 20, 2020 in New York City. John Lamparski / NurPhoto / Getty Images
By Kenny Stancil
Amid the Global Week of Action for Debt Cancellation and one month ahead of the Finance in Common Summit, climate justice advocates on Monday urged public banks around the world to treat government responses to the coronavirus crisis as opportunities to coordinate just recoveries from the ongoing public health and economic calamities and to simultaneously facilitate just transitions from dirty to clean energy, thereby beginning to "build the world we want."
<p>"The climate crisis requires us to stay under the limit of 1.5°C of global warming, and the only way we can do it is rapidly moving away from fossil fuel production and use," said Clémence Dubois, France team leader at 350.org. "We need public finance institutions to be the first movers of this transition."</p><p>350.org executive director May Boeve <a href="https://twitter.com/350/status/1315654245790748673" target="_blank">argued</a> that the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing surge in unemployment and material hardship revealed "just how broken our economic systems are," while also stressing that the current catastrophe holds lessons for how to go about "solving other pressing global challenges," particularly the intertwined problems of intensifying inequality and climate disasters.</p><p>Contrary to the demands of social and environmental justice advocates, government and financial responses to the pandemic and recession in many countries to date have continued to prop up the fossil fuel industry rather than prioritizing investments in renewable energy development.</p>
<p>As <em>Common Dreams</em> <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/01/100-billion-lifeline-while-most-americans-are-being-left-behind-report-details" target="_blank">reported </a>earlier this month, the Trump administration and U.S. Federal Reserve have bailed out Big Oil during this crisis, and a May <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2020/05/27/g20-still-digging/" target="_blank">report</a> by Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth showed that since the Paris Agreement, G20 countries have provided at least $77 billion per year in financing for oil, gas, and coal projects through their public finance institutions.</p><p>According to 350.org, a handful of institutions, such as the European Investment Bank, Swedfund, and the French Development Agency, have already committed to diverting public money away from fossil fuels—a move that climate campaigners say is necessary but insufficient.</p><p>Ahead of the Finance in Common Summit being held in Paris from November 10-12, advocacy groups have described this first ever international gathering of public banks—where nearly 450 financial institutions controlling approximately $2 trillion in public money will convene—as an opportunity for all public financial institutions to commit to aligning their investment policies with carbon emissions reductions, biodiversity protection, and other sustainable development goals.</p>
<div id="65c39" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ac51e8b5bddbfd63c853f644d08e44dc"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1315656759781064706" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">As we launch the #WorldWeWant campaign on climate impacts, @UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres echoes our call f… https://t.co/5ytx9JD3hh</div> — Climate Action Network - International (CAN) (@Climate Action Network - International (CAN))<a href="https://twitter.com/CANIntl/statuses/1315656759781064706">1602511989.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Activists argued that public banks' ambitious commitments in support of an internationally just transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy can help harness resources in ways that disempower the oil, gas, and coal industries while creating a more egalitarian and sustainable world that benefits workers, communities, and the environment.</p><p>Dubois explained in a statement that "this leadership is increasingly important as governments prepare to deploy historic levels of public finance in response to Covid-19. Such a commitment needs to be concrete and tangible, and would help set a high bar for what climate leadership looks like for public finance institutions."</p><p>"Development banks have the power to enact policies and direct funds towards a just recovery," Dubois said. "Especially in the midst of a health and economic emergency, public money must be used to boost existing solutions that will create new jobs and support the people most impacted." </p>
<p>"Public financial institutions are accountable to the planet and the people," he added. "After all, it's our money, and what they are doing with it determines our lives and our future."</p><p>Climate justice advocates also pointed out that this week is the Global Week of Action for Debt Cancellation, an initiative promoted by many organizations and movements in various regions around the world to highlight the negative impacts of debt on countries throughout the Global South. </p><p>350.org and others argue that the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crisis have highlighted the long-term consequences of colonization and imperialism for the world's poorest inhabitants.</p>
<p>"When major financial institutions lend money to Global South governments to develop fossil fuel projects, they are not only destroying the climate, weakening democratic processes and laws, deepening poverty and inequality, and violating human rights," said Alex Lenferna, a climate justice campaigner at 350.org Africa, "but also tying up young and future generations in debt slavery."</p><p>According to Lenferna, "we cannot have climate justice and a just recovery without debt justice." </p><p>"Debt contracted to finance harmful fossil fuel projects that lead to climate chaos is completely illegitimate and should not be repaid," Lenferna added. "Public finance institutions should cancel these debts and not allow any new ones."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/12/after-all-its-our-money-global-climate-campaigners-call-public-banks-fund-just" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Alexis Cureton, California state lead of clean energy and equity at NRDC. Alexis Cureton
By Rasheena Fountain
The topic of energy rarely came up during Alexis Cureton's childhood, split between Tulsa, Oklahoma, Duluth, Georgia, and Indianapolis. Nevertheless, Cureton can still recall his mother's reminders to turn off the lights and not to overuse the dishwasher. Those pleas gave him an awareness of the scarcity, necessity, and costs of energy—heightened during those cold-weather stretches when his family's finances did not allow them to pay the electric bill. Along the way, two questions formed in his head: "How is energy helping to create comfort and, in its absence, how am I uncomfortable?" Today, these questions shape Cureton's lens at NRDC, where he advocates for California's low-income communities of color to be at the energy decision-making table and for their access to clean energy.
<p>A self-proclaimed nerd, avid reader, and documentary enthusiast growing up, Cureton found inspiration in the pages of inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla's autobiography. Despite being born worlds away from Tesla—Black and in the home of Black Wall Street—he related to Tesla's innovative ideas and that he did not fit in with the norm. "A lot of my interests weren't really mainstream," Cureton says.</p><p>Still, pursuing a career in energy was not on his radar, even with his interest in Tesla. As a teen, Cureton and his friends knew vaguely of solar panels and that they were installed in homes located in more affluent neighborhoods. But, he says, "we were not talking about creating energy businesses or lobbying for particular policies that improve the conditions of our community."</p><p>For college, Cureton headed off to Clark Atlanta University to pursue an undergraduate degree in sociology. It was the same university where the man considered the "father of environmental justice," <a href="https://drrobertbullard.com/" target="_blank">Dr. Robert D. Bullard</a>, had taught. Bullard left Clark Atlanta to teach at another institution the year before Cureton arrived; nevertheless, the professor's writings would welcome him into the environmental sector.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ2NTA2Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTM3NjcwMH0.WvtIJ0axSBd7lE2-zKJ5wQadzgauGo6iTVQNOEj5fn8/img.jpg?width=980" id="b54c4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="821cfa6bd34214912651dd4c69f86772" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Alexis Cureton with Dr. Robert Bullard at an event honoring the professor as the Stephen Schneider Award winner for outstanding climate science communication at Climate One in San Francisco. Alexis Cureton
<p>At Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, where Cureton set out for an MPA in policy analysis, the door opened further for him when the school began to offer an energy major concentration. He followed his curiosity, entering the concentration as one of three African American students.</p><p>"It was a culture shock," Cureton says, adding that many of his peers had been more deeply engaged in clean energy since their teen years. One classmate had been making mini solar panels in his garage for fun in high school. "I saw how late in the game I was exposed to this industry," Cureton says. "I think about how many people feel that way."</p><p>The few Black students in the concentration not only found themselves in the racial minority in the classroom—they also found no representation of themselves in the curriculum. "I learned that people whose books we were told to buy and to read over the summer were not Black. They were not writing from a Black perspective or about Black people," Cureton says.</p><p>He worked to counter these feelings of isolation by focusing some of his independent graduate coursework on the federal government's inadequate response to environmental justice concerns. He sought out professors like<a href="https://oneill.indiana.edu/faculty-research/directory/profiles/faculty/full-time/rhodes-edwardo.html" target="_blank"> Dr. Edwardo Rhodes</a> and Dr. Tony Reames. Friendships like these helped Cureton begin to read more widely on the topic, using stipends he received from summer fellowships to buy books that resonated with his experience as an African-American man in the United States. However, Cureton knew it would be important to build professional relationships outside of the program as well, and with that understanding, he forged a partnership with the <a href="https://www.aabe.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">American Association of Blacks in Energy</a> to offer mentoring and internships to students of color in the program.</p><p>Dr. Bullard's books solidified Cureton's career journey. Through writings like <em>The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African American Communities</em>, he learned that Black people had been fighting for the environment for a long time. Cureton felt as if the pages said, "Congratulations, you are part of that group." And he no longer felt isolated in his career path.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ2NTA4MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MDA3NTI2N30.ECA-5tmOB3Ev8FNHkXYQpmD0LGIWNITMKe9jiU-iigE/img.jpg?width=980" id="449de" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c4e310c7c0648bf41f9e57a1752aaa84" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Cureton speaking at an event for the Greenlining Institute. Alexis Cureton
<p>Cureton went on to work as a researcher at organizations focused on creating equitable, community-focused clean energy transitions like Spark Northwest, the Greenlining Institute, and GRID Alternatives—groups that also help to create related job-training opportunities for underserved communities. He served as an <a href="https://gridalternatives.org/what-we-do/workforce-development/solarcorps-fellowships" target="_blank">electric vehicle fellow</a> in the GRID Alternatives' <a href="https://gridalternatives.org/what-we-do/workforce-development/solarcorps-fellowships" target="_blank">SolarCorps</a> program, aiding efforts to provide access to clean mobility for low-income communities in California. (The group offers grants of up to $5,000 toward the purchase of new or used electric cars.)</p><p>Cureton explains that California's affordable housing crisis has also impacted many residents' transportation expenses since it's pushed them into homes farther away from central business districts. As a result, he says, "many people are transportation burdened, meaning they are spending more than half of their income on gas." While driving an electric vehicle <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/electric-vs-gas-it-cheaper-drive-ev" target="_blank">slashes fuel costs</a>, buying one is out of reach for many. And further compounding this access, he notes, low-income communities are too often left out of policy conversations that could help raise these affordability issues. "I always strive to make sure that what I advocate for comes directly from the community," Cureton says.</p><p>The siting of transit infrastructure must also have local buy-in, he adds. For example, in Long Beach, California, which is<a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/long-beach-touring-toxic-neighborhood-bike" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> among the nation's most ozone-polluted metro areas</a>, residential neighborhoods that are home to large Black and Latino populations surround Interstate 710. More than 40,000 diesel trucks traverse the corridor daily, as part of the city's port infrastructure. Residents call it "<a href="https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/10/01/long-beach-air-quality-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">asthma alley</a>." But no one chose to live amid this pollution, says Cureton. "Who made the decision to put the roads here? The community did not get to make the decision on road placement."</p><p>In his role at NRDC, Cureton continues to bring community representatives to the table to broaden the conversation around clean energy solutions through the <a href="https://www.energyefficiencyforall.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Energy Efficiency For All (EEFA)</a> initiative. At the state level in California, EEFA advocates for sustainable clean energy investments in affordable housing. Some of these efforts include encouraging disadvantaged communities throughout the state to take advantage of the <a href="https://www.csd.ca.gov/Pages/Low-Income-Weatherization-Program.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Low-Income Weatherization Program (LIWP)</a>, which helps renters afford energy efficiency upgrades like insulation and lighting that make their homes more comfortable while lowering their emissions and energy bills. Cureton has also been supporting the <a href="https://laane.org/blog/campaigns/energy-and-water/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Repower LA</a> coalition's #EraseUtilityDebt campaign, which works to relieve the pressure on residents struggling to pay water and power bills in the face of increasing unemployment rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>"I love the position I am in. The work I am doing is tied directly to me," Cureton says.</p>
<p>Even before the pandemic, <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/alexis-cureton/suspend-shutoffs-essential-utility-services-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one in three Americans were considered "energy insecure,"</a> with low-income communities of color hit the hardest by <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/defender-energy-efficiency-and-equity" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">inequitable energy policies</a>. Now, the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have further amplified how much work needs to be done to create social policies that allow Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color to thrive, he points out. But he wishes that momentum did not take such tragedy.</p><p>"I don't want to go through something that's 10 times worse than this to finally get to where we need to go. I have lost too many people from COVID and 'I can't breathe,'" says Cureton. One of his best friends lost his father to the virus in August; another friend's cousin, <a href="https://time.com/5833625/indianapolis-police-shooting-sean-reed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dreasjon Reed, was shot and killed</a> by the police in Indianapolis in May.</p><p>What keeps Cureton grounded in his work is his empathy—a trait he sees as a requirement for anyone entering this field. "I don't think that you can work in climate, clean energy, and environment and not think about other people," he says.</p><p>Equally fundamental to his work around utilities is his mission to boost energy literacy so that low-income communities of color can become their own advocates. "How do I communicate to my people this complex concept of energy and how it impacts them?" Cureton asks. He cites Malcolm X, who could articulate the lived experiences of his people—and who served as an intermediary between those oppressing and those fighting to no longer be oppressed—as an inspiration for his work in both the policy space and on the ground.</p><p>"Energy has played a huge role in the ways that Black people live and experience life in this country," Cureton says. It is his mission to light the path forward.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/clean-energy-expert-bringing-black-voices-table" target="_blank">NRDC</a>.</em></p>
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A factory in Newark, N.J. emits smoke in the shadow of NYC on January 18, 2018. Kena Betancur / VIEWpress / Corbis / Getty Images
By Sharon Zhang
Back in March, when the pandemic had just planted its roots in the U.S., President Donald Trump directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to do something devastating: The agency was to indefinitely and cruelly suspend environmental rule enforcement. The EPA complied, and for just under half a year, it provided over 3,000 waivers that granted facilities clemency from state-level environmental rule compliance.
<p>These rule suspensions ended last month, but they almost undoubtedly caused an <a href="https://grist.org/justice/the-epa-cut-back-enforcement-during-covid-these-researchers-are-assessing-the-damage/" target="_blank">increase in pollution rates</a>, as one preliminary study <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3633446" target="_blank">already found</a>. What's worse is that we'll likely never know the full extent of the damage, as the agency also suspended rules for self-monitoring (and even before the pandemic <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-epa-is-unleashing-the-pollution-that-makes-us-vulnerable-to-covid-19/" target="_blank">monitoring was already limited</a>). Analysts at the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative found that, in March and April, industrial polluters <a href="https://envirodatagov.org/more-permission-to-pollute-the-decline-of-epa-enforcement-and-industry-compliance-during-covid/" target="_blank">conducted 40 percent fewer tests</a> compared to the same time in 2019, according to self-reported data.</p><p>In a country where pollution impacts are <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/11/702348935/study-finds-racial-gap-between-who-causes-air-pollution-and-who-breathes-it" target="_blank">disproportionately impactful</a>, the suspension of pollution rules in the middle of a respiratory illness outbreak is unconscionable — <a href="https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/covid-pm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">several studies</a> have found that higher pollution exposure can lead to <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abaf86/pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">higher rates of death</a> due to COVID-19.</p><p>But, given the stark differences between racial groups when it comes to pollution exposure and effects, the temporary policy is downright racist. A 2018 study from the EPA itself found that, respectively, Black and Latinx communities were <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/the-trump-administration-finds-that-environmental-racism-is-real/554315/" target="_blank">exposed to 1.5 and 1.2 times</a> more particulate matter, a pollutant that can cause damage to the respiratory system, than white communities. Another study published in the <em>New England Journal of Medicine</em> in 2017 found that Black people were <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1702747" target="_blank">three times more likely</a> to die from exposure to particulate matter than the overall population.</p><p>Under Trump, federal climate policy has only become less and less stringent — The <em>New York Times </em>has documented <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html" target="_blank">100 environmental rollbacks</a> thus far. Such rollbacks are bad news for everyone, but they're especially harmful for Black and minority communities, which have <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/11/702348935/study-finds-racial-gap-between-who-causes-air-pollution-and-who-breathes-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">borne the brunt</a> of pollution for decades.</p><p>The fact that Black and brown people suffer most under environmental degradation is not news. But the dilemmas remain in the environmental justice community as they have for many years: How do we lessen the climate burden on Black and oppressed communities? How can we achieve equitable and drastic emissions reductions and transform our entire economy before the window of opportunity to prevent irreversible climate change closes?</p>
<p>For decades, one of the only legal tools available to an environmental justice advocate was the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, was written in the late 1960s in response to historical disasters like oil spills and injustices like the destruction of poor neighborhoods to build highways. Over the years, NEPA has been an extraordinary useful framework for communities to lessen or prevent environmental impacts of federal projects — in 2018, <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-latest-attack-on-the-environment-may-be-his-most-alarming-yet/" target="_blank">a judge cited NEPA</a> when they blocked the Trump administration's attempt to fast-track the Keystone XL pipeline.<br></p><p>While NEPA has helped <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/never-eliminate-public-advice-nepa-success-stories" target="_blank">countless communities</a> in protecting against potentially harmful impacts, however, it also has major limitations. Though NEPA forces agencies to consider the potential impacts of a project, it doesn't require stopping or even mitigating those impacts. This is partially what has allowed polluters to choke out disproportionately Black communities like Louisiana's "<a href="https://truthout.org/articles/petrochemical-giants-are-slowly-killing-black-louisiana-communities/" target="_blank">Cancer Alley</a>" and New York City's "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/04/new-york-south-bronx-minorities-pollution-inequity#:~:text=The%20park%20is%20a%20little,pollution%20levels%20in%20the%20US." target="_blank">Asthma Alley</a>" in the past decades. Early this year, the Trump administration radically <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-latest-attack-on-the-environment-may-be-his-most-alarming-yet/" target="_blank">rewrote NEPA</a> so that it would give more power to polluters, limiting public input on projects and eliminating the consideration of cumulative impacts.</p><p>"A big challenge is the way that NEPA intersects with other racist policies like redlining and things that existed prior to NEPA," says <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/person/hardin-sally/" target="_blank">Sally Hardin</a>, who formerly worked on the council that oversees NEPA and is the interim director on energy and environment at the Center for American Progress (CAP). While NEPA is a tool that communities can use to challenge projects such as the construction of a new oil refinery, the process requires time and resources that many can't afford; poor neighborhoods that can't afford to hire lawyers to review legalese or where citizens don't have time to show up to public hearings are more likely to find themselves with a new refinery than a wealthy neighborhood.</p><p>When communities do have the time and resources to oppose a project, though, states will find a different way to get around them. <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-louisiana-lawmakers-stop-residents-efforts-to-fight-big-oil-and-gas" target="_blank">Legislators in Louisiana</a>, for instance, who often receive financial incentives from oil and gas companies and chemical manufacturers, have attempted to outlaw protests against these projects.</p><p>So, while environmental advocates can use NEPA as a tool to further justice, entrenched racial and class disparities in the U.S. will be extremely difficult to undo, no matter the policy or politician. To <a href="https://www.weact.org/person/peggy-shepard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Peggy Shepard</a>, the executive director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, the problem presents itself before NEPA can even come into the equation. Part of the issue, Shepard says, lies in permitting.</p>
<p>"You could have numbers of facilities emitting air toxins, numbers of facilities impacting water quality, facilities impacting soil contamination, a number of waste transfer facilities all in one community," says Shepard. "And because you're only permitting [pollution type by pollution type], you would say, 'Well, we've got one waste transfer station and it's okay, it's in compliance.' But what does it do when you've got water contamination, soil contamination, air quality, toxins? What's that soup?"</p><p>Yet another issue lies in unequal enforcement of certain laws, especially along financial lines — a 2009 study found that agencies <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/29738988" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">did not enforce crucial pollution laws</a> in poor counties as much as richer counties.</p><p>And, in some ways, unequal enforcement can be built into the laws themselves. For instance, as Climate and Energy Policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/about/people/rachel-cleetus" target="_blank">Rachel Cleetus</a> raises, the Army Corps determines and allocates resources for defensive measures for such events as flooding using a cost-benefit analysis. That analysis benefits richer communities because the market value of the property being lost is higher.</p>
<p>"There are lots of ways in which you can have neutral-sounding laws, but if you don't get out some of these underlying things and specifically target resources to set them right in some way, you're gonna end up with skewed outcomes," says Cleetus.</p><p>In Congress, some legislators are working to solve some of these problems at a federal level. Last month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) introduced the Climate Equity Act, which would introduce the Office of Climate and Environmental Justice Accountability within the Office of Management and Budget and require relevant agencies to appoint a director of environmental justice. It would also require environmental legislation to come with an "<a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/510920-harris-aoc-push-climate-equity-bill-with-green-new-deal-roots" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">equity score</a>" that rates the impact of the legislation on frontline and poor communities.</p><p>"The difficulty [with the equity score] comes in defining who those communities should be and how (and that definition should ABSOLUTELY be created by, and with, the impacted communities themselves)," says Hardin in an email to <em>Truthout</em>. The Climate Equity Act was crafted from advice from environmental justice coalitions, and though the bill likely won't pass soon, coalitions and communities most impacted must have a say in the process.</p>
<p>Though there are many hurdles to yet to clear, environmental justice movements have been making big moves across the country in the past few years. Initiatives like the <a href="https://ajustclimate.org/" target="_blank">Equitable and Just National Climate Platform</a> and the <a href="https://grist.org/justice/an-effort-to-bring-environmental-justice-for-all-goes-virtual/" target="_blank">Environmental Justice for All Act</a> have gained momentum among Democrats; and local groups are getting the attention of politicians to address some of the largest hurdles — permitting, unfair lawmaking and gaining grassroots political power.</p><p>Last week, Gov. Phil Murphy (D-New Jersey) signed an environmental justice law unlike any other in the country: Despite <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2020/08/27/new-jersey-legislature-sends-groundbreaking-environmental-justice-bill-to-governors-desk-1313030" target="_blank">powerful industry opposition</a> that stalled the bill for years, the new state law will <em>require</em> permits for projects like power plants and landfills to be rejected if they are to be cited in an already overburdened neighborhood. Other states require agencies to merely <em>consider</em> cumulative impacts in the permitting process with no mandate to act on that consideration — formerly, NEPA required all government-funded projects to consider cumulative impacts, but the Trump administration, in its <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-latest-attack-on-the-environment-may-be-his-most-alarming-yet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">gutting of NEPA</a> this year, rolled that rule back.</p><p>The bill was passed due to the tireless work of grassroots activists and environmental justice groups — Ironbound Community Corporation, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and <a href="https://www.cleanwateraction.org/releases/new-jersey-sets-national-precedent-environmental-justice-bill-signing-today" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Clean Water Action</a> — who fought <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2020/08/27/new-jersey-legislature-sends-groundbreaking-environmental-justice-bill-to-governors-desk-1313030" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">chemical and waste industry lobbyists</a> and <a href="https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/environment/2019/11/07/phil-murphy-preaches-environmental-justice-nj-but-his-actions-say-different-ford-ringwood-keegan/4124093002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Murphy's administration</a> to push the bill through.</p>
<p>Grassroots and activist groups <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31082020/candidate-profile-joe-biden-climate-change-election-2020" target="_blank">have helped</a> Joe Biden better his climate platform, too, as he unveiled a new plan in July — his <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31082020/candidate-profile-joe-biden-climate-change-election-2020" target="_blank">environmental justice plan</a> is surprisingly good for candidate whose climate plan as a whole got an "F" from the Sunrise Movement last year. The plan includes creating and elevating climate justice divisions in the federal government and the White House, mandate pollution monitoring in frontline communities — which is currently <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-epa-is-unleashing-the-pollution-that-makes-us-vulnerable-to-covid-19/" target="_blank">notoriously terrible</a> — and spend 40 percent of the overall investments in the climate plan on disadvantaged communities.</p><p>Several of the initiatives outlined in Biden's plan are extensions of what the Obama administration already got started — expanding the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen" target="_blank">EPA's EJSCREEN tool</a> that identifies environmental justice hotspots, for instance. This is progress that should have been made years ago — and progress that could have been made under a different administration.</p><p>But Trump has reversed much of the progress on climate that the country has made not only since the Obama administration, but also from <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-latest-attack-on-the-environment-may-be-his-most-alarming-yet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">decades ago</a> — including outright eliminating funding for environmental justice at the EPA. From here, as the climate crisis rages on, progress will be ever more vital to make. And, despite Biden's progress in climate over the course of the election, climate activists <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/joe-biden-pays-lip-service-to-climate-but-has-fallen-short-on-action/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">have their work cut out for them</a> – no matter who's in office come January.</p>
<p><em>This story originally appeared in <a href="https://truthout.org/" target="_blank">Truthout </a></em><em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em></p>
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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.
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