Climate Justice

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U.S. states have spent the past 5 years trying to criminalize protest

by Naveena Sadasivam, Grist Highlights Minnesota has recently been the site of continued protests focused on racial equality and police brutality. The state has also seen many protests concerning the building of new fossil fuel infrastructure such as large pipeline projects. Over the past four years, state lawmakers have introduced ten bills criminalizing protests that … Read more

Categories Climate Justice Fossil Fuels Public Health
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Unequal impact: The deep links between racism and climate change

Protesters march against oil pipeline in solidarity with Native People at Standing Rock in 2016 rally by John Duffy

by Beth Gardiner, Yale Environment 360 Highlights Elizabeth Yeampierre, co-chair of Climate Justice Alliance, shares the correlation between the United States’ racist past and the current climate crisis Climate movements typically center around conversation and protecting wildlife while not advocating for the protection of Black and Brown people who are directly impacted by climate change … Read more

Categories Climate Justice Fossil Fuels Public Health
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The climate justice movement must oppose white supremacy everywhere

Black Lives Matter by Leonhard Lenz

by Mattias Lehman, Medium Highlights Mattias Lehman of the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate movement working for the end to the climate crisis, shares how environmental groups need to focus more on racial inequality. The climate movement is typically focused on nature-based initiatives such as “Save the Trees” and “Save the Polar Bears,” but rarely … Read more

Categories Climate Justice
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DNC climate group calls for larger federal investment on climate than Biden’s current plan

by Rachel Frazin, The Hill Highlights The Democratic National Committee Climate Council released a set of policy recommendations for a greater investment than Joe Biden’s climate plan Joe Biden’s climate plan would spend $1.7 trillion over the next decade to address climate change, whereas the Climate Council plan endorses spending $10-16 trillion over the same period … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Climate Justice
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The Climate Center Stands Against Racism, Police Violence and Environmental Injustice

Seattle Black Lives Matter protest by Kelly Kline

The Climate Center stands in solidarity with communities of color and with the protesters in the streets. We join them in demanding an end to institutional racism, police violence, white supremacy, and the environmental injustices that many Black, Brown, Asian and Indigenous communities experience daily. Shared responsibility and equitable, inclusive solutions are fundamental values we … Read more

Categories Climate Justice
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Deforestation, oil spills, and coronavirus: Crises converge in the Amazon

by Rachel Ramirez, Grist  Highlights Brazil now has the second-highest number of documented COVID-19 cases, with 400,000 confirmed cases and 25,000 deaths According to the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, an indigenous rights organization, the mortality rate among the indigenous population of nearly one million is double that experienced in Brazil overall The entire Amazon region … Read more

Categories Climate Justice Public Health
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Climate Justice is Racial Justice

Black Lives Matter protest in Oakland. Photo by Daniel Arauz

The recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many others at the hands of police, are abhorrent and intolerable. Institutional racism, intentionally interwoven into the American fabric since long before our nation’s founding, has locked in major inequalities for people of color in wealth, income, education, health, jobs, housing, and public safety. Black, … Read more

Categories Climate Justice Fossil Fuels
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The Climate Movement’s silence on racism

by Emily Atkin, Heated Highlights As protests and demonstrations occur throughout the world in response to the murder of George Floyd, some environmental groups have responded in solitary while many other activists and groups have remained silent.   Groups such as the Sierra Club and white climate activists like Greta Thunberg have all spoken out in solidarity. However, … Read more

Categories Climate Justice
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Cities are leading on clean mobility during the COVID and climate crises. They need help.

Take action today: Ask your electeds to commit to a phase-out of dirty, gas-powered vehicles and invest in sustainable mobility as part of COVID-19 stimulus funding. On March 30th, The Climate Center and our partners sent a letter to the California Air Resources Board asking them to hold firm on clean air regulations during this pandemic. The … Read more

Categories Climate Justice Transportation