EJCC: Nia: Climate Justice from Oriana Bolden on Vimeo.

interviewee: Nia Robinson, Director, EJCC

interviewer, director of photography, editor: Oriana Bolden for EJCC

Click image above to download the 6 page Executive Summary of

A Climate of Change: African Americans, Global Warming, and a Just Climate Policy for the U.S.

Contact Oriana, EJCC’s Strategic Media and Communications Manager at oriana at ejcc dot org for the full 60 page report.

As our elected leaders struggle to make progress on climate and energy legislation in Washington, a grassroots movement has grown and won real victories in our local communities.  Through youth leadership, thousands of colleges and universities have taken steps to transition their campuses to clean energy, grassroots campaigns have blocked new dirty energy infrastructure, and the green economy is being built in cities around the country.

We can’t let the “political realities” of corporate-influenced policies define our future.  It’s time for us to set our own course, on our own terms and Define Our Decade.

The Plan

In 2010, through a set of strategically coordinated local actions, we will Define Our Decade.  We will define it with youth leadership, community empowerment, and a unified vision for the clean and just energy future we will collectively create.

Contact EJCC’s Coordinator, Kari Fulton for more information about how to get your community and/or campus involved on a local, statewide and national level.

Key Dates

• March 15th – 28th: Define Our Decade Weeks of Action and National Youth Vote
• March 29th – April 9th: Congressional Recess and National Youth vote Delivery Events
• April 22nd – Earth Day, Follow Up with Elected Officials and Alert Local Media
• Starting in June:  Summer training and Clean Energy Community projects

Kari Fulton

p: 202. 340. 0976

e: kari [@) ejcc [.] com

EJCC has been a part of the Energy Action Coalition since its inception and has lead the charge to end fossil fuel dependence specifically at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. At the helm of this initiative for EJCC is Kari Fulton, click here to read more and get in touch with Kari.

For more information about EAC, CCC and/or getting active on your campus, please contact Kari at: XXXXXX or kari@XXX.com

Energy Action is a Coalition of 50 organizations – Americans for Informed Democracy, Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Black Mesa Water Coalition, Brower New Leaders Initiative, California Student Sustainability Coalition, CALPIRG, Campus Progress, Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Clean Air Cool Planet, Climate Crisis Coalition, ConnPIRG, CoPIRG, Dakota Resource Council, Earth Day Network, Energy Justice Network, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative, Free The Planet, Global Exchange, Green For All, Greenpeace Student Network, Hillel, Indigenous Environmental Network, Kids Against Pollution, League of Conservation Voters Education Fund: Project Democracy, League of Young Voters, MASSPIRG, National Association of Environmental Law Societies, National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program, Net Impact, NJPIRG, The People Speak, Rainforest Action Network, Responsible Endowments Coalition, Restoring Eden, The Ruckus Society, Student Environmental Action Coalition, Sierra Student Coalition, Sierra Youth Coalition, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Southwest Workers Union, Students United for a Responsible Global Environment, SustainUS, Sustainable Endowments Institute, USSA, Utah Clean Energy, WashPIRG, WISPIRG, Youth Environmental Network, and Young People For

We are excited to be entering not only our 10^th year of leading the fight against climate injustice from within the United States, but also for our upcoming campaigns to amplify the voices of climate justice and shed light on the faces of climate justice work, past and present. Sign up for our e-blast list, contact us for curriculum, fellowship opportunities and more. Join us in demanding “Climate Justice, NOW!”

Stay tuned as we build up and out, both online and on the ground.

10 Principles for Just Climate Change Policies in the U.S.

Abridged:
1. Stop Cooking the Planet
2. Protect and Empower Vulnerable Individuals
and Communities
3. Ensure Just Transition for Workers and Communities
4. Require Community Participation
5. Global Problems Need Global Solutions
6. The U.S. Must Lead
7. Stop Exploration for Fossil Fuels
8. Monitor Domestic and International Carbon Markets
9. Caution in the Face of Uncertainty
10. Protect Future Generations

Full Text of the 10 Principles for Just Climate Change Policies in the U.S.

The Environmental Justice movement has demonstrated that pollution’s effects often fall disproportionately on the health of people of color, Indigenous Peoples, and low-income communities. The effects of global climate change, which is caused in large part by fossil fuel emissions, are no exception.

Climate change, in fact, could have broader and more severe impacts. For example, people of color, Indigenous Peoples, and low-income communities are the first to experience negative climate change impacts like heat death and illness, respiratory illness, infectious disease, and economic and cultural displacement. Climate policy must protect our most vulnerable communities.

Here are 10 PRINCIPLES FOR JUST CLIMATE CHANGE POLICIES IN THE UNITED STATES that will ensure the protection of our livelihoods:

Stop Cooking the Planet: Global climate change will accelerate unless we can slow the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. To protect vulnerable Americans, we must find alternatives for those human activities that cause global climate change.

Protect and Empower Vulnerable Individuals and Communities: Low-income workers, people of color, and Indigenous Peoples will suffer the most from climate change’s impact. We need to provide opportunities to adapt and thrive in a changing world.

Ensure Just Transition for Workers and Communities:
No group should have to shoulder alone the burdens caused by the transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a renewable energy-based economy.  A just transition would create opportunities for displaced workers and communities to participate in the new economic order through compensation for job loss, loss of tax base, and other negative effects.

Require Community Participation: At all levels and in all realms, people must have a say in the decisions that affect their lives. Decision makers must include communities in the policy process. U.S. federal and state governments, recognizing their government-to-government relationship, must work with tribes as well.

Global Problems Need Global Solutions:
The causes and effects of climate change occur around the world. Individuals, communities, and nations
must work together cooperatively to stop global climate change.

The U.S. Must Lead: Countries that contribute the most to global warming should take the lead in solving the problem. The U.S. is four percent of the world’s population but emits 25 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases.  All people should have equal rights to the atmosphere.

Stop Exploration for Fossil Fuels: Presently known fossil fuel reserves will last far into the future. Fossil fuel exploration destroys unique cultures and valuable ecosystems. Exploration should be halted as it is no longer worth the cost. We should instead invest in renewable energy sources.

Monitor Domestic and International Carbon Markets:
We must ensure that carbon emissions and sinks markets are transparent and accountable, do not concentrate pollution in vulnerable communities, and avoid activities that harm the environment.

Caution in the Face of Uncertainty:
No amount of action later can make up for lack of action today.  Just as we buy insurance to protect against uncertain danger, we must take precautionary measures to minimize harm to the global climate before it occurs.

Protect Future Generations:
The greatest impacts of climate change will come in the future.  We should take into account the impacts
on future generations in deciding policy today. Our children should have the opportunity for success.

Download >>>> 10 Principles for Just Climate Change Policies in the U.S. (256) [ 1 page| .pdf | 272 KB]

EJCC False Solutions Statement [Originally published December 8, 2008]

The Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative stands in solidarity with climate justice advocates worldwide calling for real change and the abandonment of false solutions. Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM’s) and other industry driven solutions are oppressive on both ends, disproportionately harming communities that are the most vulnerable to the causes and effects of climate change. CDM’s allow corporations in the North to continue polluting people of color, Indigenous Peoples and low income communities while offsetting their emissions through investments in projects that devastate communities in the global south. The CDM is just one in a laundry list of flawed mitigation options.

EJCC rejects false solutions such as offsets, nuclear energy, and “clean” coal technology that continue to exacerbate existing problems of inequity and environmental degradation. Real solution to the climate crisis require investments in renewable energy, a just transition for workers, and involvement of communities in the decision making process. From the Capitol to the COP in Copenhagen, EJCC will work to advance solutions that offer the opportunity for real energy independence, freedom from fossil fuel addiction and a rebound from a global recession into the New Green Economy.

The Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (EJCC) has been at the forefront of reframing the climate change debate to focus on equity and justice in the U.S. since 2001. EJCC is a diverse coalition working to amplify the voices of marginalized communities unduly burdened by the causes and effects of climate change. EJCC will distribute it’s newest report “A Climate of Change: African Americans, Global Warming, and a Just Climate Policy for the U.S.,” in Poznan.

We invite you to join us, challenge us, teach us along the way. Comment, submit your organization’s statements, add to the definitions or help us redefine and reframe the debate(s).

Update: As of 25 AUG 2010 we are switching over from ‘comments’ on this site, to Disqus- “Disqus (dis·cuss • dĭ-skŭs’)” because they have created a platform that is “all about changing the way people think about discussion on the web.” We initiate this move to encourage dialog here at EJCC.org. We have no interest in simply shouting into the void. We want to utilize the power of the Internet to share information and mobilize forces for action. Please feel free to respectfully comment and more importantly, engage in dialog with staff, membership organizations and all users of this site.

[ Note: EJCC Online Community Guidelines Statement forthcoming, until then, “Be cool, Be Respectful,” is our guiding principle for both commenting and moderating. We will not tolerate any oppression disguised as commentary- so no sexist, racist, homophobic or otherwise xenophobic comments- they will be removed. )