Environmental Justice
The “American family” in crisis: Colonialism, COVID-19 risk, and climate vulnerability
The fight for racial justice must include a reckoning with US imperialism.
The recent spotlight on anti-Black violence has awoken many white Americans to an uncomfortable truth: that underneath its rhetoric of equality, the United States is a fundamentally racist country. The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on U.S. communities of color underscores this fact. The pandemic also reveals a lesser known but equally uncomfortable truth: that underneath …
CONTINUE READINGA Black Staffer’s Noisy Exit from a Green NGO
Resignation letter at Union of Concerned Scientists calls out dominant white culture in large environmental organizations
On this Juneteenth, it is fitting to lift up and celebrate a recent, significant emancipatory act that until now has ramified little beyond the niche trade press. I refer here to the dramatic early June exit of 26-year-old Black staffer ruth tyson from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), via letter e-mailed to all staff …
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CONTINUE READINGEnvironmentalists Can Help Address Racism Through Housing Policy
Restrictive local zoning affects both the environment and racial justice
As the United States grapples with issues of racism and police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, environmentalists need not be bystanders in the debate over solutions. As Claudia and Steve argued on this blog, environmentalism has multiple opportunities to help address institutional racism, though few issues …
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CONTINUE READINGIt’s just a start, necessary and long overdue
A February report shows green NGOs are adding diversity, but still have a long way to go
The callous killing of George Floyd by a white police officer; the shooting of Breonna Taylor in her bed by police executing a no-knock warrant; the pursuit and murder of black jogger Ahmaud Arbery by white vigilantes; a white woman calling police to intimidate black birder Christian Cooper, who asked her to follow Central Park …
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CONTINUE READINGGreen in Black and White
It’s Time to Show Up
My favorite opening line from any Earth Day speech ever was this: “Today, black and white, yellow and brown, we are all green.” The speech was delivered three decades ago; the place was Times Square; and the speaker was David Dinkins, New York City’s first (and to date, only) African-American mayor. How I wish his …
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CONTINUE READINGGuest Contributors Helen Kang and Deborah Sivas: California Should Lead the Nation in Controlling Agricultural Pollution
Protection of Drinking Water and Environmental Quality Demands Strong Action
Agricultural runoff is one of the largest sources of pollution in the nation’s waterways. In recent years, scientific journals and the media have been filled with reports of toxic algae blooms and dead zones near and far: The Everglades, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, and San Francisco Bay-Delta. Agricultural pollution also threatens public …
CONTINUE READINGWhat Are The Benefits Of Phasing Out California’s Oil & Gas Production?
Emissions should decrease but multiple factors complicate any predictions
It might seem obvious that phasing out oil and gas production in California would benefit the climate. But the reality is much more complicated, in terms of emissions, economics and even geopolitics. CLEE just released the report Legal Grounds with policy options to reduce in-state production, but the question of how much a phase out …
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CONTINUE READINGCoastal Beaches, Public Access & the Pandemic
Important Legal & Policy Considerations in Closing Beaches to Protect Public Health
As part of America’s steadily growing restiveness over state and local shelter-in-place directives, the issue of government-mandated public beach closures has recently emerged as a particularly contentious issue. It’s especially prominent now, given that many coastal states are experiencing their first heat waves of 2020. Many Americans are increasingly weary of and angry over public …
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CONTINUE READINGRoadmap For California To Phase Out Oil & Gas Production
New CLEE report released today with legal options for state policy makers & free May 12th webinar
California is the seventh-largest oil producing state in the country, with a fossil fuel industry that is responsible for billions of dollars in state and local revenue and other economic activity each year. Yet continued oil and gas production contrasts with the state’s aggressive climate mitigation policies, while creating significant air and water pollution, particularly …
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CONTINUE READINGAsserting “Climate Necessity” in Defense of Civil Disobedience
Giving climate change activists a fair hearing in court
The first Earth Day, fifty years ago, was a product and catalyst of political movements that established bedrock environmental laws in the United States. Without decades of political activism, there would be no Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, or Endangered Species Act, nor would there be vigorous enforcement regimes to carry these laws out. …
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