EarthJustice
‘Debemos creer que podemos cambiar el mundo drásticamente’‘Debemos creer que podemos cambiar el mundo drásticamente’ Un relato sobre cómo la protesta obliga a que las personas en el poder tengan que enfrentarse a las injusticias que su sistema creó Victoria Cassinova para Earthjustice Isabel Valentín es una activista ambiental de 17 años que vive en Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico. Actúa como miembro del equipo de logística del US Youth Climate Strike. Su historia es parte del proyecto de Earthjustice Lit, que sirve para inspirar acción y alcanzar un mundo más justo, elevando las historias de aquellos y aquellas luchando por la justicia climática. La primera vez…
‘We Have to Believe That We Can Change the World Drastically’‘We Have to Believe That We Can Change the World Drastically’ How protesting forces those in power to face the injustices the system has created “Despite what others may say, protest is no easy way out,” writes Puerto Rican climate activist Isabel Valentín. Victoria Cassinova for Earthjustice Isabel Valentín is a 17-year-old climate activist from Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico, who serves as logistics director for U.S. Youth Climate Strike. As part of Earthjustice’s Lit project, we are sharing the perspectives of justice advocates outside Earthjustice who are working to solve the climate crisis. The first time I was tear-gassed,…
A Guide for Protecting Our Children from Lead PoisoningA Guide for Protecting Our Children from Lead Poisoning Earthjustice's Better Lead Policy toolkit offers three key practices for eliminating lead poisoning hazards before children are harmed. Paint made before 1978 contains lead, which poses serious health risks to children who live in older houses that still contain lead-based paint. Getty Images Lead poisoning is a silent public health crisis, and the damages to children are irreversible. This crisis is a matter of environmental justice that affects Black and Latinx children at disproportionately higher rates. Globally, one-third of children suffer from the effects of lead poisoning. The number of children in…
Come on, Florida. It’s Time to Help More Citizens With Energy EfficiencyCome on, Florida. It’s Time to Help More Citizens With Energy Efficiency It’s ridiculous that Florida utilities rank near the bottom of all states when it comes to providing energy efficiency programs. Robert Coppock Photography / NREL When utilities make electricity use more efficient, every single one of us wins. It shrinks power bills, and the more energy waste we can cut, the less power we need from dirty coal and gas power plants. It’s also the cheapest path to cut the greenhouse gasses that are blanketing Earth and making our planet hotter. We’ve known about these benefits for decades.…
While Wildfires Blaze, California Is Making Two Important Decisions to Get Us off Fossil FuelsWhile Wildfires Blaze, California Is Making Two Important Decisions to Get Us off Fossil Fuels It’s time for environmental policies that fit the scale of the problem. A man charges an electric car at home before a family trip in Washington state. THOMAS BARWICK / GETTY IMAGES Update: On August 27, 2020, the California Public Utilities Commission approved Southern California Edison’s program unanimously. In addition, the California Air Resources Board unanimously adopted the at-berth rule on the same day. These two decisions are victories for clean air in California. This week, while climate impacts blaze through California and we breathe the dirtiest…
Winning the Fight Against Coal Projects in South AfricaWinning the Fight Against Coal Projects in South Africa Earthjustice's South African partners shut down a proposed 600 MW coal power plant in the Mpumalanga province, sending a message to the country's biggest polluters. An aerial view of Secunda Power Station, one of the coal-fired plants that pollutes the air and water in South Africa's Mpumalanga province. James Oatway / CER On July 21, 2020, the South African NGO groundWork secured a court victory shutting down the proposed 600 MW Khanyisa coal-fired power plant in the Mpumalanga province. At a time when coal and other fossil fuels generate 91 percent…
Fixing Hawai'i’s Power Lines and Street Lights to Save Seabirds and Sea TurtlesFixing Hawai'i’s Power Lines and Street Lights to Save Seabirds and Sea Turtles Bad infrastructure in Hawaiʻi is putting wildlife at grave risk. The solution is actually quite simple. Earthjustice attorney David Henkin holds a Newell’s shearwater chick. Earthjustice Hawaiʻi has a problem that is killing our wildlife. Our communities’ infrastructure – the lights that brighten the streets, and the power lines strung along them – are decimating a large proportion of our wildlife. Nocturnal seabirds such as the Newell’s shearwater (‘a‘o) and Hawaiian petrel (‘ua‘u) are especially at risk. As these seabirds leave their nests to fly out to…
Environmental Leaders in Michigan Fight to Improve Air Quality in Their CommunityEnvironmental Leaders in Michigan Fight to Improve Air Quality in Their Community The DOJ objects to an agreement to provide millions of dollars in public health benefits to local communities. The Ford Motor Company's River Rouge Factory in Michigan, shown here in 2008, is one of many industrial facilities surrounding the town of River Rouge. Christian Burkert / Redux River Rouge, Michigan, a city that neighbors Detroit, is not the same city full of hope that drew Vicki Dobbins’ parents and other Black families from the Deep South to its factories and steel mills in the 1940s. “I bet you…
Trump Said Water Protections Hurt Farmers. An Earthjustice Attorney Fact-Checked Him.Trump Said Water Protections Hurt Farmers. An Earthjustice Attorney Fact-Checked Him. Water pollution has made more than half of U.S. streams and rivers unsafe. So why did the Trump administration end this key water protection rule? Here's a point-by-point reality check of President Trump's remarks on the repeal. A bird researcher rides past water on a ranch in Montana. Ami Vitale / National Geographic In a speech at the American Farm Bureau convention, President Trump declared, “I terminated one of the most ridiculous regulations of all.” The president was talking about Waters of the United States (WOTUS), or the 2015…
After This Year, We All Deserve to Breathe a Little EasierAfter This Year, We All Deserve to Breathe a Little Easier COVID-19 is an environmental justice problem. Electric vehicles can be part of the solution. Charging up an electric car in St. Petersburg, Florida. City of St.Pete / CC BY-ND 2.0 It’s clear that COVID-19’s burdens have fallen heaviest on communities of color. What’s less well known—but critical to understand—is what that has to do with electric vehicles. By moving toward a clean energy transportation system, we can potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives. The pandemic has highlighted the need for this transition more urgently than ever. In coalition…
After Deceiving Bridgeport’s Religious Leaders, PSEG Is Facing the BacklashAfter Deceiving Bridgeport’s Religious Leaders, PSEG Is Facing the Backlash Energy company PSEG promised jobs and local investments to the residents of Bridgeport, Connecticut, to get their new gas-fired power plant built. Seven years later, none of that has happened. The residents — and the city — are done waiting. The new PSEG gas-fired power plant plant sits next to Bridgeport Harbor, Conn. Allison Minto for Earthjustice When Rev. Carl McCluster stands on the front porch of Shiloh Baptist Church and gazes across Broad Street, his eyes take in the towering smokestacks of PSEG’s 50-year-old coal-fired plant — and the…
For Orcas and Salmon, This Dam Plan Is a DisasterFor Orcas and Salmon, This Dam Plan Is a Disaster Leaders in the Pacific Northwest must step up where federal agencies have failed. The removal of dams on the Snake River could save the Pacific Northwest's dwindling orca population. MILES RITTER / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Federal agencies had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to save wild salmon and the orca whales that depend on them. The agencies had four years to get it right — but when they stepped up to the plate, they whiffed. In early 2016, a judge ordered three federal agencies to revise their operating plans for hydroelectric dams…
Los Jóvenes No Necesitan Un Título Universitario Para Luchar Por Su FuturoLos Jóvenes No Necesitan Un Título Universitario Para Luchar Por Su Futuro La activista climática juvenil Mishka Banuri describe cómo venció sus temores sobre el llamado “síndrome del impostor” para unirse a la lucha climática y exhorta a los jóvenes alrededor del mundo a exigir soluciones audaces a la crisis climática. Cactus como el que se ilustra en esta imagen florecen en el desierto que se encuentra cerca del hogar de Mishka Banuri, ubicado en Utah. RACHELLE BAKER PARA EARTHJUSTICE Mishka Banuri es una activista de 19 años de edad y cofundadora de Utah Youth Environmental Solutions (UYES), una organización…
Rising Temperatures in the Land Down Under are a Human Rights IssueRising Temperatures in the Land Down Under are a Human Rights Issue A coalition of international and Australian environmental and human rights lawyers are calling for the United Nations Human Rights Council to review Australia’s human rights record in light of the government's inaction on climate change. Hundreds of thousands of Australians joined the global climate strike in September 2019, calling for urgent climate action from one of the world's top exporters of fossil fuels. John Englart / Flickr Earlier this year, a group of 25 young Australians with Youth Verdict made history with a legal challenge they brought against a proposed…
In the Heartland, Human Waste Floods HomesIn the Heartland, Human Waste Floods Homes Centreville community members are pushing for solutions to this environmental injustice. Danny Lane, right, gives his friend Walter Byrd a push as Byrd prepares to head down a flooded Centreville street in June 2015. Firefighters evacuated residents earlier in the day. Robert Cohen / Post Dispatch / Polaris The last time Walter Byrd drank his tap water, he suffered a heart attack. “At the hospital, my doctor warned me never to drink the water again. I haven’t drank it in 10 years,” he says. While the timing of Byrd’s heart attack may have…
Young People Don’t Need a Degree to Fight for Their FutureYoung People Don’t Need a Degree to Fight for Their Future Youth climate activist Mishka Banuri describes how she pushed past her fears of imposter syndrome to join the climate fight and calls on young people everywhere to demand bold solutions to the climate crisis. Utah teen Mishka Banuri is working to hold government officials accountable for addressing the climate crisis. Rachelle Baker for Earthjustice Mishka Banuri is a 19-year-old climate activist and the co-founder of Utah Youth Environmental Solutions (UYES), an organization that empowers youth to hold government officials accountable in combating the climate crisis. In 2018, Banuri and…
Líderes Ambientales De Michigan Luchan Por Mejorar La Calidad Del Aire En Su ComunidadLíderes Ambientales De Michigan Luchan Por Mejorar La Calidad Del Aire En Su Comunidad El Departamento de Justicia se opone a un acuerdo para proporcionar millones de dólares en beneficios de salud pública a las comunidades locales. La fábrica River Rouge de la compañía automotriz Ford en Michigan, como se ve en esta imagen tomada en 2008, es una de las muchas instalaciones industriales que rodean la ciudad de River Rouge. Christian Burkert / Redux River Rouge, una ciudad vecina de Detroit, Michigan, fue una otrora localidad llena de esperanza que atrajo a los padres de Vicki Dobbins y otras…
Grizzlies ‘Saved His Life’ and Now He Fights To Save TheirsGrizzlies ‘Saved His Life’ and Now He Fights To Save Theirs Naturalist and author Doug Peacock talks about why we need to “fight like hell” to save the endangered and iconic Yellowstone grizzlies. Doug Peacock stands on the edge of the Yellowstone River in Emigrant, Montana. Tom Robertson Yellowstone's iconic grizzly bears are at risk of extinction. Yet the Trump administration has persistently tried to gut protections for this endangered species. On July 8, 2020, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld these protections, stopping plans for trophy hunts in Wyoming and Idaho. "This is a tremendous victory for those…
Southern California Can’t Afford an Air District That Lets Polluters Poison Black and Brown CommunitiesSouthern California Can’t Afford an Air District That Lets Polluters Poison Black and Brown Communities Our state leadership must ensure that working families in the communities that are most affected by pollution are prioritized over the interests of polluters. The 60 freeway runs through Jurupa Valley, California, near the offices of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. Image Courtesy of Anthony Victoria-Midence / CCAEJ Earthjustice is sharing this blog from our partners at the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. We stand in solidarity with their call for state leaders to protect the communities that are most…
Five Takeaways From the House Select Committee’s Climate Crisis Action PlanFive Takeaways From the House Select Committee’s Climate Crisis Action Plan The roadmap includes bold policies that Earthjustice and our partners have championed. The U.S. Capitol building. PHOTO BY ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL We have a decade to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Now is the time for strong leadership and urgent action to get to a pollution-free, 100% clean energy future. But instead of listening to experts and the people across this country demanding solutions, the Trump administration continues to put the fossil fuel industry first. In the absence of leadership from the executive branch, Congress…
An Attempt to Silence Environmental Activism in South AfricaAn Attempt to Silence Environmental Activism in South Africa This mining company's defamation suit is a classic example of a strategic lawsuit against public participation. A mineral sand deposit on the west coast of South Africa, where Mineral Resources Commodities wants to mine. Babakathy / Wikimedia Commons In January 2017, two attorneys from the Center for Environmental Rights (CER), a South African environmental law organization and a close partner of Earthjustice, gave a presentation to students at the University of Cape Town about the “environmentally destructive” Tormin sand mine on the west coast of South Africa. Local community groups and…
Why Queer Liberation Is an Environmental Justice IssueWhy Queer Liberation Is an Environmental Justice Issue Once we stop seeing these fights for humanity as separate, we open ourselves up to the possibility of learning from each other in deeper ways. A participant in New York's Queer Liberation March for Black Lives and Against Police Brutality holds an umbrella over the crowd on June 28, 2020. Erik McGregor / LightRocket via Getty Images As the uprisings all around the country remind us, the first Pride march was the anniversary of the Stonewall riot led by Black and Latinx trans and gender non-confirming individuals against police brutality. This rebellion…
With the Great Barrier Reef on the Brink, Australia’s Climate Policy is Adrift at SeaWith the Great Barrier Reef on the Brink, Australia’s Climate Policy is Adrift at Sea The World Heritage Committee should encourage Australia to take meaningful action to protect this ocean treasure. A green sea turtle in the Great Barrier Reef VLAD61 / SHUTTERSTOCK Oceans are essential to human life. Not only do billions of people depend on them for food and livelihoods, they are our first line of defense against climate change, absorbing carbon dioxide and excess heat. But the impacts of climate change are pushing one of the world’s most emblematic ocean sites, the Great Barrier Reef, to the…
Leaking and Looming, Legacy Coal Ash Ponds Spew Poisons. Is There One Near You?Leaking and Looming, Legacy Coal Ash Ponds Spew Poisons. Is There One Near You? Despite a court order, Trump's EPA is dragging its feet on regulating this toxic threat. Andrew Rehn, right, of the Prairie Rivers Network and Lan Richart of Eco-Justice Collaborative paddle past toxic coal ash waste seepage on Illinois' Vermilion River in 2018. Tribune Content Agency LLC / Alamy Stock Photo Legacy ponds are the walking dead of the coal ash universe — toxic waste sites that live long after coal plants have closed, slipping through regulatory cracks as they continue to poison communities. After years of…
