Environmental justice groups work hard every day to protect and/or instate the rights of historically marginalized communities to clean air, water, and land. This Black History Month, we take a pause to celebrate some of the invaluable gains the environmental justice movement has made recently – and to recognize the ongoing efforts of just a few of the groups within our networks. 

At the local level

• Like many states across the country, North Carolina has been contending with the discovery of elevated levels of PFAS in their water and soil. Recently, Cape Fear River Watch, Center for Environmental Health and Toxic Free NC released “Cape Fear Courage,” a short film telling the stories of several North Carolina activists advocating for safe water and health studies on PFAS exposure – and are using it as a call to action to tell the EPA to hold a decades-long polluter accountable.

• Near the end of 2022, Tulane University’s First Amendment Law Clinic helped win a victory for grassroots environmental group RISE St. James, settling a lawsuit that smooths the way for community activists to assemble, march and protest on the streets of Gramercy, LA. A previous requirement that protest groups must post a $10,000 bond to secure a permit for demonstrating created a financial obstacle for RISE St. James and kept them from exercising their right to protest a ballot initiative that would have granted tax incentives to industrial plants. (Check out our podcast episode with voices from RISE St. James). 

Nationally

• Also at the end of 2022, after another round of ardent opposition by frontline environmental justice organizers and allied climate activists, Senator Joe Manchin’s Energy Security and Independence Act was dropped from the National Defense Authorization Act, a third-round defeat. 

• The Justice40 Initiative, which President Biden committed to via Executive Order within days of taking office, set out the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. Two years in, this goal is starting to bear out. To date, 16 agencies have identified over 400 programs that will provide climate investments to frontline communities. The latest announcement by the EPA will send $100 million to states, local governments and community organizations to encourage partnerships and collaborations on projects that address local public health and environmental issues.

Internationally 

In January, following pressure from the Rethink Plastic alliance and the Break Free From Plastic movement, the European Parliament voted for a full ban on extra-EU/ European Free Trade Association (EFTA) plastic waste exports as well as the full transposition of the Basel Convention plastic waste amendments within the EU on 17 January 2023.

This roundup just scratches the surface of the work and accomplishments of grassroots groups. We are deeply grateful to all helping to build an indisposable future. To learn more about a Just Transition and keep up on news on the environmental justice front, a couple of places to start include The Just Transition Alliance and Break Free From Plastic. And if you would like to support the work of a group in your community or beyond, check out our resources here.