Proud, Concerned and Hopeful
By Nia Robinson, Director of EJCC
I’m still in shock, barely able to comprehend what just happened in this country. Just 44 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and 43 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, America was able to push past fear and put a crack in the foundation of racism and hatred that this country was built upon. We decisively elected our first Black president.
The first person I called was my 85-year-old grandmother who was born and raised in Mississippi. It seemed she was in a trance. She answered the phone with, “We did it” and repeated “stand tall” throughout our conversation. For a moment she was saddened that Mississippi did not carry Obama, but she remembered that though states like Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama did not carry him in the 2008 election, it was resistance to every black body that swung from trees, every “nigger” spat in her face, and every dog and fire hose that made this moment possible. A moment that she did not believe she would see in her lifetime or that I would see in mine. Mississippi did carry Obama.
I am the director of the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (EJCC), working for just and equitable climate policy. But I'm a proud black woman first and foremost, proud of the promises and ability to hope beyond oppression-induced limitations, proud of election lines wrapped around schools and churches, proud of the history made that beautiful Tuesday.
As a climate justice activist, though, I’m concerned with the flawed energy plan that Obama has laid out, concerned that we will be so blinded by the making of history that we will accept danger masked as a “solution,” concerned that a man with so much hope and promise will not be able to see past “solutions” rooted in capitalism and greed.
President-elect Obama has called for an increase in nuclear power. What about the dangers of uranium mining and nuclear waste disposal?
President-elect Obama has proposed that oil companies be required to develop the 68 million acres of land (over 40 million of which are offshore) which they have already leased and are not drilling on. What about real energy independence? What about freedom from the shackles of fossil fuel addiction?
The Department of Energy plans to enter into public-private partnerships to develop five “first-of-a-kind” commercial scale coal-fired plants with clean carbon capture and sequestration technology. President-elect Obama, the carbon can be captured but what about the mercury, nitrous oxide, and other co-pollutants that are poisoning our communities?
Despite these concerns, this black female climate justice activist is hopeful. Hopeful that change will not stop with the election of Barack Obama, hopeful that we will put people before profit, hopeful that if we as a country can elect a black president, then we can also make history by passing just and equitable climate change policy. We must use the momentum of this historic election to make strides towards fixing the biggest problem facing our planet today.
Seven years ago, the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative created ten principles for a just climate policy in the U.S. They are still relevant today. 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.
These 10 PRINCIPLES FOR JUST CLIMATE CHANGE POLICIES IN THE UNITED STATES will ensure the protection of the livelihoods of not only vulnerable communities but of all those living in the United States of America.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Ensure Just Transition for Workers and Communities
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.
4. 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-making process. U.S. federal and state governments, recognizing their government-to-government relationship, must work with tribes as well.
5. 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.
6. The U.S. Must Lead
Countries that contribute the most to global warming should take the lead in solving the problem. The U.S. has 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
President-elect Obama, your administration can adopt a climate change policy package that continues to ignore, if not exacerbate, existing problems of inequity with all of its associated social ills and long-term costs. Or, your administration can both boost our economy and secure our future by supporting just and equitable climate policy that will benefit all of those living inside our borders. We have the opportunity to enact historic legislation. The choice is yours.
