Two Climate Justice Summits to Be Held in Florida Cities in May
I will be participating in two separate climate justice summits this month. Both summits are in Florida cities and are sponsored by a mainstream environmental group (National Wildlife Federation) and a mainstream civil rights organization (NAACP).First, I will add my voice to the Southeast Fair Climate Summit on May 19-20, 2011 held at the Wyndham Jacksonville Riverwalk Hotel in Jacksonville, FL. The Summit is an activity of Fair Climate Project—an initiative of National Wildlife Federation's Global Warming Solutions Program. The goal of NWF's Fair Climate Project is to build and engage a national network of leaders representing underserved communities to advance equitable and just solutions to climate change. This is also a major goal of the Environmental Justice and Climate Justice Movement in the United States.
Hurricane Season Kicks Off Today: Weather-Weary Americans Learning to Cope
Climate Justice Benefits of Dismantling Energy and Transportation Apartheid
Climate change is a major global environmental justice issue of our times. Electric power generations and transportation account for nearly three-fourths (73.8 percent) of the CO2 emissions in the United States annually. Getting these two major greenhouse gas sources under control would go a long way in the fight against climate change and move us closer to achieving environmental justice.
Black History Month: Eight Decades of Wrong Complexion for Protection
There’s an old saying that “all communities are not created equal.” This was true more some 236 years ago when our nation was founded and it is true today as we celebrate Black History Month. Much has been written about the glaring racial inequality in employment, education, income and wealth, housing and health care. However, far less has been written or publicized about the glaring inequities that exist in government response to natural and human-induced disasters.
Environmental Justice Encuentro Comes to Houston
HOUSTON, May 17, 2012 –The Environmental Justice Encuentro opened today in Houston and runs thru Saturday May19. The event is held at the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University, a historically black college and university (HBCU) whose history is intertwined with the quest for racial justice. Given TSU's history and mission as a "special purpose university for urban programming," the BJML School of Public Affairs is embarking on a new initiative to lead the way in research, policy, and community engagement work in the areas of environmental justice, public health, housing, transportation, land-use planning, regional equity, smart growth, sustainability, equitable development, food security, disasters, clean energy, climate, civil rights and human rights—all seen through a racial equity lens.
Principles of Environmental Justice Travel to Rio Again: Rio+20
Thousands of environmental leaders from around the world will converge on Rio de Janeiro this week for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio+20. Some twenty years earlier, “Principles of Environmental Justice," adopted in October 1991 at the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in Washington, DC, were circulated at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) or Earth Summit. The Principles are on their way back to Rio again. Will the world leaders take notice of these Principles this time around?
Meet the Authors Book Event at TSU: The Wrong Complexion for Protection
On Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at 6:30 PM, the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University is sponsoring An Evening with the Authors to hear Dr. Beverly Wright (co-author, environmental justice scholar, Heinz Award recipient and Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) – Dillard University) and me discuss our new book, The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African American Communities (NYU Press 2012), that examines eight decades of government response to natural and man-made disasters. Click HERE for authors’ bios. Event Location: President’s Lounge in the Sterling Student Life Center (4th Floor), Texas Southern University, 3100 Cleburne Avenue, Houston, Texas.
