of environmental justice organizations and advocates
For decades, low-wealth, predominantly people-of-color communities have been disproportionately impacted by the harms of pollution, environmental degradation, and climate change. The country’s biggest polluters, including governmental entities, have notoriously sited petrochemical plants, landfills, and other toxic facilities in these communities’ backyards. Meanwhile, resources to prepare for and recover from climate change-driven events, such as more frequent and intense storms, have too often been distributed inequitably, with the communities most in need receiving inadequate resources. For communities of color, the result has been lower life expectancy, increased disease rates, degradation of property value, climate gentrification, and more.
These same communities have faced systemic barriers to accessing the economic and democratic systems that would give them the opportunity—and the sociopolitical and financial capital—to fight back. But slowly, that paradigm has begun to shift.
In a major win—thanks to advocacy by the Environmental Defense Fund, the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, and many others—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now prioritizing environmental justice. This reprioritization is not a matter of the government “giving power” to these communities; instead, it’s a result of these communities’ successful advocacy to center equity in decision-making processes where historically there has been little to none.
In his 2022 State of the Union address, President Biden announced the goal of ensuring that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments “flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution.”1 The categories of investment to which this initiative, known as Justice40, applies include climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, clean transit, affordable and sustainable housing, training and workforce development, remediation and reduction of legacy pollution, and the development of critical clean water and wastewater infrastructure. As a result, billions of federal dollars are gradually becoming available to community-based EJ organizations through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, block grants, and other funding mechanisms. Private funders (foundations and individual donors) are following suit, allocating more dollars to this important work.
The Writing for Green team - founded in 2022 by Aaron Rome and Courtenay Strickland - has deep experience in the environmental justice space. We also have years of experience in building the capacity of community-based organizations, writing winning proposals, and training and coaching. As the environmental justice grant funding begins to flow, it is our goal to ensure that EJ community groups are ready to make the most of these opportunities, thereby gaining the resources they need to enhance their work and the wellbeing of people in their communities.
1 Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/justice40/
