How environmental justice is shaping a new civil rights movement in the South

The Swinomish tribe in Washington state is combining traditional knowledge and science to combat the effects of climate change and improve the health of its land, water, and people. In recent years, their salmon harvest has diminished due to warming waters, but they’ve instituted salmon recovery efforts by restoring tidelands and channels and planting trees along stream beds to cool the waters. Their focus on ecosystem and community health could be a model for other Indigenous tribes looking to create their own climate plans.

All over the world, more than 2 million children and teens are participating in classroom walkouts in an effort to bring attention to the severity of climate change. Called, Fridays for the Future, leaders of the movement are gaining traction, and have developed a declaration that emphasizes their demand that world leaders do something to stop the rising global temperature. This movement was sparked by Sweden’s Greta Thunberg, who, at 16-years old, has started this movement, spoken to global leaders, and continues to do what’s needed to demand action in the face of climate change.

Climate change activist, Greta Thunberg, has sparked global action. The 16-year-old has started marches totalling over 1.5 million people, continuous protests and strikes, and spoken to world leaders at events such as the U.N Climate Change Conference and the World Economic Forum. Her activism has had noticeable impacts, like a decline in flight travel in Sweden, and spurring youth activism on an international scale.

The city of Louisville, built and sustained largely by pollution-inducing industries such as rubber factories and bourbon distilleries, is grappling with how to make the city air cleaner. The novel Air Louisville study integrated a partnership between a technology healthcare startup and a government-sponsored initiative that tracked incidence of asthma in different areas of the city. The results are already leading to healthier residents, but it is also just the starting point for long-term change.

A collaborative experiment between Indigenous community activists, tribal officials, loggers, nonprofits, and the U.S. Forest Service is delivering firewood to residents who need it for heating and cooking. The program, called Wood for Life, also doubles as a forest management initiative to thin out Arizona’s forests to prevent deadly wildfires. The shuttering of a local coal mine and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this home heating crisis and group members in 2020 delivered a total of 650 cords of wood to several Indigenous nations.

Researchers, policy makers and activists have joined together to embed within a community in Brooklyn in order to encourage local control over climate change problems and solutions. From playing jeopardy, which combines local environmental science with history trivia, to holding listening sessions, the goal is to encourage collaboration towards solutions within the community.

In many low-income neighborhoods, new green infrastructure elements and green spaces signal the beginnings of gentrification. A coalition in one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon is drawing on grassroots leadership, leadership development and job training programs, and culturally-specific green infrastructure construction to fight displacement and ensure that the current residents can benefit from the sustainability and livability improvements they make to their neighborhood.

Portland-based NGO, Micah Challenge USA, uses scripture to reach Evangelicals about climate change. The organization partners with legislation-making initiatives, travels to Christian colleges, and contacts national and local leaders urging them to join the Climate Solutions Caucus. Underpinning every initiative is a core strategy: climate change is causing people to suffer, especially those that are experiencing poverty, and as Christians, they are called to help the poor and end their suffering.

Studies have shown that U.S. Latinos are one of the mostly highly invested groups in helping fight against climate change, yet are also often left out of the conversation. Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability as well as other local agencies are making an effort to bridge that gap and engage Latinos through better targeted environmental outreach efforts.

A decades-old principle called “just transition” has made international headway in the fight against climate change and toward equity and sustainability. Fundamental to the principle is transitioning from a capitalist system to a localized one that prioritizes cultural inclusion, local economies, decarbonization and environmental justice, and food sovereignty. But as this idea reaches prominence on the global stage, those that have been involved for years worry that its core meanings, morals, and actions will be co-opted.