Can the climate be stabilized without a fundamental transformation of the global economy? Can we go green while billions go hungry? Can the environment be made healthy for those who can afford it, while people of color and the poor continue to live in degraded conditions? A group of US environmental justice leaders say "no" to all of the above. In a newly released report, these leaders advance a vision in which sustainability and justice - "
justainability" - must be simultaneous results; that one simply cannot happen without the other.
Download
Environmental Justice and the Green Economy: A Vision Statement and Case Studies for Just and Sustainable Solutions in English and Spanish at
www.weact.org. Additional information is available at
http://ejstimulus.wordpress.com/. This report describes a shared vision for a just and sustainable economy, and highlights grassroots environmental justice successes that are leading the way.
The publication includes case studies from low income communities and communities of color in Los Angeles, Navajo Nation, Harlan County Kentucky, Miami, Chicago, San Diego, New York, and Richmond, CA. The report concludes with 3 broad categories of recommendations for policy makers to support work that:
1. Strives for full democratic participation.
2. Builds capacity for a truly sustainable infrastructure and green economy.
3. Creates and shares "green" wealth.
This publication is a resource for organizing, leadership development, policy-making, research, and public education efforts. Please help publicize this report to all who are striving towards a "
justainable" future.
This report was guided by a Working Group that included: Bill Gallegos (
Communities for a Better Environment, Los Angeles), Denise Perry (
Power U, Miami), Kalila Barnett and co-editor Penn Loh (
Alternatives for Community & Environment, Roxbury Massachusetts), Diane Takvorian (
Environmental Health Coalition, San Diego), Burt Lauderdale (
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth), Peggy Shepard and Cecil Corbin-Mark (
WE ACT for Environmental Justice), Donele Wilkins (
Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice), Roger Kim (
Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Oakland).
