Environmental Justice Resources
The Aspen Institute Energy & Environment Program was founded to address critical energy, environmental, and climate change issues, and it’s becoming abundantly clear that — from the droughts in North Carolina, to the lingering effects of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana — climate change has disproportionately affected people and communities of color.
As we begin to think more about climate resilience and the prevention of future climate crises, we must consider how to bring environmental justice to the forefront of our conversations. The Energy & Environment Program is expanding our scope to be committed to upholding the values of environmental justice and equity for all communities. Below you can find more information on how to support environmental justice initiatives at both the local and national level.
Environmental justice is intersected with public health, education, and social justice. Learn more about how these are related and what others are doing to highlight their interconnectedness at the national level:
- Public Health: Read the American Public Health factsheet on Health and Environmental Justice
- Education: Read “Teaching Intersectionality and Environmental Justice in Our Classrooms” by the NAACP for resources on how to effectively incorporate environmental justice in the classroom.
- Social Justice: The National Black Environmental Justice Network aims to compact environmental racism by creating a space for leaders and building alliances to connect their work, share resources, and strategically target systemic racism.
The first step for environmental justice is educating yourself about the issues and learning how to be a better ally and advocate. The resources below can help equip you with the tools you need:
- Listen to the Grist Podcast “Temperature Check” which will cover climate, race, and culture by Julian Brave NoiseCat
- Diversifying Power: Why We Need Antiracist, Feminist Leadership on Climate and Energy by Jennie C. Stephens
- All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katharine K. Wilkinson
- Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret by Catherine Flowers
- Read the Water Career and Opportunities report by Dr. Afia S. Zakiya with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
Please see the organizations below that are committed to addressing environmental justice in their everyday work:
- We Act for EJ empowers and organizes low-income, people of color to build healthy communities for all.
- Black Millennials for Flint Is a grassroots organization that aims to take action and advocate against the crisis of lead exposure specifically in American & Latino communities throughout the nation.
- Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Partners with communities harmed by racially disproportionate pollution burdens and attendant climate vulnerabilities.
- NAACP Environmental & Climate Justice Program was created to support community leadership in addressing environmental injustice.
- Think 100% for Climate uses podcasts, films, music, and activism to draw inspiration in the climate justice movement.
- Alliance to Save Energy Is a bipartisan alliance of business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders advocating for enhanced energy productivity to achieve economic growth, a cleaner environment, and greater energy security, affordability, and reliability.
- Corazon Latino Aims to generate social, environmental, and conservation initiatives that foster natural resource stewardship.
- Center for Earth Ethics works at the center of social equity and the ecological crisis by raising public consciousness.
- Intersectional Environmentalist provides resources, information, and action steps to support intersectional environmentalism.