JUUstice Washington

A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network

How to Be an Effective Online Ally for the Social and Environmental Justice Fight

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As climate activists, we can’t fight the climate crisis without considering the systemic impacts that environmental racism and White supremacy have on the frontline communities most affected by pollution and our warming world.

Over the last few months, many around the world have taken time to recognize and educate themselves about the fight against police brutality, racism, and inequity. While this fight has been going on for decades, it’s time for White activists, in particular, to step up our game and do everything we can to become effective allies to those leading the fight for social and environmental justice.

You’ve probably seen articles and social media posts about supporting Black Lives Matter and environmental justice, but what can we do online to help amplify the voices of these organizers – and how can we stand with them?\

Trump Administration Rule Proposal Would Further Undermine Endangered Species Act

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At issue is a planned rule change to the Endangered Species Act, or ESA, from the Department of Fish and Wildlife that would redefine “habitat” as “areas with existing attributes that have the capacity to support individuals of the species,” precluding the restoration and repair of historical habitats that could, with time, support endangered species.

“The definition stems from a 2018 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that said the Service needed to define the term habitat in relation to the highly endangered dusky gopher frog. The frog survives in one ephemeral pond in Mississippi. Recognizing that to secure the frog would require recovering it in additional areas, the Service designated an area in Louisiana that had the ephemeral ponds the frog requires. However, this area would need forest restoration to provide high-quality habitat.”

Coastal Flooding Could Threaten Millions and Cost Trillions by 2100, New Study Finds

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The climate crisis may usher in a new level of global economic catastrophe and human suffering as extreme weather worsens and coastal flooding intensifies. A new study found that extreme weather will make coastal areas dangerous places to live as more intense storms crash into coast lines and increasingly high tides encroach inland, as The New York Times reported.

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The study, published in Scientific Reports, found that the economic damage from those storms and from periodic flooding may cost over $14 trillion and threaten 20 percent of global gross domestic product, according to CNN.

Read more here.

FEDERAL AGENTS AT PROTESTS RENEW CALLS TO DISMANTLE HOMELAND SECURITY

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Criticism of DHS has accompanied the department through its existence, most recently when former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen became the face of the Trump administration’s brutal policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border. Calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — one of DHS’s most visible and abusive agencies — have echoed from street protests to the halls of Congress and the 2020 presidential primary. Then earlier this month, as President Donald Trump deployed DHS troops, primarily from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, against protesters rallying against police violence in Portland, Oregon, he once again trained the spotlight on the troubled department. The unidentified agents abducting people in unmarked rental cars raised questions about what the Border Patrol was doing on the streets of an American city and awareness about the impunity with which it operates elsewhere. And their presence stoked calls to not only abolish ICE or CBP, but also to dismantle their parent agency altogether.

Read more here.

Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek

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“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Join Interfaith Power & Light to view Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek, an award winning film about the unjust impact of climate change on an historic black community, and attend an IPL webinar to learn ways we can practice being allies in the fight for safe and healthy black communities.

Click here to watch a preview and purchase a ticket for the film and webinar.

Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek follows the painful but inspiring journey of Derrick Evans, a Boston teacher who moves home to coastal Mississippi when the graves of his ancestors are bulldozed to make way for the sprawling city of Gulfport. Over the course of a decade, Derrick and his neighbors stand up to powerful corporate interests and politicians and face ordeals that include Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil disaster in their struggle for self-determination and environmental justice.

Watch a preview and purchase your ticket to view this critically acclaimed film online August 2 through August 4 and attend the webinar.

The webinar will be at 5pm Pacific/8pm Eastern on August 5 with filmmaker Leah Mahan and Derrick Evans.

Moderated by Susan Stephenson, the conversation will center around the disproportionate impacts of climate change on black and brown communities. We’ll also hear updates on the fight to achieve environmental justice for Turkey Creek and learn measures we can all take through policy and direct action to create more just systems and healthier communities.

$20 for an individual ticket. You will receive the link to view the film and the password, plus access to the webinar.

$50 for a congregational screening ticket. You will receive a link for up to 150 members of your congregation to view the film for free and attend the webinar.

Click here to purchase. Funds will go to support climate justice for Turkey Creek and to reimburse the small independent film team.

May justice and mercy prevail,

Sarah Paulos

Community Engagement and Program Manager

Interfaith Power & Light