Environmental Justice Events

Join the Unitarian Universalist Association, UU Ministry For Earth, UU Service Committee and Love Resists for a letter writing campaign to show solidarity with Steve Martinez, a NoDAPL political prisoner who has been recently incarcerated after refusing to face a grand jury for a second time. Steve, an Indigenous water protector, was first subpoenaed to a federal grand jury in 2017 for his participation in the NoDAPL resistance movement and refused to comply then as now. This recent targeting came as a disconcerting surprise to many who have been supporting water protector political prisoners for the past four years. On the call, hear from Water Protectors and UU organizers about Steve’s current legal situation, and write your own letter to Steve and other NoDAPL political prisoners. Register here Another way to support is to DONATE to Steve Martinez’s GoFundMe.  

Electric Vehicles are touted as a key component to solving our climate crisis. Many consumers are jumping on the EV bandwagon, and companies like Amazon are building a fleet to ship goods by electric truck. Likewise, national environmental organizations are pushing EVs as key to lowering GHG emissions and transitioning to a green economy. But are EVs a real climate solution? They can be, but ONLY if they coincide with mode shift from roads to rail, mass transit and passenger rail development, redesign of communities, battery recycling technology, and mitigation of lithium mining impacts. Anything short of these co-occurring developments is contrary to the Green New Deal vision. We need to ask:

• How do we avoid trading one extractive model with another?
• How do we center community self-determination and localization, instead of furthering the worst aspects of globalization?
• How do we invest in public works in a way that is just, reduces harms, and addresses historic harms?

Thursday, Feb. 18th 1pm Pacific / 4pm Eastern RSVP TODAY

Climate change promises not to be kind on anyone, least of all on us in the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Time and time again, we have witnessed the disproportionate and disastrous impacts of climate change on communities of color – whether it is from storms, floods, heat waves, or the everyday injustices, amplified by the challenges faced by people of color and exacerbated by unique circumstances of marginalization or pandemics such as Covid.

A small group of us, working collaboratively with the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth, are moved to form a new community: A BIPOC caucus focused on the intersections of racial, environmental and climate injustices.  Our thinking is inspired by the UU Seventh Principle (respect for the interdependent web of all existence) and the Eight Principle (accountably dismantle racism and all other oppressions).

This is a call to invite all people who identify as belonging to any of the communities of color to join hands and gather to reflect on the current moment of climate emergency, exchange our aspirations and learn how our UU values can strengthen our commitments. Paula Cole Jones and Rashid Shaikh are honored to take on the inaugural planning of this caucus (see bios below).  The dates and proposed topics for discussion of the initial meetings are given below. If you fill out this form, we will gladly send you details about how to join the meetings on Zoom. The BIPOC Caucus will feature presentations and opportunities to work in small groups.

Session 1:

Thursday, February 18 at 5pm PT/ 6 MT/ 7CT/ 8ET Connecting with the UU 7th and 8th Principals

Session 2:

Thursday, March 18 at  5pm PT/ 6 MT/ 7CT/ 8ET Lessons from the book Justice on Earth Session 3:

April – Date TBD The Green New Deal and the Biden Plan on Climate