Environmental Justice Books and Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has confirmed again a fundamental truth about the Anthropocene: When disaster strikes, the vulnerable take the hardest punches. Communities of color have suffered much higher rates of infection, hospitalization, and mortality, both because they are disproportionately represented in frontline service positions and because their access to routine healthcare is more limited.

More details here. The Fragile Earth: Writing from The New Yorker on Climate Change, edited by David Remnick and Henry Finder (Harper Collins 2020, 560 pages, $29.99) Tales of Two Planets: Stories of Climate Change and Inequality in a Divided World, edited by John Freeman (Penguin Random House 2020, 320 pages, $18.00 paperback) All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson (Penguin Random House 2020, 448 pages, $29.00) Future Sea: How to Rescue and Protect the World’s Oceans, by Deborah Rowan Wright (University of Chicago Press 2020, 200 pages, $22.50) The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations, by Daniel Yergin (Penguin Random House 2020, 512 pages, $38.00) Solved: How the World’s Great Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis, by David Miller (University of Toronto Press 2020, 208 pages, $29.95) Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future, by Pope Francis (Simon & Schuster 2020, 160 pages, $26.00) Stand Up! Speak Up! A Story Inspired by the Climate Change Revolution, by Andrew Joyner (Penguin Random House 2020, 40 pages (for 4-to-8-year olds), $17.99) Our Only Home: A Climate Appeal to the World, by The Dalai Lama and Franz Alt (Hanover Square 2020, 176 pages, $19.99) The 2084 Report: An Oral History of the Great Warming: A Novel, by James Lawrence Powell (Simon & Schuster 2020, 240 pages, $27.00) A Diary in the Age of Water: A Novel, by Nina Munteanu (Inanna 2020, 328 pages, $22.95 paperback) The Ministry for the Future: A Novel, by Kim Stanley Robinson (Hachette Book Group – Orbit 2020, 576 pages, $28.00)  

I am delighted to share the news that the Environmental Justice Task Force (EJ TF) released its report! Check it out here or on the EJ TF’s information page as the first item under “Reports & Information” and for a quick read of some of the highlights of the report, see our latest blog post. The EJ TF developed 26 policy recommendations spanning four categories that create a blueprintfor how the state can act on environmental justice in Washington State. Front & Centered was honored to serve as the organizational co-chair of the Governor's Task Force, and that three of our coalition member organizations – Community to Community Development, the Spokane Chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition, and the Tacoma Urban League of Young Professionals – were also able to provide important community leadership perspectives on the intersection of equity and environmental justice. Many of the policy recommendations were sculpted from the stories gathered at the ‘community conversations’ we hosted – in person and then virtually – with ten different Front & Centered member organizations across the state from November 2019 through September 2020. The impacts of institutional racism have been acutely observable this year given the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 and the brutal murder of Black Americans by police and vigilantes. These events are but the latest that underscore the urgent need to ensure our laws are bound by fairness and offer everyone equal protection. This will eliminate racial disparities starkly reflected in a 14-year difference in the average lifespan of residents from different Washington residential zip codes. It is the mission our coalition of communities of color embarked on in 2019 to pass the Healthy Environment All Act (HEAL Act), that led to the creation of the Task Force which is housed in the Governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities. In 2021, we are poised to finish the job by passing the enhanced version of the HEAL Act. As we ramp up the campaign, here are a few upcoming events to be aware of:

• December 18 from 11:30am-1pm: Meeting on the HEAL 2.0 legislation and discussion on organizing strategy for partner organization. We resume these meetings in January on a bi-weekly basis.
• Week of Jan 4 (date/time TBD): Front & Centered and Legislator public launch announcing the enhanced HEAL Act and release of our findings from statewide community conversations.