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Hey there, my name is Mark and I help compile the Frontline Temp Check every month. I want to make this newsletter better, and curious what you think. [Can you take 90 seconds to fill out this survey]([link removed])? Thanks!

Dear John,

This has been a really eventful year, from learning CJA was selected for a major EPA grant to bringing on a new Executive Director, our team has made it from Guam to Miami supporting members on trainings, Just Recovery, and more. Despite the intensity that the year ended with, our communities also had some amazing wins. We’ve also seen over half-a-billion dollars influenced by our movement from federal funds to settlements with companies.

It’s been a lot, and we want to send a lot of appreciation and love to all of our Frontline Temp Check readers. It’s amazing to know that there are so many active supporters of our work.

Communities & Climate Justice Movement Defeat the Dirty Deal!!

Thank you to all those who advocated with legislators to ensure a [dirty energy permitting reform deal]([link removed]) didn’t make it into any legislation this year! We are inspired and energized by the power of communities and the larger environmental and climate justice movements coming together to make this a reality.

“As we use this win to fuel our momentum together, we must also brace for upcoming threats that will likely include permitting reform and attacks on NEPA in the new year. We urge legislators to continue to stand strong alongside overpolluted communities who are often hit first and worst by the climate crisis. Now more than ever, we need elected representatives to protect and strengthen communities’ rights to due process and recourse in the face of polluting industries. We all have a right to healthy families and clean air, water, and land, no matter what zip code we live in.”

Read our [full statement here.]([link removed])

Help Us Ensure Climate Funding is Released in Time to Be Viable for Communities

In this new political context, non-profit organizations and environmental justice are under attack. We already see the chilling effects of political intimidation from lawmakers and the broader public, but we can’t let that deter us. Our communities depend on our collective action.

The Dec. 6th deadline has passed and we’ve met all requirements as a national grantmaker of the EPA’s Thriving Communities program on time. We need your help to release the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) climate funds before inauguration on January 20th.

Send a quick email and help ensure the community climate funds already designated through the IRA are released in time for them to actually be viable for their intended purpose. If you've already sent an email, thank you!

[Send an Email to EPA Administrator Regan]([link removed]) and tell him the climate funds must be released now. Remind him that his legacy should be one of standing with environmental justice communities, not of cowering to right wing pressure.

[Email the EPA today]([link removed])

More Background

As of today, Climate Justice Alliance’s (CJA) UNITE-EJ program, which was selected as a national grantmaker for the EPA's Environmental Justice Thriving Communities program (a part of the Inflation Reduction Act) HAS NOT YET RECEIVED the funds for the program that must be obligated before inauguration on January 20, 2025.

[To better understand what this will mean, read the recent Inside Climate News article here.]([link removed])

These funds will be used to address air and water quality, lead and other toxins clean-up, green infrastructure, food access, emergency preparedness, and more.

Despite being a top-scoring applicant to the grantmaking role, meeting every milestone, and currently leading communities of practice for the entire program, including quality assurance, technical assistance, and communications and outreach, CJA has not received the funds, nor been told why.

The EPA must release the Thriving Communities funds this year, well before inauguration. If they don’t, they are setting a dangerous precedent to defy democratic process and the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Can you help us ensure that we get these needed resources to frontline communities and supportive institutions that are building climate resiliency, energy democracy, food sovereignty, and life-saving resources [today]([link removed])?

Local, State and National Wins Abound this Year!

If you’re feeling reflective we put this [annual report]([link removed]) together for folks like you. You’ll learn about some great strides made by CJA members. Here’s a small taste:

California organizations took on Chevron and helped the city of Richmond receive a $550 million settlement. The work of Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) in Chicago saw another large corporation held accountable for a botched smokestack demolition, leading to a multi-million dollar settlement as well. Members and partners forced the closing of a harmful Harvard-led solar geoengineering project in California. The Detroit People’s Food Co-op opened its doors, Detroit’s first Black-owned grocery store since 2014, and much more.

And if you’re in the mood for what’s next, here’s just some of what we’re looking forward to next year:

- Early 2025 - Convene executive leadership of our member organizations to navigate and create a robust strategy for the coming years.
- Spring 2025 - Complete and release Just Returns, a tri-fold research project. This project includes research on funders' investments, grantmaking practices and articulation of the impact of grassroots-led climate solutions. Findings from the research project will be used to influence and support efforts within climate philanthropy to move toward more equitable funding and investment practices, as part of our work to resource the Just Transition.
- Mid-year 2025 - Hold the Our Power Communities Solutions Summit. This is a space for CJA grassroots base-building members to be in community with one another, get grounded in collective political leadership, sharpen political analysis, and define collective action for trans-local power building, with an eye toward strengthening and protecting real solutions to the climate crisis such as community-owned solar and wind projects.
- Late 2025 - Mobilize a delegation to attend, participate in, and support local efforts during COP 30 in Brazil.
- Throughout 2025 - Distribute Grasping at the Roots – a documentary film created by CJA’s Black Caucus about environmental justice organizing in Black communities – through film festivals, community screenings, and broadcast television. Later in 2025 we hope to start using the documentary as a power-building and educational tool in communities across the country.
- Ongoing - Convene our members through the Food Sovereignty, Change the Rules, and Just Recovery working groups.
- Ongoing - Build up a pool of trainers who can put on flagship Being the Change workshop and Just Transition Finance Training.

In the News

National / International

- [EPA Staffers Demand Biden Release Climate Funds]([link removed])
- [Aspiring Applicants Worry EPA Environmental Justice Grant Funding Will Be Rescinded Before It’s Awarded]([link removed])
- [A Year in Climate Negotiations]([link removed])
- [What to know about the plastic pollution treaty talks that have concluded in South Korea]([link removed])

Midwest

- [Advocates Push for Stricter Emissions Standards to Improve Air Quality in Illinois]([link removed])
- [Midwest’s hydrogen plans spark debate over clean energy standards]([link removed])
- [Environmental cred questioned for Biden-backed ‘hydrogen hub’ in Northwest Indiana]([link removed])

Southeast

- [City of Miramar welcomes decision to not use airport west site for incinerator project]([link removed])
- [Community members resist proposed Eastern Kentucky Prison]([link removed])

West

- [Group opposing OAK airport expansion says health concerns have been ignored]([link removed])

Northeast

- [New Solar Panels at Historic Brooklyn Army Terminal to Power Sunset Park Community]([link removed])

Mid-Atlantic

- [A Black-Led Agricultural Community Takes Shape in Maryland]([link removed])

Pacific

- [Groups to gather on Saturday in honor of last mature håyun lågu after its death]([link removed])

[Support CJA]([link removed])

Climate Justice Alliance

1960A University Ave
Berkeley, CA, 94704
United States


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