Amplifying frontline voices from A2 member groups. |
Building State Power from the Bottom Up |
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Member groups connected to Mississippi Grassroots United stand in solidarity in protest of Drax. Source: Dogwood Alliance |
An international fight focused on Gloster, Mississippi
Krystal Martin of Gloster, Mississippi never thought she’d be at the epicenter of a global struggle for environmental justice. But she’s not somebody to run from a fight.
“We’re a town not even two miles long, with a population of less than 900 people, but we have the state’s fifth-highest rate of cancer, and our county ranks highest in cardiovascular disease. Things have to change.
”The main culprit in Gloster is a large wood pellet factory operated by a British company called Drax. (Its resemblance to “Dracula” is presumably inadvertent.) Noise, dust, foul smells, and heavy truck traffic from the biomass plant have, for a decade, been an unwelcome fact of life and the source of sickness. The facility grinds wood – trees, branches, twigs – into fine sawdust, compresses it into pellets, and ships it all to England. There, near the town of Selby, North Yorkshire, it’s burned for electricity.
Because trees can be replanted, industry-friendly politicians in Europe decided decades ago that wood pellets are a form of climate-friendly, renewable energy. In fact, there is nothing benign about harvesting wood and then torching it. Trees take decades to grow, while burning them takes only seconds. The difference between the two is a vast quantity of climate-warming carbon dioxide, methane, and black carbon. The last is a form of particulate that, when it lands on snow or ice, increases absorption of sunlight, melting it and raising sea levels. The soot also increases rates of respiratory disease near the power plant.
The biofuel scam has earned the Gloster factory billions in sales, and the corporation some $13 billion in U.K. government subsidies. Protesters in both countries argue that the British government is subsidizing environmental racism in the U.S., while increasing asthma and cancer in the U.K. The UK government is now considering whether to extend subsidies for another four years, from 2027 to 2031.
Initially, Krystal thought she was fighting the billion-dollar international corporation virtually alone, founding the Greater Greener Gloster initiative to engage neighbors in the effort.
Then this year, Anthropocene Alliance (A2) introduced her to six other grassroots groups and encouraged them to form a state organizing committee (SOC) for mutual support. Thus, in Spring 2025, Mississippi Grassroots United was born. Their first collaboration – to get the state to deny permission for Drax to increase its allowable pollution level – was a success. But six months later, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), in a textbook example of “regulatory capture,” reversed course and granted the company permission to increase emissions.
Despite the setback, Martin knew she had gained something she never had before: broad-based support and an organizing infrastructure. When MDEQ held its evidentiary hearing, community members and SOC representatives from across the state were on hand to challenge Drax's permit appeal. Lea Campbell of Mississippi Rising Coalition coordinated a rally outside the courthouse. Ramona Williams from Mississippi Citizens United for Prosperity and Dr. Antoinette McKay of Mississippi People’s Movement helped coordinate transportation and security. The coalition decided together what support Martin needed and then provided it.
They may not have won this time, but their fight for justice continues.
Days after the hearing, Gloster residents, represented by Singleton Schreiber, filed a federal lawsuit against Drax, alleging years of illegal air pollution in violation of the Clean Air Act. The suit seeks a court order requiring Drax to halt its unlawful emissions, compensate residents for damages, fund remediation efforts, pay civil penalties, and cover legal costs. "We won’t stop fighting until our community is safe," Krystal said.
And she won’t be fighting alone.
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Mississippi grassroots groups, including Mississippi Rising Coalition, join forces alongside Gloster residents outside the state capitol to demand the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality deny Drax Biomass’ permit to increase toxic air pollutants. Source: Mississippi Rising Coaliton |
The Idea Behind SOCs
As conceived by A2, State Organizing Committees (SOCs), like Mississippi Grassroots United, are coalitions of frontline environmental groups working together at the state level to coordinate campaigns, share resources, and build collective power. Unlike many movements, where a supervising organization determines priorities and strategies, SOCs define their own priorities and lead their own campaigns. A2 makes this possible by providing and paying for a local community organizer to coordinate the work of SOCs, bringing member groups together, facilitating conversations, and working shoulder to shoulder with them to advance the campaigns they identify as priorities.
So far, A2 is helping establish six SOCs: in Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Louisiana, and Arizona. Nearly 200 frontline groups from more than two dozen other states have signed up to form additional SOCs. Anthropocene Alliance has over 430 member communities in all U.S. states and territories, so there is plenty of room to grow.
A2’s goal, in addition to helping individual SOCs claim victories, is to enable the rise of a national, grassroots environmental movement, bigger even than the one established in the 1970s, following the first Earth Day and creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Though there already exist several broad-based national organizations, such as the Sunrise Movement and 350.org, none are focused on building state power through effective, community organizing, and none are directed exclusively by frontline communities. A2 members believe that their voices, experiences, and priorities must be at the center of any environmental work, that power has to be built from the ground up for real and lasting change.
People at the grassroots level understand environmental threats best because they are the ones most impacted. As Beth Gutzler of Metropolitan Congregations United (member of A2’s Missouri SOC) describes it: "In a State Organizing Committee, different groups have specific areas of focus. Our niche is working with faith-based entities. Other people may focus on policy, research, or direct action. Bringing people together with different expertise is what's needed. That's the networking angle, and it's not a computer – it's the human internet that puts all that together."
SOCs are built to sustain the work for the long haul. Rather than letting campaigns fade after a victory or setback, they preserve relationships, share knowledge, and pass on organizing lessons. As Gutzler puts it, this ensures that “movement organizing doesn’t get dismantled or information lost with each generation.”
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When an EF3 tornado struck St. Louis on May 16, 2025 – flattening homes, killing residents, and displacing thousands – Metropolitan Congregations United (member of A2’s Missouri SOC) mobilized immediately, distributing food, offering shelter, and coordinating emergency supply chains as FEMA and other federal agencies were still assessing damage and preparing response plans. Source: Metropolitan Congregations United |
Why Now?
The Trump administration has rolled back two generations of environmental protection. By its decimation of EPA and other regulatory agencies, clean air and water regulations are being repealed or going unenforced. Funds appropriated by Congress to support solar, wind or other renewable energy are unspent or impounded. The current Congress has rescinded the previous one’s environmental funding for the transition to electric vehicles. Incentives to produce more efficient appliances have been rolled back. Protection of endangered species, always inconsistent, has been completely shunted to the side. Support for “environmental justice communities” – the working class and people of color worst affected by contaminants – has evaporated. A2 believes that people power, built through grassroots organizing, is the most powerful answer to our current crisis and future challenges. SOCs provide the foundation and vehicle to make that possible.
"Now is not the time to mourn; it’s the time to organize – to establish strong, local groups that can combine to form powerful alliances," explains A2 co-founder Harriet Festing. “SOCs represent the bricks,” she adds, “A2 supplies the mortar.”
Arif Ullah, A2’s Executive Director extends the metaphor: "Base-building in frontline communities, achieved through old-fashioned grassroots organizing, is our best chance to construct a powerful movement across states and the nation. That’s how we will ensure system change.”
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After members of Louisiana Grassroots United joined forces with A Community Voice-Louisiana at New Orleans City Hall to meet with New Orleans City Councilmember Oliver Thomas, a "Beat the Heat" ordinance passed unanimously, requiring mandatory rest breaks and hydration for outdoor workers. Source: Louisiana Grassroots United |
Adapting to Any Political Landscape
Back in Mississippi, Krystal Martin's strategy for continuing her fight demonstrates why local and democratic control matters. "I don't care how you package it. We are still suffering in Gloster. We may not use the words 'environmental justice', but we can still tell our story and talk about the health impacts. We just find a creative way to do it." Because SOCs are democratically controlled, local communities can adapt their tactics and language to their specific political landscape, regardless of who sits in the State House or the White House.
For now, the work in Gloster continues. The fight against Drax won’t end tomorrow, but neither will the efforts of Greater Greener Gloster. They are in it for the long haul, and with the help of Mississippi Grassroots United, other SOCs nationwide, and A2, they expect to win.
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- On November 13, 2025, at 4:30 PM CT, Climate Mental Health Network is hosting a webinar on how youth-led civic action is shaping education, health, and livelihoods globally. Learn more and register here.
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River Network is offering a free, self-paced online training on Community-Centered Solutions for Green Gentrification and Displacement. The series provides tools, case studies, and a workbook to help communities implement equitable, locally driven environmental projects. Learn more and register.
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