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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
NOV. 6, 2020 Contact: Olivia Burlingame (301-613-4767,
[email protected]) Kari Fulton (202-340-0976,
[email protected])
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The Election is in Need of a Just Transition
Climate Justice Alliance Demands Every Vote Be Counted, Respect the
Will of the People!
Across the movement, we join together with sister alliances such as It
Takes Roots and the Rising Majority, to demand that every vote is counted
and the will of the people be respected. Voters in our communities faced
intimidation, suppression, and misinformation during this election season
and it is our communities who are hurt first and worst by the lack of
political will to address the climate crisis. THAT IS WHY, EVEN IN TIMES OF
UNCERTAINTY LIKE THESE, WE CONTINUE TO ORGANIZE FOR A PEOPLE’S
ORIENTATION TO A REGENERATIVE ECONOMY TO PROTECT, REPAIR, INVEST, AND
TRANSFORM OUR LOCAL COMMUNITIES. [3]
CJA is motivated by the people power demonstrated through community
organizing and local victories won at many levels. Frontline communities,
many of whom are CJA members, from Miami to Detroit, Louisville to San
Juan, continue to demonstrate how grassroots-led and community-driven
strategies for addressing the root causes of the climate crisis can lead to
victories for the people, reminding us all that an election is won
community by community, state by state.
Our communities will continue to build power through translocal,
place-based organizing grounded in grassroots power. In Portland, Oregon,
Khanh Pham - Interim Director of the Oregon Just Transition Alliance - ran
on a Green New Deal platform and won to represent District 46 in the Oregon
State House of Representatives. In Detroit, Michigan, youth organizers with
the East Michigan Environmental Action Council canvassed disenfranchised
neighborhoods helping to increase voter turn-out, and in Richmond,
California, Najari K. Smith- founder and director of Rich City Rides- ran
for city council. The power to self-govern takes time, resources, and
energy to build; the wins we are witnessing are thanks to Indigenous,
Black, POC, Queer, and low income people and community organizers.
CENTERING DEMANDS FOR A JUST TRANSITION IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS AND BEYOND
IS CRITICAL TO THE FUTURE WE ARE BUILDING TOGETHER, WHILE HEALING THE HARM
THAT THESE COMMUNITIES HAVE ENDURED OVER GENERATIONS.
As Acacia “Caci” Maggard, organizer with the Kentucky Student
Environmental Coalition stated, “We can’t let politics limit our
imagination.” We are driven by the eternal lessons of our ancestors who
guide and inform our resiliency, reminding us of our responsibility to
shape and sustain our collective future. Climate Justice Alliance is
committed to advancing climate justice policy that centers community
solutions [4] and grassroots organizing.
While the US Government recently formally quit the Paris Agreement [5],
there is no quitting for the frontlines, who will continue to be the first
impacted by storms, flooding, and wildfires, not to mention racist and
economic violence. In moments like these, we are reminded of the strength
of rooted local to global climate justice movements led by parents, youth,
elders, and neighbors. This fight for the future of our people and the
planet will need to continue to be intersectional to confront historic
racism, patriarchy, and settler-colonialism.
The President of the United States and Congress, elected by voters, must
get to work right away during the transition period to prepare for the
January 2021 launch of a bold, transformative agenda to heal communities
across the country from the ravages of COVID-19, the climate and economic
crises, and white supremacy. The Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in
a Vibrant Economy (THRIVE [6]) agenda provides a vision for the kind of
just economic and ecological recovery we all need. It’s also imperative
that we pass and implement The BREATHE ACT [7], a comprehensive suite of
legislation designed to confront and dismantle the myriad pillars of white
supremacy and anti-Black racism. CJA and our members are currently working
with the drafters to push for its promulgation at the local, State, and
federal levels of government.
Regardless of who sits in the White House, the next couple of weeks and
months will be a time of truth and reckoning with many of the historical
injustices that have plagued the nation for centuries. People power will
prevail.
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Climate Justice Alliance is a member-led organization of 70+ urban and
rural frontline communities, organizations and support networks in the
climate justice movement.
Climate Justice Alliance
Checks payable to Movement Strategy Center (CJA in memo)
PO BOX 10202
Berkeley, CA 94709
United States
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