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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE                                                           
     NOV. 9, 2020  Contact: Olivia Burlingame (301-613-4767,
[email protected]) Anthony Rogers-Wright (631-402-7855,
[email protected])

-------------------------

CJA PRESSES NEW ADMINISTRATION: BUILD OFF OF THIS MOMENT & FOSTER MOMENTUM
FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE

BUILD OFF OF THIS MOMENT & FOSTER MOMENTUM FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE

The United States has elected a new president. Climate Justice Alliance
applauds the perseverance of voters despite continued attempts to
intimidate, swindle, and otherwise suppress the votes of Black, Brown,
Asian and Indigenous peoples who, ultimately, were the decisive difference
in the election’s outcome. As MICHELLE MARTINEZ, INTERIM EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR OF CJA MEMBER MICHIGAN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COALITION, points
out, “_Environmental justice communities from Detroit, to Flint, to the
Upper Peninsula voted in droves; the grueling efforts of grassroots
organizers who were relentless, resilient and remarkable made this
possible_.” She added, “_But our communities didn’t just vote against
something, they also voted for a climate justice future, and they will keep
working to center frontline communities and press the incoming
administration to do the same; our lives must be seen as important as our
votes._”

CJA celebrates the election of the first woman, the first African American
and the first Indian American to the executive branch of government. It’s
fitting that she attended a historically black college and university,
Howard, as, similar to frontline communities and the grassroots
organizations accountable to them, we are proof that despite being
underfunded and too often undermined, this does not prevent us from
producing transformative and effective, yet understated, solutions.

The incoming administration must refer to these frontline solutions,
beginning with strengthening Tribal sovereignty and moving towards greater
recognition and support of their inherent self-governance. TOM BK
GOLDTOOTH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK AND A
MEMBER OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF CJA, expanded on this point, _“__Even
with the change of executive power, the US is a settler-state that has
always exploited the land, its people and resources. We will be a driving
force for systemic change in the relationship between Native Nations,
Tribal grassroots and this federal government. We must see the full
recognition and enforcement of our treaty rights, the return of our
traditional lands, and to obtain a Presidential executive action requiring
federal agencies to secure the __Free, Prior, and Informed Consent_ [3] _of
Native Nations confronted with significant federal actions affecting their
lands, livelihoods and culture.”_

There cannot be climate justice without racial justice and its link to
white supremacy and patriarchal concepts that quantifies the “Mother”
Earth’s cycles and functions such as carbon. If we have less than eight
years to effectively address and dismantle climate change, there’s even
less time to confront and eviscerate white supremacy. The fact that 70
million people voted to maintain the current status quo, like the climate
crisis, cannot be taken lightly or for granted. The nation remains
dangerously divided and white supremacy was not rejected, it was
momentarily averted by only four million votes and the resolve of Black,
Brown and Indigenous peoples.

The length of this moment for change depends on the resolve of our
momentum. Neither four years, nor centuries of oppression, subjugation, and
dehumanization simply disappear with one election cycle. The resolve of our
momentum will be measured by the immediate decisions we make to address our
greatest challenges at once.

CJA applauds Vice President-elect Harris for recognizing that Black, Brown,
Indigenous and Asian women paved the way for this moment. In that regard,
while the road to climate justice is long, it too has been paved by decades
of frontline wisdom, from the 1991 Principles of Environmental Justice [4],
to the 1996 Jemez Principles for Environmental Justice [5], to the 2020
People’s Orientation to a Regenerative Economy [6]. These principles and
solution oriented policies are available to the incoming administration and
all people in an effort to get the “climate crisis under control” as
pledged by the president-elect during his victory speech.

CJA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ANGELA MAHECHA ADRAR, has no doubts that frontline
solutions offer the best solutions to meet the interlinked crises of our
time at scale. She offered, “_The tenets of __Just Transition_ [7]_,
__Energy Democracy_ [8]_ and __Food Sovereignty_ [9]_, of climate justice
altogether are galvanizing principles._” She continued, “_Our solutions
have always been about bringing people together through right relationship
with land, that leads to right relationship with each other_.”

The president-elect must live up to his commitments to disadvantaged and
marginalized communities who delivered for him in the midst of a pandemic,
climate fueled storms, and perpetual intimidation. This means ending the
trend of solely deferring to white-led environmental groups above frontline
communities experiencing the impacts of climate change directly, first, and
worse. Like our solutions, we speak for ourselves. We demand a Just
Transition from COVID-19, climate and economic calamity. Our communities
must have as much access to the people’s government as anyone else. The
Black people, “who’ve always had [the president-elect's] back” are
expecting big things back from him.

Adrar spoke to this point, “_It’s not about quid pro quo as much as it
is cui bono. We firmly believe that when the most marginalized benefit, we
all do. That’s why the scaling up and scaling out of our solutions will
mutually heal people and the planet. Our members invite the president-elect
to listen to and hear our communities while also avoiding offerings of
false mechanisms that are nothing more than illusions of climate
action_.” She concluded, “_There’s no more time for platitudes or
empty promises, the frontlines will continue doing the work and partner
with everyone ready to get to work._”

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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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