Dear John,

In a year like no other, the past few weeks held a level of intensity, complexity, and contention that kept many of us at an emotional standstill. As the dust continues to settle and in the face of much uncertainty, we at CJA are grounding in our power to fight the bad and build the new toward climate justice and regenerative economies. Frontline leaders continue to be the catalyst for this change.

"Kim Wasserman and LVEJO (pronounced “ell-VAY-ho,”) have spent nearly two decades fighting the bad in Chicago’s predominantly immigrant community of Little Village, engaging in a 12-year campaign to shut down two coal plants that ranked as the top three for most polluted in the US and contributed to some of the highest asthma rates in the country." Read the full story in How to Shut Down a Coal Plant [Fight Target, Build the Food Cart Industry, Empower Women and Small Businesses, and Thrive]: Six Environmental Justice Lessons from Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.

PODER Victorious in Efforts to Establish Public Bank!

After years of organizing, largely in the mission and Excelsior district of San Francisco, CJA member PODER along with the San Francisco Public Bank Coalition are reaching the home stretch of transforming their vision of a public bank into reality! Earlier this summer, the city’s Budget and Legislative Analyst issued a report recommending the move. Visit our public banking model policy page to learn more and tune into the just released podcast with PODER on this struggle, their vision and how a public bank is key to sustainable and equitable development for frontline communities.

Donate Directly to CJA Members

December 1st is #GivingTuesday, following the new #ReparationsMonday. Both days we have an opportunity to counter the dominant narrative of #GivingTuesday – which disproportionately benefits organizations that perpetuate the non-profit industrial complex, and positions itself as a complement to the harmful and extractive Thankstaking and Black Friday – and take bold, collective action to move money and power back to communities that have faced historical trauma and harm by donating directly to our members.

Geoengineering aims to alter Earth systems on a mega-scale through a set of proposed technologies; it is also a false solution to the climate crisis. Unfortunately, it is gaining more and more traction within mainstream audiences and large scale funders, including Jeff Bezos and his Earth Fund. To understand the basics and why these market based techno-fixes will only hurt frontline communities; do nothing to address emissions at source; and are dangerously risky at best, check out three new fact sheets that we hope you'll share and discuss with others. They thoughtfully detail what geoengineering is and some of the most common schemes currently being developed including Carbon Capture and Storage and Solar Radiation Management.

Do you think a garden can change lives, or that seeds can be revolutionary? CJA’s newest story snapshot digs in the dirt with SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP), exploring these questions through the lens of this seminal environmental justice organization’s history and current Project Feed the Hood. Learn more by visiting their story snapshot where you can access their short video and podcast on food sovereignty in Albuqurque, New Mexico.

In case you missed it, here's the statement we issued as the presidential race was called earlier this month: CJA Presses New Administrationa: Build Off of This Moment and Foster Momentum for Climate Justice.