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Dear Friend,
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| My parents are from Louisiana, near the region now known as “Cancer Alley” because of the horrific health problems experienced by people living far too close to polluting petrochemical plants. They grew up under Jim Crow and graduated from a Historically Black University. Their experiences taught me the power of the law. I went to law school because civil rights laws helped liberate families like mine — just as discriminatory laws served to oppress communities like ours. |
| I am now an international human rights lawyer and professor, and I proudly sit on the Earthjustice Board of Directors because I know that the right to a healthy, clean, safe, and sustainable environment is a human right. Please make a donation to support this work. My Board colleagues and I will match your gift $2:$1 only if you donate in the next two days. |
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| My mother and me in Louisiana |
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| The right to a healthy environment was recently affirmed by the UN Human Rights Council in a nonbinding resolution, but binding or not, the affirmation alone is important. The power of the law does not live only in court cases won and lost; it articulates protections to advance justice and human well-being. It builds upon itself through protest, policy, resolutions, and grassroots support. |
| To understand that theory of change, look no further than the bedrock environmental laws under threat by this Supreme Court. Those laws — the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the law that created the EPA itself — were born through protest, opposition, and dissent in the 1970s. Through that activism, we started to design a better world. We created rules to protect it. We gave claims somewhere to go and activists a platform to speak. That’s the power of the law. |
| I sense a lot of hopelessness from my legal colleagues in the wake of these recent decisions, but I want to remind them and you to keep playing the long game. When I think about the civil rights triumph of Brown v. Board of Education, there were so many losses along the way before we reached that victory. Yes, we must work harder than ever before in the face of these powerful, revanchist forces, but so long as we stay true to the principles of what these laws are intended to protect, we will win. |
| Friend, I’m writing you today to ask you to help us keep up the fight. We must all be climate activists and human rights activists, because these fights are one and the same. Will you join me in making a donation today and telling the Supreme Court that our movement is stronger than ever before? |
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| Thank you for the support you’ve given this movement. Seeing hundreds of thousands of people from all across the country come together inspires me. It reinforces my deepest belief that while laws may differ across jurisdictions, the problems we face and the solutions we create span across borders. The laws we help enshrine in one region can cross-connect to protect everyone, everywhere. |
| And your support makes it all possible. |
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Thank you,
Erika George
Earthjustice Board of Directors
Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law
Director, Tanner Humanities Center, University of Utah |
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| P.S. Mail delivery delays have slowed down gift processing, so if your recent gift and this email crossed paths — please accept our sincere thanks. Be assured that we will update your record as quickly as possible, and we are very grateful for your support. |
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| Make a tax deductible gift to help us take on the fights ahead! |
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Image Credit: Photo of Erika and her mother courtesy of Erika George.
Headshot of Erika George by Austin Diamond. |
| © 2022 |
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