environmental justice
Charter school and waste facility each promise new hope for Gary, but can they co-exist?
Students, staff and parents say a waste-to-energy facility doesn’t belong across the street from a Gary, Indiana, charter school.
resiliency
4 ways cities can prepare for climate change and advance social justice
Ongoing work to help the greater Cleveland area become more resilient in the face of climate change can also address ongoing social justice problems, according to advocates, planners, and local leaders.
Chicago
Chicago coal plant site to become logistics hub; local leaders furious
In Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, residents say a redevelopment plan for a retired coal plant site would simply swap one type of dangerous air pollution for another.
Ohio
Cleveland civil rights group waffles on support for coal, nuclear
The environmental justice chair for the Cleveland NAACP said the group’s recent comments in support of coal and nuclear power don’t reflect its positions “moving forward.”
The Cleveland chapter caught activists off guard in October when it filed comments in support of a federal proposal to prop up uneconomic coal and nuclear plants in the name of grid reliability. “In order to mitigate the risk that such generating units may be deactivated prematurely, the Cleveland NAACP strongly urges FERC to adopt the rule proposed by DOE,” its Oct. 20 comments said, citing the jobs and economic opportunities provided by the power plants. The comments, submitted by the group’s economic development committee chair Danielle Sydnor, appear to contradict the national organization’s position against coal-fired power plants and other fossil fuel operations, which have a disproportionate impact on communities of color. Sydnor and branch President James Hardiman did not respond to interview requests. The group’s environmental justice chair, Kent Whitley, said he was not involved in preparing the comments, and that they don’t reflect his priorities.
Critics highlight Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s environmental justice impact
Thirty-five years after the birth of the environmental justice movement, advocates say regulators and developers of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline are falling short in their obligations to tribes and other communities of color.