Climate Mobilization News
Climate Mobilization Project is pleased to have received a grant from Climate Emergency Fund, to help the Climate Mobilization Network continue to grow and thrive. CEF provides funding for climate activists on the vanguard of the climate emergency movement.
In Sonoma County, California, where we support local campaigns with on-the-ground organizing, groups are working to bring public transit and climate emergency into the conversation at the Board of Supervisors meeting. A coalition of groups is fighting for transportation justice, urging investment in safe, affordable, reliable, zero-carbon public transportation for all.
Congratulations to Housing and Climate Justice for Acton (whose work we support with staff organizing capacity) on advancing recommendations for adding electric vehicle charging stations in condo and apartment buildings in Acton. This work is a critical next step to getting access to vehicle charging for renters and condo residents, who need overnight charging capability but cannot install charging stations on their own.
Team Spotlight
Meet AriDy Nox, Co-Leader and Director of Narrative Strategy for The Climate Mobilization and Climate Mobilization Project. AriDy Nox is a multi-disciplinary black femme storyteller and social activist with a variety of forward-thinking creative works under her/their belt. They create out of the vehement belief that creating a future in which marginalized peoples are free requires a radical imagination. Their tales are offerings intended to function as small parts of an ancient, expansive, awe-inspiring tradition of world-shaping, created by and for black femmes. They have over a decade of experience as a young social activist and organizer, within reproductive justice and racial justice frameworks with organizations like the Young Women of Color Leadership Council with Advocates for Youth, the Toni Cade Bamabara Collective at Spelman College and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. They bring creativity, enthusiasm and a tremendous capacity for organization to her/their role and deep belief that times of apocalypse are opportunities for rebirth. We need to first imagine the world we want in order to create it.
Climate Action Funding Opportunity
Remember the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)? BIL created the new Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program with $5 billion in appropriated funds over 5 years. The US Department of Transportation is now offering grant funding to local governments for safety-enhancing (and emission-reducing) projects like bike lanes and complete streets projects. Applications are due Thursday, September 15, 2022. Click here for more information.
Climate Justice
A new report, published in the journal One Earth, finds that wealth inequality erodes democracy and decreases the ability of governments to respond in a crisis. The study goes beyond the moral case for social policy to show how essential such measures are to the functioning of government. Public policies, like those found in the Green New Deal, provide a safety net for struggling people and function to strengthen the government and its ability to solve problems.
People with disabilities are being impacted disproportionally by climate disasters, and are facing barriers, like inaccessible disaster shelters, that exacerbate already difficult circumstances. Climate policy planning is lacking in consideration for people with disabilities, often entirely leaving out those with disabilities in plans to reduce emissions in transportation, housing and other sectors.
Republicans on Climate
Republicans are touting a six-point plan to take on climate change. Unsurprisingly, the plan lacks specifics and offers up familiar Republican talking points, like increasing domestic fossil fuel production, that will not reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Legislation in conservative states is targeting businesses that are moving away from fossil fuel investment or considering climate risk in their long-range planning. Lumping in support for climate action with other progressive cultural issues, conservative lawmakers are attempting to block progress in yet another way.
Take Action
A just transition away from a polluting economy requires economic justice. Join the Poor People’s Campaign #MoralMarch June 18, 2022 in Washington, DC. “If the rejected millions—the poor without health insurance, without living wages—unite, we will save the soul of this nation!”
Today young people from across the country are rallying at the US Capitol to send a message to Congress: pass #555ForOurFuture! The campaign demands that Congress pass $555 billion in intersectional, climate justice spending. Visit bit.ly/555ForOurFuture to learn more.
Good Reads
Read about how supposedly climate-friendly California is paying to prop up fossil fuels in its Southern coastal counties, contributing to some of the worst air quality in the country.
New research is demonstrating the falling cost of renewable energy, and providing reliable forecasting for this trend, hopefully creating new interest in financial investment for the sector.
Learn more about how Pacific Islanders, on the frontline of climate impacts, are providing models for sustainable living and climate leadership.
Support this work
Can you make an investment in this critical work? Every donation helps us push for climate justice at emergency speed. Thank you for being a part of this movement!