More than 30 years ago, roughly 1,100 people attended the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss the environmental injustices they were experiencing in their communities. Considered by many as the birth of the environmental justice movement, the four-day summit concluded with the adoption of the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice, still relevant today. In this episode, ELI’s Arielle King meets with key organizers and leaders of the historical summit: Vernice Miller-Travis and Charles Lee. The episode is part of the Groundtruth series created in partnership with Beveridge & Diamond, one of the nation’s leading environmental law firms.
ELI’s Climate Judiciary Project bridges the gap between the climate science community and the judiciary, providing judges with neutral, objective information about the science of climate change. In this episode, ELI Research Associate Heather Luedke talks to Sandy Nichols Thiam, ELI’s Director of Judicial Education, and Dr. Paul Hanle, the Project Founder, to learn more.
Partners in the Fight for Environmental Justice: Ways That State Attorneys General Can Support Community Efforts
ACS Blogs/Expert Forum (by Bethany Davis Noll & Colin Parts)
April 20, 2022
Environmental justice (EJ) communities (which we define in our Web Resource on Environmental Justice as communities of color and low-income communities that face disproportionate environmental burdens), have been fighting for decades to preserve their right to a healthy environment. Many barriers to that work exist, however. State attorneys general (AGs), as government lawyers, can play an important role in addressing those barriers.
It should be easier for pros to find pro bono climate work
Grist.org (by Matthew A. Karmel)
March 28, 2022
A few years ago, I started providing pro bono legal assistance to a nonprofit in New Jersey that was helping community gardens expand their composting operations without prohibitively expensive permits. In order to change state regulations, I tapped my network to arrange meetings with local residents and elected officials who could provide support. . . .
One of the defining issues of our time – sea level rise – promises to impact millions of Americans in the coming years and decades. But while the science of sea level rise is becoming more and more accurate and predictable, and the need to adapt to a changing future more clear, the legal and policy implications of doing so are anything but obvious. In this episode, Jarryd Page, a staff attorney at ELI, talks about sea level rise with Robin Kundis Craig, the Robert C. Packard Trustee Chair in Law at the University of Southern California School of Law.
As the Agency responsible for protecting human health and the environment across the entirety of the United States, EPA has developed EJSCREEN, a mapping and screening tool that combines environmental and demographic data to highlight areas with potential environmental justice concerns. In February, EPA released EJSCREEN 2.0, adding new indicators and datasets to the tool. In this episode, Nicole Noelliste, a managing associate in the environmental practice at Sidley Austin LLP, talks to Matthew Tejada, Director of EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice, and Tai Lung, also with EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice, to learn about EJSCREEN 2.0.
