News

What is the Justice40 Initiative? For the first time in our nation’s history, the Federal government has made it a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to...

Amnesty International’s latest report shows the harms suffered by local communities from pollution emitted by the hundreds of petrochemical plants and refineries along the Houston Ship Channel in Texas. The report documents the health and human rights consequences of...

In a recent interview with Scientific American, Robert D. Bullard reflected on the movement he helped to create. Dr. Bullard was the first scientist to publish systematic research on the links between race and exposure to pollution, which he documented for a 1979...

Communities most impacted by environmental harms and risks are typically referred to as “environmental justice (EJ) communities” or, as the US Environmental Protection Agency defines them, “overburdened communities.” A few factors go into identifying EJ communities,...

The Politics of Place Communities populated primarily by ethnic minorities and economically disadvantaged people have long been burdened with a disproportionate number of environmental hazards such as garbage dumps, toxic waste facilitates, scrap yards, factories, and...

According to a report in the Washington Timea, the Biden administration on Tuesday announced $128 million in funding for environmental justice projects across the country meant to combat the impacts of climate change in underserved communities. The money will fund 186...

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected 16 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy that will receive $177 million to help underserved and overburdened...

Four decades into his activism, Dr. Robert Bullard looks back on his legacy and the work ahead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ol_Zh7Qg4A

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Environmental Justice Index (EJI) ranks communities across the US according to environmental health risk. EJI is the first national geospatial tool to measure the cumulative impacts of social and environmental factors,...

From a forthcoming paper by Lisa Benjamin from Lewis & Clark Law School in the Harvard Environmental Law Review: Electric vehicles (EVs) are everywhere. And they are cool – consumers love them. But EVs have justice implications – both positive and negative. The...

S&P Global Mobility forecasts electric vehicle sales in the United States could reach 40 percent of total passenger car sales by 2030, and more optimistic projections foresee electric vehicle sales surpassing 50 percent by 2030. According to the U.S. Bureau of...

A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that, no matter which of the main types of air pollutants you look at, people of color are breathing more of it. And while great progress has been made in reducing deadly pollutants in the air in the US over...

Extreme weather events. Rising sea levels. Water scarcity. Melting polar ice. Warming oceans. Extended heat waves. Declining biodiversity. Flooding. Catastrophic storms. Drought. Wildfires. All these environmentally damaging activities disproportionately impact...

The recent decision by the U.S. DOJ to cancel an investigation into environmental racism is a blow to communities in Cancer Alley and environmental justice advocates. Residents in Cancer Alley have been exposed to various toxic chemicals for years that have had deadly...

Communities populated primarily by ethnic minorities and economically disadvantaged people have long been burdened with a disproportionate number of environmental hazards such as garbage dumps, toxic waste facilitates, scrap yards, factories, and other sources of...

EJScreen is an EPA's environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining environmental and demographic socioeconomic indicators. EJScreen users choose a geographic area; the tool then...

“Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.”  — Coretta Scott King

We are excited to announce the publication of Ocean Connect: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Your Ocean-Related Career. The Ocean Connect website has over 12,000 individual resources to help students find their unique connection to an ocean-related career. But we...

We are happy to announce we have added the first two videos of our four-part video tutorial series Creating Your Own Opportunity. Creating Your Own Opportunity shows you how to create your own ocean-science-related internship or research opportunity when you have not...

A fenceline community is a neighborhood immediately adjacent to highly polluting facilities (such as oil refineries, chemical factories, concrete factories, industrial parks, military bases, or other large manufacturing facilities) and is directly affected by the...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to advance environmental justice, it is hereby ordered as follows:     Section 1.  Policy.  To fulfill our Nation’s...

Every day vulnerable people are forcibly displaced due to impacts generated by climate change. This isn’t something that will happen, this is something happening now. As reported by the Environmental Justice Foundation in its 2021 report, No Shelter From the Storm,...

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has begun the process of delivering an advisory opinion on States’ obligations concerning climate change following the adoption of a recent resolution by the UN General Assembly (29/03). The request for an advisory opinion was...

A really insightful and interesting book review from the Inquisitive Biologist about this really insightful and interesting book by French author Guillaume Blanc: You would think that wildlife conservation organisations are a force for good in the world. Yet, despite...

According to reporting in the Guardian, after residents of America’s “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana put a national spotlight on their fight for a healthy environment, the state’s economic interests and petrochemical giants are backing the creation of a new...

Green Colonialism, also known as Eco-colonialism, Environmental Colonialism or Climate Colonialism refers to the Global North living at the ecological expense of the Global South for their green agendas. The actions of the already-developed and industrialised nations...

For each feature connection, the Ocean Connect website offers links to an abundance of resources that are designed to help you become an “expert” in the field. These resources include: Books Videos Podcasts Blogs Publications Journals Societies Schools Professional...

President Biden signed an executive order Friday aimed at ensuring federal decisions consider "environmental justice," which addresses higher pollution burdens often faced by communities of color and people living in poverty. The new executive order directs agencies...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it’s investing $177 million to create 17 technical assistance centers around the country to help environmental justice organizations successfully apply for federal funds. Better training on how to...

The 85-mile stretch of land along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that contains over 200 oil refineries, plastics plants, chemical plants, and other petrochemical factories that emit significant amounts of harmful air pollution is officially...

The revitalizing and restoration of rivers, creeks and streams is a major focus of urban conservation activity throughout North America and Europe. This book presents models and examples for organizing multiple stakeholders for purposes of waterway revitalization―if...

A fascinating new map by Bhabna Banerjee uses data from the Indigenous World 2022 report to show the population distribution of the roughly 476 million minority Indigenous groups worldwide. Generally, the term indigenous peoples refers to social or cultural groups...

A new report by Dorceta Taylor and Molly Blondell from the Yale University School of the Environment, examines the environmental grantmaking practices of 220 foundations that distributed more than 30,000 grants totaling $4.9 billion that were distributed over three...

The Biden-Harris Administration continues to build on early efforts to integrate environmental justice with federal agency actions through a new Executive Order 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal...

Communities most impacted by environmental harms and risks are typically referred to as “environmental justice (EJ) communities” or, as the US Environmental Protection Agency defines them, “overburdened communities.” A few factors go into identifying EJ communities,...

The Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool is a geospatial mapping tool that indicates disadvantaged communities nationwide facing significant burdens. These burdens are organized into eight categories: climate change, energy, health, housing, legacy pollution,...

The Biden-Harris Administration is making $250 million available to develop innovative strategies to cut climate pollution and build clean energy economies. These planning grants, through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are the first tranche of funding...

The recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, involving a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials, is only the most recent example of the dangers faced by vulnerable and often non-white communities that live close to train lines. Even in the absence...

"The equal rights of all peoples, and the opportunity for all human beings, without discrimination, to benefit from economic and social progress in all parts of the world." United Nations

Today The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report which provides recommendations for advancing antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) organizations....

The environmental justice atlas documents and catalogs social conflict around environmental issues. Across the world, communities are struggling to defend their land, air, water, forests and livelihoods from damaging projects and extractive activities with heavy...

According to the Environmental Justice Foundation, we live in an era of extraordinary climate injustice. The impacts of the climate crisis are deepening already existing vulnerabilities and inequalities within and across generations, communities, and countries...

The EPA's Environmental Justice Government-to-Government (EJG2G) program provides funding at the state, local, territorial, and tribal levels to support government activities that lead to measurable environmental or public health impacts in communities...

Once you do any reading about climate and environmental justice issues, you tend to get the urge to roll up your sleeves and do something about the rampant injustices that continue to exist in our society. To help you find your way along that path, we have compiled a...

I am pleased to announce that Ocean Connect's first video tutorial series - Finding a Great Opportunity - is now up in the Resources section of the Ocean Connect website. The Opportunities Database contains information on ocean-related academic programs, awards,...

A less recognized byproduct of plastic pollution is how marine plastic waste affects human populations and the unequal burden on different communities. A report, "Towards an Equitable Approach to Marine Plastics Pollution," outlines the current situation and attempts...

The Environmental Protection Agency announced it is awarding $100 million in competitive grants for projects that advance environmental justice in communities disproportionately affected by industrial pollution and other hazards. The EPA will offer the grants in two...

A study published in Nature Communications analyzed the county-level association between racial/ethnic composition and public water arsenic and uranium concentrations from 2000–2011. The study found that higher proportions of Hispanic/Latino and American...

Last week, the White House released first-of-a-kind guidance for Federal Agencies on recognizing and including Indigenous Knowledge in Federal research, policy, and decision-making. According to the White House website, Indigenous Knowledge is a body of observations,...

The Pacific island nation Vanuatu and 17 other countries recently published a draft resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to clarify what responsibilities governments around the world have to protect future generations from climate change. The...

Tuvalu, a group of nine islands halfway between Hawaii and Australia, is building a digital version of itself, replicating islands and landmarks and preserving its history and culture as rising sea levels threaten to submerge the tiny Pacific island nation. Tuvalu's...

If you focus on the headlines coming out of the recently concluded COP27 climate summit in Egypt, you might just believe that great progress has been made in helping vulnerable countries deal with the devastating impacts of global warming. The word that appears most...

Communities populated primarily by ethnic minorities and economically disadvantaged people have long been burdened with a disproportionate number of environmental hazards such as garbage dumps, toxic waste facilitates, scrap yards, factories, and other sources of...

According to a recent study published in the journal Science Advances, heat waves, exacerbated by human-caused climate change, have cost the global economy at least 16 trillion dollars in the last 30 years.  This burden has disproportionately fallen on the world's...

Environmental justice is the principle that all people and communities - regardless of race, color, national origin, or income - have a right to equal enforcement and equal protection of environmental laws and regulations. The environmental justice movement is a vital...

Drafted and adopted in 1991 at the National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, the Principles serve as a guidepost for the environmental justice movement. Anyone interested in pursuing a career in environmental justice should be familiar with these...

In a historic move, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it is establishing a new national office charged with advancing environmental justice and civil rights. The creation of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights is part of...

The States of Washington and Nevada have proclaimed August 29th as Environmental Justice Day to highlight the human cost of pollution and climate change. Each state has compiled resources for its citizens to address environmental issues in their communities and learn...

Communities populated primarily by ethnic minorities and economically disadvantaged people have long been burdened with a disproportionate number of environmental hazards such as garbage dumps, toxic waste facilitates, scrap yards, factories, and other sources of...

How does an internship at a prestigious university sound? What about a research fellowship at NASA, NOAA, or the National Institutes of Health?  Not only will these programs look great on your college application, but they will also give you a huge jump on...

Last year, regional collaboration emerged as a driver of global climate progress. The Glasgow Climate Pact agreed at COP26 recognizes Regional Climate Weeks as a platform for governments and stakeholders to foster a credible and durable response to climate change....

According to a recent paper published in Nature Geoscience that studied the structural barriers to inclusiveness in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM), geoscience remains one of the least diverse disciplines with persistent...

“Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.”  — Coretta Scott King