So much going on. There are many ways to help with the work of love, justice, and the Earth.
Below find articles, videos, actions you can take, and events, beginning with the Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board meeting today at 2 pm, plus, the June 20 Mass Poor People’s Assembly & Moral March on Washington, nine days away now, and coming at such a critical time in our history.
June 11, Special meeting of Secretary’s Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board
2-3 pm, The NC Department of Environmental Quality Secretary’s Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board will hold a special meeting remotely via video conference. The special meeting is being held to discuss a motion made during the November board meeting to express concern regarding the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The public is invited to watch the meeting online or listen by phone. Predict and hope there will be a recording later. To attend via WebEx, go to the following website to register:
Meeting number / Access Code: 161 900 8800
Password: 756534963
Phone: +1-415-655-0003 US TOLL
June 20, The Mass Poor People’s Assembly & Moral March on Washington
On June 20th, we will hold the largest digital and social media gathering of poor and low-wealth people, moral and religious leaders, advocates, and people of conscience in this nation’s history. A global pandemic is exposing even more the already existing crisis of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy and militarism, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. On June 20, the 140 million poor and low-income people across this nation will be heard! Register and more information at www.June2020.org Check out this awesome video to inspire you to get ready and join the fusion movement! https://youtu.be/7PjveDCFbr8
ACTIONS!
Stop the attack on clean energy nationwide!
Special interest group New England Ratepayers Association, with known links to monopoly utilities, has filed a petition with the Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) to strip away your right to produce your own clean energy and to sell your excess energy to your electric company to put on the grid. If FERC grants the petition, the impacts would be devastating. Send a letter to Gov. Cooper using this link. You can also sign this letter that will be sent to FERC Commissioners. Sign by June 15!
Stop the Dominion Pipeline Extension in Durham! Dominion has a new proposed pipeline the Triangle area that we need to stop before it starts! Write a letter here.
Friday Mornings, No Coal Plant UNC protest/vigil/witness is back. 8:00 am, Cameron Avenue. Wear masks, spread out, bring a sign.
Write a letter telling UNC to shut down the campus coal plant. It is irresponsible to continue to release toxic air pollutants when studies show that people living in areas of higher air pollution are more likely to succumb to COVID-19!
Stop destroying forests and harming communities for biomass!
Logging forests for biomass harms forests, communities, and the climate. Stand with the residents of Robeson County who will be the most impacted by this proposed pellet plant, andsend a message to NC DEQ and Gov. Cooper urging them to stop the expansion of the wood pellet industry in North Carolina.
June 22, Virtual Public Hearing on proposed Active Energy black wood pellet facility in Lumberton
6:00 pm, Based on public interest and concerns from the Lumberton community, the Department of Air Quality has scheduled an official virtual public hearing for the proposed black wood pellet facility. *Register by 4:00 pm on June 22, 2020 to give public comment! https://bit.ly/2WNW1dn
If you can’t attend the virtual hearing, DAQ will be accepting comments until June 16, 5:00 pm, [email protected]. Please type “Active Energy Renewable Power” in the subject line. Check out this article by Emily Zucchino from Dogwood Alliance with more details and for suggested comments.
6:00 pm, Based on public interest and concerns from the Lumberton community, the Department of Air Quality has scheduled an official virtual public hearing for the proposed black wood pellet facility. *Register by 4:00 pm on June 22, 2020 to give public comment! https://bit.ly/2WNW1dn
If you can’t attend the virtual hearing, DAQ will be accepting comments until June 16, 5:00 pm, [email protected]. Please type “Active Energy Renewable Power” in the subject line. Check out this article by Emily Zucchino from Dogwood Alliance with more details and for suggested comments.
June 18, Summer Virtual Tour #1: Youth for Energy Justice
4:30-6pm, online, Youth activists within the Energy Justice NC coalition will host the tour stop in conjunction with local chapters of Climate Reality Project, Extinction Rebellion, Climate Action NC, and Sunrise Movement. The event will elevate youth voices within the state and leave room for collective storytelling.
Youth for Energy Justice is the first in a summer-long series of tour stops hosted by EJNC and community partners to highlight the ways different impacted groups have been affected by our unjust system, and to help collectively take action and stand in solidarity with these communities. Now, more than ever, we need an energy system that protects our communities, and works in the interests of ratepayers, not shareholders! RSVP here
Saturdays, June 6 to 27 from 2 to 4:30 pm, Drawdown Solutions Workshop. Find your unique contribution to reversing global warming and getting into action with a community of like-minded individuals. These four vibrant workshops bring people together as a community to address local and national global warming solutions from Project Drawdown. Free, but register here to receive the Zoom links.
June 27, Case Study: Drawdown in a Mid-Sized Town.
10 to 11:30 am, Pachamama RTP meeting. Learn how one community analyzed the Project Drawdown solutions for reversing global warming and is now using some of them to shape its future. If you live in Cary, find out how to participate. If you live elsewhere, get ideas for launching a similar project in your area. Our speakers will be Emily Barrett, who has ten years of municipal sustainability experience, and Rick Savage, Chair of Cary’s Environmental Advisory Board. After the presentation, we’ll break into groups online to discuss action in your community and in your interest area. Free, but register to receive the Zoom link.
June 27, Initiating the Courageous Conversations About Race
10 am – 12 pm, online https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIudu-spjovGN011BfXnKNKxemP9phGww2Y
We need to be open, and honest, and make sure that we have safe environment spaces and structures that encourage all community leaders to take the journey to have the conversations about race. We have a moral imperative, the collective we, to challenge systemic racism through deeper understanding.
More information here. https://www.facebook.com/events/250549429385573/
Articles and videos
350.org’s Defending Black Lives video with Dominque
As climate scientist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson says, “Our racial inequality crisis is intertwined with our climate crisis. If we don’t work on both, we will succeed at neither.” Read Dr. Johnson’s article Stopping climate change is hard enough, but racism only makes it harder
Five environmental justice leaders talk about addressing the compounded threats of racial injustice, climate change, and COVID-19. Why racial justice is climate justice
Rev. Yearwood from Hip Hop Caucus video on climate justice.
Care Work, Economic Recovery & the Green New Deal. This was such an important conversation with Naomi Klein, Ai-jen Poo, and others. It’s all connected.
Bishop William J. Barber’s A Pastoral Letter to the Nation.
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s How Do We Change America?.
Thanks for all you do! Take care of yourselves.
Peace and love for our beautiful Earth, Karen