Dec 29, 2023 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, Research and Policy News
Dec 29, 2023
From the Desk of Dr. Beverly Wright:
The Path Forward with EPA and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
Yesterday, the EPA granted Louisiana the authority to create underground carbon capture wells following the state’s application. DSCEJ and the entire environmental justice movement have fought carbon capture and storage every step of the way and this recent news does not end our fight against this unproven and dangerous technology. CCS is one of the biggest threats to communities of color being harmed by the polluting industries that exacerbate our climate crisis and by the regulatory agencies that are supposed to be protecting them.
We have had an ongoing dialogue with the EPA and state officials about CCS and have voiced our opposition at every opportunity, including at a public hearing this past June and during Administrator Regan’s visits to Louisiana over the last 3 years. While this decision is not what we tirelessly advocated for, or is in the best interest of Cancer Alley communities, our next steps all center around accountability for EPA and Louisiana officials.
The EPA’s Memorandum of Agreement with the State of Louisiana includes environmental justice provisions requiring the state act to protect communities from current or future environmental hazards associated with CCS. The inclusion of these environmental justice provisions is encouraging and must be enforced and referenced at every step of the process.
With a history of unjust environmental policies, we proceed cautiously. Communities across Louisiana are depending on these provisions to protect them from decades of environmental policy that put these very communities at risk from illness, pollution, and death. Louisiana’s most vulnerable cannot be left exposed to an untested pollution control technology without accountability.
I look forward to working with each of these communities to make sure state and federal officials hold up their end of the bargain. While our frustration with the overall decision is unwavering, we want to keep the dialogue ongoing and harness our frustration into measures of accountability.
We will be sharing more information in the new year about our next steps and actions.
Thank you for continuing to be part of this important work and not relenting in the ongoing fight against CCS.
Dr. Beverly Wright
Dec 13, 2023 | DSCEJ General News, Funding News, Press Releases
For Immediate Release
December 13, 2023
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Receives $825,000 Grant from The Kresge Foundation
NEW ORLEANS, LA – The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded an $825,000 grant from The Kresge Foundation to strengthen its organization as a resource for education, research, community and student engagement, and technical training, with innovative programs for community capacity building in the Gulf Coast Region to respond to the impact of systemic inequities, and the devastating impact of climate change and water quality/water justice issues. Activities for this project have begun and will conclude in October 2026.
The DSCEJ will employ its unique “Communiversity Model,” which has effectively fostered meaningful collaborations between communities and academic researchers, to help its partner CBOs learn about policies governing flood protection, to develop strategies to identify and prioritize common and recurring flood risks that threaten their communities and region, and to identify practical solutions to mitigate these flood risks.
“We are thrilled to receive this grant from The Kresge Foundation,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of DSCEJ. “This funding will bring critical capacity-building support to Black communities who are significantly vulnerable to flood events caused by increasingly frequent rainfall and major storms.” Flood hazards in Black communities in the Gulf Coast Region have deep roots in systemic racism in zoning, housing, and community development. The DSCEJ anticipates that the increased knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy in communities across the Gulf Coast are expected to have long-term impacts on legal decisions, targeted actions, and policy development at the local, state, and national level.
Since 2017, The Kresge Foundation has generously supported DSCEJ community engagement projects with $2.95 million in grants.
About the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Families in the Gulf Coast deserve to live in communities that are free from deadly air and are more resilient to climate change and extreme weather. The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) works to empower and engage communities to put environmental justice and equity at the center of all climate action. Led by environmental justice scholar and advocate, author, civic leader and professor of Sociology Dr. Beverly L. Wright, the DSCEJ uses research, education, and community and student engagement to advocate for policy change, lead health and safety training for environmental careers, develop social and emotional community wellness programs, and create new and environmentally healthy opportunities for the residents of communities disproportionately impacted by historic environmental injustice.
About The Kresge Foundation
The Kresge Foundation was founded in 1924 to promote human progress. Today, Kresge fulfills that mission by building and strengthening pathways to opportunity for low-income people in America’s cities, seeking to dismantle structural and systemic barriers to equality and justice. Using a full array of grant, loan, and other investment tools, Kresge invests more than $160 million annually to foster economic and social change. For more information visit kresge.org.
Nov 29, 2023 | CIRC News, DSCEJ General News, Funding News, Press Releases
Nov 29, 2023
The Community Investment & Recovery Center (CIRC) Will Help More Than 250 Regional Organizations Secure Vital Federal Funding for Environmental Justice Concerns
New Orleans, LA – The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) announces the launch of an online resource for its Community Investment & Recovery Center (CIRC), one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Justice Thriving Community Technical Assistance Centers (TCTAC). Over the next five years, DSCEJ will assist more than 250 community-based organizations in rural and underserved communities in applying for and accessing $50 to $100 million in grants to address their community’s environmental challenges.
Through the CIRC, DSCEJ will provide technical assistance and help build capacity for the community-based organizations to put them in the best possible position to secure federal funding through the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 initiative, a whole-of-government approach to ensuring 40% of climate investments flow to underserved communities that are overburdened by pollution.
The launch of the online resource is a part of the CIRC information and outreach hub to serve communities in EPA Regions 4 and 6, which span 13 states and 72 tribes. Community-based organizations interested in accessing technical assistance services provided by DSCEJ’s CIRC program can go online to complete the CIRC Capacity Assessment.
“The historic investments made by the Biden-Harris Administration in environmental justice are coming to bear. We are looking forward to serving communities to build their capacities and secure funds now available to them through the administrations’ Investing in America agenda to improve environmental conditions and reduce climate risks,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, founder and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. “We have spent decades building the relationships and capacity needed to have an impact on this scale. While our goal is ambitious, we know the most effective solutions are those closest to the community, and now is the time to act on them.”
In August, the EPA awarded DSCEJ a $13 million grant over five years to remove barriers and improve accessibility for communities with environmental justice concerns. DSCEJ is among 16 entities selected nationally through a partnership between the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy to house Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) and receive $177 million in grant funding.
The EJ TCTAC program is part of the Federal Interagency Thriving Communities Network. The new technical assistance centers will help ensure communities with environmental justice concerns can access President Biden’s historic investments in America to address generational disinvestment, legacy pollution, and infrastructure challenges and build a clean energy economy that will lower energy costs, strengthen our energy security, and meet our climate goals.
###
Nov 17, 2023 | DSCEJ General News, HBCU Climate Change Conference News, Student Engagement News
Nov 17, 2023
Our Largest Conference Yet!
Dr. Beverly Wright, founder and executive director of the DSCEJ, and Dr. Robert D. Bullard, founder and executive director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University co-convened the 9th Annual HBCU Climate Change Conference in New Orleans, October 11 – 15, 2023
Themed “Looking Back to Move Forward: Building a Climate Resilient Future with Vulnerable Communities,” the conference addressed the need to provide space for reflection and evaluation of where we are now and what paths we should take moving forward in our quest to fight climate change and to build climate-resilient communities.
READ MORE IN THE RECAP REPORT
Nov 17, 2023 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, International Connection News
November 17, 2023
Beyond Petrochemicals Hosts Environmental Justice Delegation at Global Plastics Treaty Negotiations in Nairobi (INC-3)
Nairobi, Kenya – As part of the Beyond Petrochemicals Campaign, Dr. Beverly Wright, founder and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, joined local leaders and community advocates from Texas, Louisiana, and the Ohio River Valley in Nairobi, Kenya this week to participate in the third session of the United Nations global plastics treaty process (INC – 3).
The delegation aims to elevate the invaluable role and experiences of frontline communities in the negotiation process. The communities included know firsthand the harm caused by the petrochemical industry and will provide an important perspective to the treaty process.
“The Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, or Cancer Alley produces one-fifth of the United States’ petrochemicals, and generations of Black and brown families have been exposed to these deadly chemicals due to the unchecked pollution of these neighboring industrial plants,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, founder and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. “Cancer Alley facilities remain Louisiana’s top pollution producers, and these negotiations are a bold step in the right direction to ensure all families can live and thrive in a healthy and pollution-free environment.”
“Those closest to the problem are usually the ones that have the solutions,” said Heather McTeer Toney, Executive Director of Beyond Petrochemicals. “We are honored to support these leaders and the work they are doing to protect the air, water and health of the places they call home.”
Petrochemicals are the building block for plastic production and account for 10 percent of global GHG emissions, which if left unchecked, will increase by 20 percent by 2030. Plastic pollution is both a global and a local issue. Communities in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley live with a 95 percent higher cancer risk than the rest of the country. Petrochemical facilities use and emit toxic chemicals linked to not only cancer but other health problems like respiratory and cardiac illnesses, which disproportionately affect people of color and low-income communities.
Nov 3, 2023 | DSCEJ General News, Worker Training Program News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 3, 2023
Contact: media@dscej.org
NEW ORLEANS, LA – The Deep South Center for Environmental (DSCEJ) is currently accepting applications for the 2024 Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP) which will begin on January 8th and conclude in mid-March 2024.
This comprehensive 12-week program, funded by the NIEHS Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP), focuses on delivering environmental and construction training and offers certifications/accreditations in areas such as asbestos, lead, and mold remediation/restoration, hazardous materials/waste handling, and OSHA construction safety. Upon successful completion of the program, participants will be assisted with job placement. The DSCEJ ECWTP has an average job placement rate of 85-90% with average earnings of $17 – $20 per hour.
Eligible participants must be unemployed or underemployed. Testing and interviewing will take place from November 1 through December 22, 2023. To apply, please visit www.dscej.org/ecwtp. For more information, please contact Jeremy Davis, Worker Training Program Manager, at jeremyd@dscej.org.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW:
Training Is Free
Training is offered in a 12-week classroom and hands-on type setting by dynamic instructors and trainers that are experts in their field. Program graduates are fully certified in each technical segment completed satisfactorily and are provided OSHA workplace cards. The staff provides placement and career development assistance and continues to track the performance of both recent and past graduates.
PROGRAM COMPONENTS:
Basic Skills
The Basic Skills instruction provides trainees with the personal and interpersonal skills required to deal with the challenges of everyday life and to obtain and sustain employment. The ECWTP six-week basic skills training utilizes a work-based learning curriculum. Classes include study skills, mathematics, an introduction to hazardous materials, computer basics, life skills, job readiness, and physical fitness. There is also a counseling component that provides students with problem intervention and assistance, in addition to information on a wide range of social services to aid them in achieving their educational and vocational goals.
Technical Training
Technical training can include the following components as required by the granting agency:
40-hour — Construction
40-hour — Weatherization
16-hour — Lead Abatement
32-hour — Asbestos Abatement
40-hour — Hazardous Waste Worker
16-hour — Mold Remediation
10-hour — OSHA Construction or General Industry
Student training incentives include:
- Stipend
- Lunch
- Bus Pass (if needed)
- TWIC Cards available to eligible participants
PROGRAM HISTORY:
Many communities in the Gulf Coast region face barriers to sustainable employment. In Louisiana alone, roughly 3.5% of the population is unemployed and approximately 19.6% are living in poverty.
To help overcome these socioeconomic barriers, Dr. Beverly Wright, DSCEJ Executive Director, and her longtime colleague Robert Bullard, Ph.D., of Texas Southern University, direct the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Consortium. The HBCU Consortium focuses on delivering pre-employment and life skills training to underserved and under-employed individuals. The Consortium is one of several grantees funded by the NIEHS Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP), administered by the broader NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP).
The HBCU Consortium has been a part of the ECWTP for more than two decades. The Consortium partners with others in academia, community, and faith-based organizations, and small businesses to deliver training to individuals in New Orleans, Houston, Detroit, and Pensacola, Florida. This training increases career and employment opportunities in the fields of environmental cleanup, construction, hazardous waste removal, and emergency response. Trainees were placed in jobs including environmental remediation, green infrastructure installation, construction and demolition, and transportation.
The HBCU Consortium also equips trainees with the skills necessary to respond to climate-related disasters and public health emergencies. Over the years, many trainees have participated in cleanup and recovery activities following the Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Harvey, and others.
Recent ECWTP Program Success Stats
- In 2021, the HBCU Consortium trained a total of 80 individuals and 87% were placed in jobs.
- In 2022, with 85 individuals trained a 100% placement rate was achieved.
- In 2023, ECWTP served 120 individuals with 96% job placement.
*For the past four years, ECWTP has had an average job placement success rate of 93%!
For more information: READ THE NIEHS ECWTP PROGRAM OVERVIEW
###
About the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Families in the Gulf Coast deserve to live in communities that are free from deadly air and are more resilient to climate change and extreme weather. The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) works to empower and engage communities to put environmental justice and equity at the center of all climate action. Led by environmental justice scholar and advocate, author, civic leader and professor of Sociology Dr. Beverly L. Wright, the DSCEJ uses research, education, and community and student engagement to advocate for policy change, lead health and safety training for environmental careers, develop social and emotional community wellness programs, and create new and environmentally healthy opportunities for the residents of communities disproportionately impacted by historic environmental injustice.
