Aug 25, 2022 | DSCEJ General News, Funding News, The Latest News
(New Orleans, LA) – The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) has been awarded a $500,000 grant from The Windward Fund through its Environmental Justice Data Fund project. This grant will fund DSCEJ’s creation of the Environmental Justice Data Hub (EJDH), an interactive online portal to provide environmental justice organizations the opportunity to conduct research relevant to the needs of their communities.
“The Environmental Justice Data Hub will be an invaluable tool for our community partners as well as environmental and climate justice advocates across the country,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, DSCEJ Founder and Executive Director. “One of the best tools we have to advocate for policy change is data. We will develop the EJDH to help communities to effectively show what is in the air we’re breathing and the water we’re drinking, as well as bring more attention to the impacts of toxic chemicals on our health and quality of life. We thank the Windward Fund for this award and the ability to continue empowering advocates and climate justice leaders with the resources they need to catalyze change in their communities.”
The EJDH will leverage DSCEJ’s 30 years of education and research programs that provide community-based organizations with the tools needed to advocate for change on local, state, and federal levels of government.
About the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Families in the Gulf Coast deserve to live in communities that are free from toxic 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 place 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 provides 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 Winward Fund’s Environmental Justice Data Fund
The Environmental Justice Data Fund (EJDF or “the Fund”) is an $8 million fund, created and seeded by Google.org, that aims to help frontline communities who have been historically underserved and disproportionately impacted by climate change and environmental injustice.
Jul 28, 2022 | DSCEJ General News, Research and Policy News, The Latest News
NEW ORLEANS, LA – In response to today’s reporting on the status of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, released the following statement:
“”In the Gulf Coast and across the United States, Black and other communities of color are fighting for their health and safety in the shadows of industrial polluters. Today, this fight has gained more support from Senators, but it is far from over. The Senate’s Inflation Reduction Action is one step forward on environmental justice, but it includes some steps back with tax credits for polluting industries. We are deeply concerned about the future legacy pollution that would result from these tax credits that allow the continued burning of coal, oil and gas with inherently risky carbon capture projects and new hydrogen production facilities. We need bolder action to achieve environmental and climate justice for ourselves and future generations.”
Jul 20, 2022 | DSCEJ General News, Press Releases, Research and Policy News, The Latest News
NEW ORLEANS, LA – Today, in response to President Biden announcing upcoming executive actions aimed at combating the climate crisis and extreme heat while creating clean energy jobs in offshore wind, Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ), released the following statement:
“While DSCEJ is dismayed at Congress’ inaction to fight the climate crisis, we applaud President Biden for taking action through the executive orders announced today. In particular, President Biden announced that FEMA will double the funding to the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program as part of Justice40, marking an important step in ensuring communities that need funding for climate and clean energy the most are the ones receiving investments. As we engage grassroots communities as part of our Justice40 commitment, we are looking forward to the opportunity to continue working with the Biden administration to ensure a just Justice40 implementation.
“In addition, the expanded investment in HHS’ Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), combined with clean energy job creation in expanded offshore wind opportunities in the Gulf Coast, will help provide much-needed short-and-long-term relief for communities of color along the Gulf Coast that have suffered the brunt of environmental injustice for far too long.
“Still, as the Gulf Coast and the rest of the country face intense heat waves this week and throughout the summer, we urge the administration to go a step further and fully declare a climate emergency in order to provide the full resources needed to make sure all climate action is in line with environmental justice goals.”
Jul 15, 2022 | Community Engagement News, DSCEJ General News, The Latest News
The pioneering Collaborative for African-American Girls and Women presents, “Let Black Girls Be…”to inspire and empower the community to nurture and protect black girlhood.
New Orleans—The Collaborative for African-American Girls and Women (CAAGW), a powerhouse team of Black women leading organizations that serve Black girls in the city of New Orleans, unveils “Let Black Girls Be…”, a new campaign created by Navigate NOLA. The social marketing campaign aims to dismantle racist and sexist attitudes towards black girls that give rise to disparities across the systems with which black girls interface. The campaign’s call to action is unique in that it positions behavior change as the product being marketed, calling on the community at large to shift historically negative attitudes towards black girls and black women to celebrating black girls and extending the same grace to black girls that is extended to their white counterparts throughout girlhood.
The campaign features billboards, located throughout the city of New Orleans, of black and white portraits of black girls, captured by documentary photographer Nina Robinson. The community at large is encouraged to participate in the campaign by visiting the campaign website, www.letblackgirlsbe.com, to create their own images, celebrating black women and black girls, and posting them to social media.
CAAGW is a consortium comprised of community-based organizations/projects that support African-American girls in the city of New Orleans. CAAGW works to address the ascending disparities in education, health, and economics that African-American girls face. CAAGW utilizes a collective impact framework to evaluate the impact of programming across the partnering organizations that serve African-American girls in the city of New Orleans. CAAGW leads small-scale research initiatives to examine the experiences of African American girls and young women that can be brought to scale to better support a landscape that advances equity for African-American girls and women. CAAGW is comprised of the following organizations: 1.) Navigate NOLA, 2.) Project Butterfly New Orleans, 3.) The Orchid Society, 4.) Daughters Beyond Incarceration and 5.) The Beautiful Foundation.
CAAGW members, Dr. Danielle Wright and Dr. Rashida Govan, as part of this campaign, co-authored a book chapter, elevating the collective power of black women working with black girls, and the expected publishing date of the book is Fall 2022.
This summer, CAAGW will release a collective impact report, demonstrating the collective power of the collaborating organizations and their work, led by black women and centered on the experiences of black girls.
The “Let Black Girls Be…” campaign continues to provide educators, school-based mental health professionals, and youth-serving community-based organizations with training and professional development that seek to expand their capacity to meet the unique needs of black girls, and to shift schools and communities to spaces of healing for black girls.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Danielle Wright
Navigate NOLA
Danielle.wright@navigatenola.com
Jun 20, 2022 | DSCEJ General News, Press Releases, Research and Policy News, The Latest News
NEW ORLEANS, LA – New Orleans, LA – In response to today’s Supreme Court’s decision in the West Virginia v. EPA case, Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, released the following statement:
“Today’s US Supreme Court decision is the latest in a series of egregious rulings that put millions of people at risk. By ruling that the EPA does not have the authority to regulate carbon pollution from power plants, the Supreme Court jeopardizes our health and blocks environmental justice. Black and other communities of color are disproportionately exposed to power plant pollution which causes premature deaths and worsens the climate crisis. Power plant companies have targeted communities where, on average, 52 percent of residents are Black, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian American. This preemptive strike on the EPA’s ability to reduce power plant pollution denies our right to clean air and climate action. We will continue our fight for environmental justice and equitable climate solutions.”
Jun 9, 2022 | DSCEJ General News, Press Releases, Research and Policy News, The Latest News
NEW ORLEANS – Today, the New Orleans City Council passed Resolution NO. R-22-219 after passing through the committee unanimously. Brought forward by Councilmember Helena Moreno, this resolution urges the prohibition of underground storage of carbon dioxide and facilities for this purpose.
The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) commends the city’s leaders for taking action to protect Louisiana and New Orleans from the risks of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and related technology.
The DSCEJ has been pushing local and federal leaders to consider the potential consequences of CCS on Black communities around the Gulf Coast who have dealt with the consequences of the oil and gas industry’s careless pollution on their health and livelihood for decades.
“I am proud of New Orleans for being a trailblazer in policies that protect local communities from CCS technologies,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.
“As I said when Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm visited recently, supporting CCS will encourage the growth of fossil fuel industries and continue the injustice of putting profits over communities of color. Instead, we need to develop and implement an energy plan for Louisiana that cleans our air and powers our homes and vehicles while prioritizing equitable investments in communities and investing in people to get the necessary training for clean energy jobs of the future. We encourage other local municipalities around the country to follow New Orleans’ lead to prohibit CCS technology.”
There is evidence that shows that carbon capture could lead to significant environmental, health, and safety risks, including:
- Unregulated collection of carbon dioxide at industrial facilities, which can mix in other toxic chemicals;
- New pipelines to transport corrosive carbon streams that will cause leaks over time; and
- Underground disposal, can break down wells, move through abandoned wells, contaminate groundwater, and potentially cause earthquakes.
As the federal government considers a massive investment into carbon capture and storage, DSCEJ calls on Congress to fund an impact analysis on carbon capture and storage to be conducted by EPA, DOE, and other relevant agencies.
Contact:
Ginger LeBlanc
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
gingerl@dscej.org
(504) 298-9878
