In his historic encyclical on ecology, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis calls on all people to care for creation and our common home. Pope Francis makes clear that our care for one another and our care for the earth are intimately connected, noting that humanity is not faced “with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.” (Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home)
A Catholic response to climate change places care for creation and care for poor and vulnerable people who are most affected by climate change impacts at the center of its response. As the U.S. Catholic bishops wrote in their pastoral statement, Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue Prudence and the Common Good, “Action to mitigate global climate change must be built upon a foundation of social and economic justice.”
During his 2015 visit to the United States, Pope Francis said, “Climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation. When it comes to the care of our ‘common home’, we are living at a critical moment of history.”
The Very Rev. Arturo Sosa, S.J., current Superior General of the Society of Jesus, announced four Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs) that will guide the mission of the Jesuits for the next 10 years. Included in the UAPs are the call to “Collaborate, with Gospel depth, for the protection and renewal of God’s Creation,” and to, “Walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice.” As partners in ministry with the Jesuits through our shared Ignatian charism, we are called to allow these themes to capture our imagination and to guide our work, especially on the issue of climate change as failure to address this urgent global issue confronting the human family will affect the lives of historically marginalized groups around the world.
As we begin to think more about climate resilience and the prevention of future climate crises, we must consider how to bring environmental justice to the forefront of our conversations. The Energy & Environment Program is expanding our scope to be committed to upholding the values of environmental justice and equity for all communities. Below you can find more information on how to support environmental justice initiatives at both the local and national level.
Environmental justice is intersected with public health, education, and social justice. Learn more about how these are related and what others are doing to highlight their interconnectedness at the national level:
- Public Health: Read the American Public Health factsheet on Health and Environmental Justice
- Education:Read “Teaching Intersectionality and Environmental Justice in Our Classrooms” by the NAACP for resources on how to effectively incorporate environmental justice in the classroom.
- Social Justice: The National Black Environmental Justice Network aims to compact environmental racism by creating a space for leaders and building alliances to connect their work, share resources, and strategically target systemic racism.
The first step for environmental justice is educating yourself about the issues and learning how to be a better ally and advocate. The resources below can help equip you with the tools you need:
- Listen to the Grist Podcast “Temperature Check” which will cover climate, race, and culture by Julian Brave NoiseCat
- Diversifying Power: Why We Need Antiracist, Feminist Leadership on Climate and Energy by Jennie C. Stephens
- All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katharine K. Wilkinson
- Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret by Catherine Flowers
- Read the Water Career and Opportunities report by Dr. Afia S. Zakiya with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
Please see the organizations below that are committed to addressing environmental justice in their everyday work:
- We Act for EJ empowers and organizes low-income, people of color to build healthy communities for all.
- Black Millennials for Flint Is a grassroots organization that aims to take action and advocate against the crisis of lead exposure specifically in American & Latino communities throughout the nation.
- Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Partners with communities harmed by racially disproportionate pollution burdens and attendant climate vulnerabilities.
- NAACP Environmental & Climate Justice Program was created to support community leadership in addressing environmental injustice.
- Think 100% for Climate uses podcasts, films, music, and activism to draw inspiration in the climate justice movement.
- Alliance to Save Energy Is a bipartisan alliance of business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders advocating for enhanced energy productivity to achieve economic growth, a cleaner environment, and greater energy security, affordability, and reliability.
- Corazon Latino Aims to generate social, environmental, and conservation initiatives that foster natural resource stewardship.
- Center for Earth Ethics works at the center of social equity and the ecological crisis by raising public consciousness.
- Intersectional Environmentalist provides resources, information, and action steps to support intersectional environmentalism.
Environmental and Climate Justice Program
When folks think about climate change, what often comes to mind are melting ice caps and suffering polar bears. In the past, and to some extent still now, when people think of environmentalism, they often think of saving the whales or hugging trees! Historically, American society has failed to make the connection in terms of the direct impact of environmental injustices, including climate change, on our own lives, families, and communities, which depend on the physical environment and its bounty.
Toxic facilities, like coal fired power plants and incinerators, are emitting mercury, arsenic, lead, and other contaminants into the water, food, and lungs of communities. Many of these same facilities are also emitting carbon dioxide and methane – the #1 and #2 drivers of climate change. At the same time not all are equally impacted. For example, race – even more than class – is the number one indicator for the placement of toxic facilities in this country. And communities of color and low income communities are often the hardest hit by climate change.
Climate change is about the increase in the severity of storms which means that storms like Sandy and Isaac, which devastated communities from Boston to Biloxi, will become more of the norm.
Environmental injustice is about people in Detroit, Ohio, Chicago, Memphis, Kansas City, and elsewhere who have died and others who are chronically ill due to exposure to toxins from coal fired power plants and other toxic facilities.
Climate change is about our sisters and brothers in the Bahamas, as well as Inuit communities in Kivalina, Alaska, and communities in Thibodaux, Louisiana, who will be losing their homes to rising sea levels in the coming few years.
Climate change and environmental injustice are about sisters and brothers from West Virginia to Tennessee who are breathing toxic ash from blasting for mountain top removal.
Environmental injustice and climate change are about the fact that in many communities it is far easier to find a bag of Cheetos than a carton of strawberries and this only stands to get worse as drought and flooding impact the availability and affordability of nutritious food.