When Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA) passed away, the environmental justice movement lost a powerful champion in the House of Representatives. In Newsweek, renowned environmental justice leaders Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali of the National Wildlife Federation & the Rev. Leo Woodberry of Kingdom Living Temple urge Congress to build on Rep. McEachin’s legacy.
Read MoreDion Dawson is a Chicago native who experienced homelessness & food insecurity both as a child & as a military veteran. Now, he runs a nonprofit – called Dion’s Chicago Dream – that feeds over 600 Chicagoland families in need so they don’t have to go hungry like he did. Watch Dion’s moving story on the TODAY show.
Read MoreFor its 10-year anniversary, we helped the Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE) produce materials showcasing its success in working with partners to turn New York state into a national clean energy leader. Along with key partners, AGREE secured passage of the nation’s first utility decarbonization law, decarbonized hundreds of homes, launched the state’s community solar program, and kept utility bill rate hikes in check. To learn more, please see AGREE’s 10-year impact report and brochure.
Read MoreWGN-TV Exclusive: This year, Dion’s Chicago Dream & Digs with Dignity will deliver housing stability & food security for 65 families in need on the South and West Sides. The nonprofits recently served a family in Englewood, with the help of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Read MoreAhead of his meetings at the White House and Capitol Hill, the Reverend Leo Woodberry pens an op-ed for The Hill outlining key ways federal policymakers can advance environmental justice and ensure community-based environmental justice groups have a fair shot at accessing Justice40 Initiative funding.
Read MoreIn an op-ed in the Fresno Bee, the mayor of Huron – one of the poorest communities in California – urges Gov. Newsom and the California Public Utilities Commission to reject changes to the state’s rooftop and community solar net-metering program. The proposed changes would put solar out of reach for many of his constituents, and jeopardize the city’s proposed community solar microgrid and energy storage project.
Read MoreAhead of COP27, environmental justice pastor the Reverend Leo Woodberry explains in Common Dreams that climate justice groups are ushering in a new era of IRON will (Innovation, Resolve, Opportunity, New approaches) to protect disadvantaged communities around the world from the impacts of the climate crisis.
Read MoreAs featured in a Southside Weekly cover story – as well as on TMZ, Fox 32, and Block Club Chicago – the rapper G Herbo is partnering with the nonprofit Dion’s Chicago Dream to address food insecurity throughout his native Chicago. By serving as a brand ambassador and making monthly donations, G Herbo will help the nonprofit raise $500,000 to move the 500 households on its waitlist from food-insecure to food-secure. For every $1,000 the organization raises, it’s able to provide a new household with a 10-pound box of fresh produce every week for a year.
Read MoreBy putting equity at the center of California's lithium development plans, the state has an opportunity to turn the Salton Sea environmental disaster into a catalyst for environmental justice, green jobs and economic development. With the support of The Solutions Project, Luis Olmedo of Imperial Valley's Comite Civico del Valle calls on state leaders to listen to the experts - those who represent Imperial County government, unions, environmental justice and public health groups and local chambers of commerce - as the Golden State plans and develops this vital clean energy resource.
Read MoreOn LinkedIn, energy expert Pat Stanton of E4TheFuture highlights one of the most exciting features of the Senate’s Inflation Reduction Act: a historic $9 billion investment in making U.S. homes more energy efficient. This important piece of legislation will help address climate change, create over one million jobs, and save families money on their energy bills. Talk about a triple win for the environment, the economy, and equity.
Read MoreAs heat waves become longer, hotter, and more dangerous in California, vulnerable people need cooling immediately. Dr. David Eisenman of the David Geffen School of Medicine and the UCLA Center for Healthy Climate Solutions and V. Kelly Turner of UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation explain how chief heat officers can save lives if they direct their efforts first and foremost to frontline communities.
Read MoreU.S. forests are under attack. Government leaders and even giants in the environmental movement like The Nature Conservancy seem to have a willful blind spot about just how damaging logging and the wood products industry are for frontline communities. With the support of The Solutions Project, Rev. Leo Woodberry of New Alpha Community Development Corporation and Katherine Egland of the NAACP and EEECHO (Education, Economics, Environmental, Climate and Health Organization) call for the advancement of real climate solutions that put people - not profit – first.
Read MoreIn honor of Juneteenth, Solutions Project grantee and Chicago-based national environmental justice and economic development organization Blacks in Green (BIG) created two new sustainable, innovative green infrastructure spaces - called the Prairie Rainwater Parkway Garden – at the organization's Mamie Till-Mobley Forgiveness Garden, a key feature of BIG’s Sustainable Square Mile project in historic West Woodlawn.
The Prairie Rainwater Parkway Garden will provide rainwater management, conserve water, improve habitat, provide cooling shade for residents, and create beautiful spaces for this historic neighborhood.
Read MoreConsidered a laggard when it comes to community solar, California is now moving to make solar more accessible for low-resource and communities of color. AB2316 would create a new statewide Community Renewable Energy Program – a program aimed at bringing solar to low-resource Californians, communities of color and renters. In an opinion article in the Fresno Bee The Solutions Project grantee the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), explains why the law would be a climate and environmental justice win for low resource Californians and communities of color who are struggling with high utility bills.
Read MoreCalifornia environmental justice leaders with the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition and Solutions Project grantee Little Manila Rising are working together to make AB 2550 a law and empower the California Air Resources Board to provide technical and other support to help clean up the air in the San Joaquin Valley. The bill – just passed by the California Assembly - would help create a healthier future for frontline communities in the San Joaquin Valley where people breathe some of the dirtiest air in the nation.
Read MoreFor Earth Week, Naomi Davis of Blacks in Green participated in a panel on Chicago Tonight Black Voices and Latino Voices to discuss how air pollution and climate change disproportionately affect communities of color in the Chicagoland area, and the solutions that are underway, including BIG’s Sustainable Square Mile Initiative.
Read MoreCalifornia environmental justice leader Dillon Delvo of Little Manila Rising, which advocates for those disproportionately harmed by climate change and dirty energy, recently issued a plea to the Biden administration. As the administration moves forward with its landmark Justice40 Initiative, he asks for a “grassroots up” approach. Putting federal dollars directly into the hands of marginalized communities is the best way to grow and replicate programs that are making a real difference in Black, brown and under-resourced communities.
Read MoreIn Blavity, Naomi Davis of Blacks in Green writes a powerful op-ed that counters the typical Earth Day focus on the importance of individual action on climate and environment issues. Instead, she highlights that working with your community on local climate and sustainability efforts is where your efforts can really pay off.
Read MoreIn Smart Cities Dive, IMPEL+ Director Reshma Singh highlights ways to support entrepreneurs in bringing their building decarbonization technologies to market.
Read MoreIn honor of Black History Month, The Solutions Project has launched the second annual Black Climate Week, which runs Monday, February 21 through Friday, February 25. Every year, the campaign focuses on a different theme related to Black leadership in the climate movement. This year, the campaign celebrates the work of 14 organizations that are spearheading climate justice solutions that are rooted in Black history.
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