Tag Archive | Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition

EJ Communities’ Urgent Need for Climate Action

Feb3

mejc_logo_colorReposted from the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition

*This letter was originally prepared for a meeting with EJ Public Advocate Regina Strong, and Dr. Brandy Brown, Climate and Energy Advisor to the Governor

Memo on Governor’s Climate Agenda: To Address the Urgent
Need for Environmental Justice, We Must be Climate READY

First, we want to recognize the moral significance of making time and space to meet directly with environmental justice communities and organizations on the urgent demands of the climate crisis.

Vulnerable communities, Black, Latinx, Arab, and Indigenous peoples have bore the brunt of contamination and degradation in Michigan for decades, if not centuries. As such, our expertise of the regulatory system, our traditional ecological knowledge, and our social networks are rich, exact in their capacities, and best suited to troubleshoot and resolve climate issues – whether the issues are ones that are emergent or ones tied to past abuses of the energy sector.
Additionally, organizations and Tribes led by leaders who live in their communities bear externalities and the highest risks of bad policy decisions. They also have the most to gain from positive results of good policy in physical and material ways. The rewards of positive policy decisions should seek to amend and resolve the historic disproportionality of toxicity and inaccessibility to food, water, land, healthy communities and cultural freedoms.
With this in mind, we believe there are several low hanging fruits for the Governor to move on that exemplify early stage crisis responses that are administratively sound. We summarize them in a community-useful acronym called Climate R.E.A.D.Y. that identifies our priorities and timeframe.

CLIMATE R.E.A.D.Y.
Readiness for the crisis
● Establish regular communication with frontline communities, especially those that are
multilingual and accessible for multi-abled people;
● Engage local hearings, townhall, and listening sessions on toxics, vulnerability, health, pollution, legacy sites, flooding, high heat and extreme cold;
● Meet regularly with EJ organizations and Tribal governments about climate, environmental impacts, and troubleshooting resilience strategies;
● Communicate with multi-platform channels through televised, print, and online sources.

Emergency-response protocols
● Establish cross-agency and cross-jurisdiction working groups that can quickly mobilize when there is a threat of exposure and/or contamination along with extreme weather contingency planning, funding, and execution;
● Troubleshoot and evaluate emergency situations and closure of regulatory loopholes;
● Disclose fully all materials, incidents and responsible parties, with fines and fees levied at the scale of the risk and directed toward clean up and harm reduction/mitigation;
● Deploy effective and timely risk communication to potentially impacted communities, with
adequate evacuation notification.

Assess past and foreseen harms
● Employ Cumulative Impact Assessments and Health Impact Assessment in decision-making;
● Assess climate risk in decision-making at the permit level, and certificate of necessity, IRP and other planning, including high lake levels, including life cycle analysis of all GHG emission sources (public and private);
● Establish a Climate Commission in which equity is central and where environmental justice communities have a majority in decision-making;
● Enact vulnerability criteria that are utilized in decision-making processes regarding emissions control, reduction, mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Development initiatives
● Aggregate financing, block grants, and special funds deployed for Just Transition within geographies directly impacted by pollution, flooding, food shocks, high heat, drought, extreme cold and persistent contamination AND particularly where there is no or inadequate access to healthcare, housing, food and clean water, and other resilience measures for public health and welfare;
● Direct public dollars to leverage the Just Transition of municipalities and workforce sectors impacted by fossil fuel regulatory statutes like facility closure;
● Target strategies for transitioning from a fossil fuel-based economy to a renewable economy within those same vulnerable geographies, including EV access, clean drinking water and sanitation infrastructure, organic food, waste reduction and elimination, community solar, energy, efficient retrofits, transmission renovation and distributed generation;
● Create a “Do business in Michigan” incentives program for Michigan-based companies to receive tax breaks or other incentives as they pursue/maximize using local production inputs and purchase products, minority-owned businesses, as locally as possible to reduce transportation emissions, which will also create Michigan jobs and economic benefits.
● Train those most under-represented in the clean energy workforce including but not limited to: returning citizens, veterans, Tribal members, DACA residents;
● Reject bailout promises that burden residential consumers with debt from stranded assets we foresee in the energy sector;
● Adopt strategies for EJ communities displaced by extreme weather events settling or unsettled in Michigan.

Year 2030
● Acknowledge that by all estimates the climate crisis is upon us in Michigan and there is no time to wait.
● Pursue aggressively 100% renewable energy by 2030. As the steward of 89% of the nation’s fresh surface water, Michigan must act.
● Reject the false solutions presented by the oil and gas industry, like carbon capture and storage, cap and trade, and nuclear energy, as being the only options to put millions of people to work, and save lives on a global scale.

With this Climate R.E.A.D.Y. program for Michigan, we believe the Governor’s Climate Agenda has the best opportunity for ecological and environmental justice success. MEJC is ready and able to help you meet this challenge and demonstrate our commitment to Michigan communities and the nation.

Thank you.

Regards,
Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition

Environmental Justice Assessment of Michigan reveals Environmental Injustice Across the State

Jul25

unnamedReposted from Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition

n July 23, researchers from the University of Michigan completed their analysis of Environmental Justice in Michigan. Laura Grier, Delia Mayor, and Brett Zeuner, under the direction and advisement of Dr. Paul Mohai, at the School of Environment and Sustainability built on models utilized in other states and found that in Michigan people of color communities are disproportionately impacted by toxic exposure. They combined interview data with qualitative data.

The study reviewed eleven environmental indicators: air toxics cancer risk, air toxics respiratory hazard index, diesel particulate matter (PM), ozone level, PM2.5 level, traffic proximity and volume, lead paint indicator, proximity to National Priority List sites, proximity to risk management plan facilities, proximity to treatment storage and disposal facilities, and a wastewater discharge indicator. The six social indicators used in the study were: percentage of people of color residents, percent of households living below twice the federal poverty level, unemployment rate, percent of residents with less than a high school education, percent of households living in linguistic isolation, and percent housing-burdened low-income households to create an environmental injustice score.

The synthesis of the results from the analyses yielded three key findings. First, environmental injustice exists in Michigan. Interview data spoke to the disproportionate environmental exposure and lack of access to environmental goods residents of low-income and minority communities experience, including living in areas with poor air quality, drinking contaminated water, and failing to receive the same levels of economic investment as other communities in the state.

The team used the data to create maps displaying environmental justice scores revealing geographic hotspots of disproportionate impact. Areas on this map with high environmental justice scores are census tracts with high concentrations of people who are minorities, have low educational attainment, are unemployed, are less likely to speak English, live below twice the federal poverty level, and are severely burdened by housing costs. For example, the top 1% most polluted tracts are represented with 86% people of color living in those areas, versus the state average of 29% people of color statewide.

See Maps created by Bridge Magazine of Detroit, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids

Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition will continue to advocate– along side of long-time community leaders– in ensuring the State of Michigan apply the cumulative impact tool in decision-making. This work builds on decades of work that are frontline community demands to recognize all the impacts on families and communities, rather than an isolated approach.

Read the full study here.

While Natural Gas Pipelines Tear through Michigan, MDEQ grants a place to burn– in Dearborn MI

May1
On Friday April 13, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality approved the permit for DTE Energy to burn “natural gas”, also known as methane gas, in Dearborn Michigan. MDEQ approved the permit, despite the calls from over 100 residents asking MDEQ to deny the permit due to the impact on public health.

In a March community meeting residents, advocates, public health and legal experts met to discuss the permit. University of Michigan scholar Amy Schulz described the health impacts the pollution could have on children, even unborn children, by contaminants coming from the then proposed plant. Dearborn MI is already overburdened by toxic air pollution from dense concentrations of smokestacks and roadway pollution. Nick Leonard of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, described how DTE Energy did NOT explore the best pollution controls for protecting human health. Union of Concerned Scientist’s JC Kibbey described better, cheaper, cleaner solutions for Michigan through renewable energy and storage which can create MORE jobs that fossil fuels, pushing against the “rush to gas” narrative.

While natural gas pipelines tear through Michigan countrysides, new gas plants are the places where this will likely be burnt. In 2013, the NEXUS pipeline began developing plans for a 255-mile interstate natural gas transmission pipeline to deliver natural gas from eastern Ohio to southeastern Michigan.  A 50/50 partnership between DTE Energy and Enbridge, this pipeline will deliver methane gas. The project is expected to be completed in late this year.

Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition will be meeting with the Environmental Justice Liaison for MDEQ, Katie Kruse this Wed. April 18, 4pm-6pm at the Michigan State University Detroit Center, 3408 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48201. This event is open to the public.

Gov. Snyder Appoints EJ Work Group Absent of Impacted EJ Community Members

Feb23

unnamedMichigan Environmental Justice Coalition
Statement on Gov. Snyder’s EJ Work Group

In December 2016, the Environmental Justice community caught wind of Governor Rick Snyder’s plan to create an Environmental Justice Work Group. With optimism that the Governor was finally responding to the environmental and public health concerns of Michigan’s most vulnerable communities, the EJ community hoped that this action would be a step in the right direction. After all, the creation of an EJ Work Group was a direct recommendation from the Governor’s own Flint Water Advisory Task Force in response to the still-existing Flint Water Crisis. However, it became clear this week that the Governor’s plan to remedy environmental injustice is shaping up to be yet another government sanctioned, private industry-heavy fiasco.

On Wednesday February 15th, Governor Snyder quietly released his list of the Environmental Justice Work Group members on the State’s website. Most glaring about this list is that the Governor did not reserve a single appointment for a resident of an actual EJ community who is directly impacted by environmental injustice. While the Governor states that “ensuring every Michigander has the same protections from environmental and health hazards is of the utmost importance,” the overwhelming majority of his appointments to this EJ Work Group would suggest otherwise. This 19-person Work Group consists primarily of private industry executives and state government agency representatives. This is an unmistaken brush-off and knowing dismissal of the residents and organizations who wrote letters, made phone calls, and sent emails asking the Governor to ensure that EJ communities were represented on the Work Group.

As it stands, the very makeup of the Governor’s  Environmental Justice Work Group runs counter to every rule of the widely accepted Principles of Environmental Justice -in particular, the principle that “Environmental Justice demands the right [of impacted communities] to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making, including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation.” However, the Governor’s transgressions do not have to persist. Standing in solidarity with EJ communities around Michigan, the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition is calling on Governor Snyder to not only reconsider his appointments with the Principles of Environmental Justice in mind, but to also make appointments of EJ community members who suffer the impacts of unfair environmental decision-making on a daily basis.

To view the Environmental Justice Workgroup members click here. To connect with the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, please visit us online or contact us (313) 577-1687.

Congress to Defund Fair Housing Act Data on Racial Disparities in Housing

Feb10

unnamedThe Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition just issued this statement:

Statement on H.R. 482 & S.B. 103

On January 11th and 12th, Senate Bill S.B. 103 and House Bill H.R. 482 (the “Bills”) were introduced respectively by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) in the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee. Being mirror images of one another, both Bills are an outright attempt to disempower the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) by rolling back necessary protections of the Federal Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) by “nullify[ing] certain regulations and notices of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and for other purposes.”

Among the numerous detrimental provisions, the Bills call for the defunding of Federal programs that provide access to housing data for States, local governments, and public housing agencies regarding “community racial disparities or disparities in access to affordable housing.” The specific language is as follows:

“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal funds may be used to design, build, maintain, utilize, or provide access to a Federal database of geospatial information on community racial disparities or disparities in access to affordable housing.”

While the Bills purport “to further the purposes and policies of the Fair Housing Act,” by giving State and local officials more control over housing decisions, this assertion couldn’t be further from the truth. Sen. Lee and Rep. Gosar make walking-contradictions of themselves and an oxymoron of their proposed Bills by implying that the best way to enforce the Fair Housing Act is to actually create financial barriers to accessing data that clearly informs whether housing decisions are in fact “fair.”

States, local governments, and public housing agencies in the U.S. have a long, well documented history of housing discrimination when it comes to racial minorities. This is the very reason why the FHA exists today. Yet, the Bills would strip housing officials of Federal resources and then turn the reigns back over to them –suggesting that they are now better equipped to enforce the FHA. This simply cannot happen.

As fair, affordable housing is an essential component of Environmental Justice, we are calling on our representatives in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to reject the notion that States’ sovereign powers are somehow boosted by defunding Federal housing databases that are meant to protect vulnerable citizens and communities. Reject this notion by voting no when the Bills come up in Committee and making sure that they never reach the chamber floors.

To view the H.R. 482 and S.B. 103 click on the hyperlinks. To connect with the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, please visit us online or contact us (313) 577-1687.

OKT played active role in four important fall Michigan conferences

Nov15

123951This fall, Our Kitchen Table has had the opportunity to attend and four different Michigan conferences relative to its work.

On September 24, the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition sponsored a conference in Detroit. Discussion centered on the Michigan Environmental Justice Plan, developed with input from many of the state’s most prominent activists during the Granholm administration. Pressured to complete the plan before the Snyder administration took power, those involved agreed to accepting a weakened version. Even so, the Snyder administration shelved the plan.

OKT was impressed by the commitment demonstrated by staff members from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) who were present at this conference. This commitment fostered hope that government could come on board as a protector of Michigan’s environment and thus its citizens’ health.

Another government official, Agustin V. Arbulu, director of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, led a session that highlighted how the Flint water crisis transformed environmental justice into a civil rights issue. As such, those impacted by environmental catastrophe may be able to access more governmental power to effect change.

On October 20, OKT traveled to Ann Arbor for the  Great Lakes Chapter of the Society for Public Health Education (GLC-SOPHE) conference, which hosted public health professionals from across the state. Here, OKT’s executive director, Lisa Oliver-King, and communications manager, Stelle Slootmaker, shared “The Many Facets of Food Justice” with the 50 folks who chose to attend the session. The presentation focused on the ten-part food justice series that OKT has developed over the past four years. Lisa brought the session to a rousing conclusion with an emphasis on how food justice is integral to public health.

Grand Rapids’ LINC Empowered Communities conference was next on the agenda. Southeast Area Farmers’ Market vendor, Yvonne Woodard joined Lisa and Stelle to listen to the morning panel featuring Van Jones. After the panel, Lisa and Stelle presented “Growing an Alternative Food System: The OKT Model” at one of the breakout sessions. After defining food justice terminology and intersectional foci, the two shared how the very replicable OKT model is making a difference in Grand Rapids.

On October 28, the OKT contingent drove to East Lansing to for the Michigan Good Food Summit. In the afternoon, Lisa, Yvonne and Stelle repeated their presentation, “Food Justice and How to Grow It” for 90 participants—it was the most popular workshop of the day!

OKT believes that sharing its model will help educate others working in food issues not only on the injustices of the current industrial food system but also on ways to build an alternative that will operate outside the bounds of racism, improve community members’ health and contribute to the earth’s environmental recovery.

You can view the PowerPoint presentations on the Educational Handouts & Recipes page of this website.