Centering BIPOC Frontline Communities
FEMA’s Equity Action Plan and Authority to Deliver
FEMA’s Equity Action Plan and Authority to Deliver – Insights for environmental and justice advocates. In this webinar, we were joined by Hannah Perls, Staff Attorney at Harvard’s Environmental & Energy Law & Cristina Muñoz De La Torre, Director of Programs Research at Just Solutions Collective to discuss FEMA’s impact and responsibility within environmental and…
Puerto Rico and the fight for Energy Democracy
On September 18, 2022, Hurricane Fiona hit and flooded Puerto Rico, leaving millions without power. It has been three weeks and more than 30,000 people still find themselves without power2. Hurricane Fiona comes just five years after Hurricane Maria caused a blackout throughout the island, lasting for 11 months, making it the largest blackout in…
Just Solutions Collective Analysis of FEMA Equity Plan
Primary Author: Cristina Muñoz De La Torre In this brief, we cover what is in FEMA’s Equity Plan, whether the plan will achieve equity for frontline communities, and we identify recommendations for advocates. Since the publication of Equity Action Plans from multiple federal agencies in April 2022 in response to Biden’s Executive Order 13985, many…
Building Policy Capacity through Community-led and Centered Learning
This summer, Just Solutions Collective launched phase 1 of the Environmental Justice Community and Policy Landscape Project to better understand the interests and needs of leaders. This project aligns with our purpose to broaden and deepen the understanding of equitable and effective policies and projects to build the capacity of Frontline communities to replicate, scale, and build support…
Calling it a “natural disaster” ignores what’s really to blame
How many natural disasters did you see in the news in 2021? The answer is zero. What you likely saw was a natural hazard that resulted in a disaster because of cumulative past and current human actions and decisions. The term “natural disaster” is often misused in the media to describe any severe weather event…
Will clean energy impoverish the poor or help create a path to energy justice? (Part I)
Millions of low-income families already face crushingly high burdens of energy costs. High energy costs burdens as a percentage of income are a principal cause of financial distress, creating conflicts between paying utility bills or rent or buying medicines and food. The consequences include ill-health, insecurity, and, in many cases, evictions and mortgage foreclosures. Six percent of…
Regenerative & Just 100% Policy Building Blocks Released by Experts from Impacted Communities
The Just Solutions Collective launched a new effort to bring forward and coalesce the expertise from frontline communities into the Comprehensive Building Blocks for a Regenerative and Just 100% Policy. This groundbreaking and extensive document lays out the components of an 100% policy that centers equity and justice. Read the full report on our website. Last year…
