Contact: Brett Abrams | [email protected]
Statement from KD Chavez, executive director of the Climate Justice Alliance:
“This morning, we are reminded that liberation requires community. This is a loss for democracy and the rights of everyday people who want to live free from financial insecurity, pollution, discrimination, violence, and intimidation.
“Donald Trump’s allegiance to big gas and oil and all dirty industry will put in jeopardy and likely sacrifice national parks, our sacred sites, and homelands. We understand that federal policy can be both an obstacle and a helpful catalyst for our desired transformation. With the election of Donald Trump we know environmental justice policies and hard-fought wins brought about by our movements over decades are on the chopping block. We also know things will most likely move a lot faster this time around.
“Environmental justice communities will now more than ever have to defend our local, state and tribal wins and protect our communities from increased harm and attacks. From energy transition and ownership to the rights of our communities, many of whom experience the cumulative impacts of polluting industry and climate change on a daily basis, frontline and fenceline communities will be exposed to increasing discrimination, racial profiling, anti-immigrant attacks and round ups all the while dealing with climate disasters and environmental racism.
“We know that our freedoms are going to be attacked but our communal systems, our frameworks, and our people, millions of us, hold the solutions we need to have impactful collective action. Now is the time to protect, build, and deepen our infrastructure.”
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