BlocPower’s Post

Every once in a while, you get to participate in a project that inspires, challenges, and delights simultaneously. Electric Black Futures is one of those projects. In October 2023, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, along with our partners EVNoire and Clean Cities-Georgia, was awarded a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office. We named this project Electric Black Futures (EBF), and are utilizing a very intentional and forward-thinking Afrofuturism frame to create a culturally relevant futurescoping methodology centered around the lived experiences of Black people in technological innovation. Our project aims to ensure that underserved Black communities within three Georgia cities – Albany, Atlanta, and Savannah – are actively engaged and empowered to create and deploy equitable, accessible electric mobility initiatives and gain access to the jobs that the transition to electric transportation is bringing to Georgia. EBF will leverage community-based participatory research and authentic community engagement to identify and understand community needs and priorities, develop community-centered strategic plans, and empower community voices to ensure that electric mobility investments from federal programs such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act deliver what communities need and want. This project includes a host of partners, including community-based organizations like SOWEGA Rising and Black Sustainability, Inc., Afrofuturism leaders like Subsume, The Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice, United Way of Southwest Georgia, Albany, Atlanta, and Savannah city governments, the Technical Community College System of Georgia, Georgia DOT, Georgia Power, and more. We co-hosted a webinar last week with our project partner, Drawdown Georgia, and published a blog yesterday to formally announce EBF. Check both out here: https://lnkd.in/ete8W8h4 #ev #electricvehicles #emobility #equity #sustainability #cleanenergygeneration #electricblackfutures

#1 I believe we must priortize working class and middle class and poor communities adoption of clean energy. Not because we are moral People, and we want to help them, though we are moral, and we do want to help. We have to have mass market adoption for selfish reasons too—in order to mitigate the most catastrophic impact of the current climate catastrophe, there is NO PATH to reducing emissions at scale that doesn’t require us to deploy massive amount of distributed green infrastructure in urban and rural communities. #2: it’s not going to be affluent environmentalist folks from the suburbs who figure out how to scale green infrastructure in low and moderate income urban communities. It’s going to be people from those urban communities. #3 since people of color are the majority of the population in many urban communities, it is likely that the innovation we need to scale clean energy innovation to mass market urban America is going to be a cohort of urban people of color. It Seems statistically and logically obvious to me, but This idea seems to break folks brains, whether it’s anti climate folks on the right, or even pro climate progressives on the left. They don’t understand. Thx to “The Climate Godfather” Taj Ahmad Eldridge Inc. Magazine for asking me to participate in this article.

This clear example of environmental racism exposes blind spots within the modern environmental movement. Sustainability is not just about the environment- social and economic practices can also be unsustainable. Although historically (mostly during the 70’s- called the “green decade”) America made strides in reducing air and water pollution within MOST population areas, areas populated by mostly black and indigenous people bore the brunt of society’s industrial needs while white populations largely ignored the effects. Even in modern times, studies show that opposition to polluting industry decreases when the neighborhood to be affected is majority black. Any effort to alleviate harm to the environment must include similar efforts to promote racial justice within this space. Until we promote sustainability for all, we cannot expect all to promote sustainability.

This is so, so exciting. Systems change really comes down to four things in my book: 1) providing money for change, 2) creating policies that ensure durability for change, 3) providing safe space for historically underserved and underrepresented people to participate in systems and 4) quality implementation. The Biden-Harris administration has done all of this for our Native American communities during its tenure. They started by appointing #DebHaaland as Secretary of the Interior, the first Native woman to hold that position. She has helped Native communities get their land back at unprecedented rates since 2020 - a HUGE win. And now, through the #GreenhouseGasReductionFund they are committing $400 million dollars to Native CDFIs 🥲 This will help move capital to historically low-income communities due to displacement and genocide. The #GGRF also funds a handful of other climate and clean energy focused organizations across the country, like the #AppalachianCommunityCapital and more. Hell yeah, Biden-Harris. While your international policies are questionable (#ProPalestine), your domestic actions have continued to impress me. #CleanEnergy #BidenHarris2024 #ClimateChange #GlobalWarning #NativeAmerican #Indigenous #CDFI #CommunityCare

"Self-Determined, a New State— in Equality, Equity, and Sustainability— in a vision of Climate Justice, imagine - and take action, Washington, DC." 🌱 Happy #ClimatePoemFriday, changemakers! 🌐 Here's a #climatepoem I wrote to honor #DC. If you clickthrough to where I originally posted linked in the comments, you'll also get Climate Central, Inc.'s customized graphics for Washington, DC. 📣 Here's to the ongoing fight for representational equality, self-determination, and statehood. All power especially to the grassroots climate justice solutionaries fighting these good fights, on behalf of the the hundreds of thousands of Washingtonian neighbors who do not get equal representation in congress. I titled this one after the name the DC statehood campaign currently has set for what should be our 51st state, named to keep the state abbreviation DC and pay homage to Frederick Douglass, the social reformer and abolitionist. 📜 Full poem text: Imagine Washington, Douglass Commonwealth (DC) in a vision of climate justice: it’s a swampy Summer, still — so take some water from the kind neighbor. Stroll in the park. It’ll be hot– no doubt. But in this vision, DC is, as ever, the coolest place to be. A vision in a dream: leading what could be DC is cool and connected, solving for heat equity, the way DC will face Summers with more days in the dangerously hot 95°F range, the way it’s already been in heatwaves charged by fossil-fueled climate change. So in this vision, DC is cool and protected: first providing for unhoused folks, outdoor workers, and low-income neighbors, so all can get through and thrive; flipping DC's different heat realities over street-by-street on redlined divides that had warmed mostly communities of color 10-20°F hotter. Here, instead DC is cool and collected, green new dealing with climate problems by multi-solving with underlying-condition-changing solutions for underserved areas first, ensuring A/C, more cooling centers, more pools, more trees, more solar canopies, more splash parks, more clean corridors for all to trek into Rock Creek Park, and for you to swim again in a clean Potomac. DC is cool and interconnected by plentiful clean electricity— fossil-free, renewable, public power reclaimed, for transit-too, also safe, clean, and reliable as the dawn, into revitalized public commons, and land back to the Piscataway and Anicostan stewarding the future, transforming whatever it means to be American: for all Self-Determined, a New State— in Equality, Equity, and Sustainability— in a vision of Climate Justice, imagine - and take action, Washington, DC. —Adam Powers

This week, I had the privilege of attending the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Justice Week, a series of events focused on advancing #energy justice for all Americans. As the Founder of Maple & Monroe: Global Social Impact Think Tank, where we are dedicated to building a more equitable and sustainable world, I was inspired by the work being done to ensure that everyone has access to clean, affordable energy. Here are three takeaways that I believe are essential for social impact leaders: 1. Energy justice is essential for racial and #economic equity. Energy justice is the fair distribution of energy benefits and burdens. It means that everyone has access to clean, affordable energy, regardless of their race, income, or zip code. Unfortunately, energy injustice is a reality for many Americans. Communities of color and low-income communities are more likely to live in areas with polluted air and water, and they are more likely to pay more for energy. The Department of Energy is working to address energy injustice through a variety of initiatives, including the #justice40 Initiative, which commits 40% of the benefits from certain clean energy investments to disadvantaged communities. #socialimpact leaders can play a role by supporting these initiatives and by advocating for policies that promote energy justice. 2. Clean energy is a key driver of economic opportunity. The transition to #cleanenergy is creating millions of new jobs across the country. These jobs are in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, construction, and installation. They are also good-paying jobs, with wages that are higher than the average for all jobs in the economy. Social impact leaders can help to ensure that everyone benefits from the economic opportunities created by the clean energy transition by supporting policies that promote job training and placement in disadvantaged communities. They can also work to connect clean energy businesses with local communities. 3. #Innovation is essential for achieving energy justice and a sustainable future. The Department of Energy is investing heavily in research and development to accelerate the development of new clean energy technologies. These technologies will make clean energy more affordable and accessible for everyone. Social impact leaders can play a role by supporting investment in clean energy research and development. They can also work to bring new clean energy technologies to market and to scale up their use in disadvantaged communities. I am grateful for the invitation to attend. It was a reminder of the importance of energy justice and the critical role that social impact leaders can play in advancing it. Cc: Shalaya M., Charles T. Wallace-Thomas IV, Marjorie Fields Harris, J.D. #energyjustice #socialequity #cleanenergy #justiceweek, #justiceweek2023 #founders #founderstories #thinkanddo #think-tank #socialimapctisthenewpr #esg #sustainability #socialentrepreneur

Nature For Justice: Our Story We put Nature-based Solutions to work for climate justice. Nature For Justice (N4J) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Globally, we harness Nature-based Solutions. (NbS) to benefit front-line communities confronting the climate crisis. We created N4J to respond to a fairness gap we observed in global carbon markets. Across many carbon projects, communities provide the land, put in the work, and shoulder significant risk. But, too often, they receive an inequitable share of the financial returns. At N4J, we create NbS projects that put communities first—easing key barriers to entry for community-led projects and ensuring community partners always get their fair share of a project’s rewards. We mobilize blended finance for community-determined NbS projects. By unlocking new avenues for long-term finance and support, these projects can be powerful vehicles for community resilience and climate justice.

This Bloomberg article tells the story of one of the campaigns I've been working on. Not sure you can see it (paywall) but it's a deep dive into how a directed network campaign consisting of diverse social movements, NGO's, and Indigenous partners built pressure on and actually moved one of the most powerful and dirtiest corporations in North America. Lots more to be done but we've shifting the giants. Activism works! Especially when it uses big storytelling, connects across movements, aligns with social movements, and is actively coordinated and resourced for a long fight. https://lnkd.in/ghWUx9Y6

It's one thing to endorse an idea. It's another to make it happen. This is what the crew of supply-side progressives often miss -- implementation requires mass organizing, political will, building enduring constituencies for programs to ensure their popularity and resist backlash. Sunrise Dallas showed us exactly why we need an organized and disruptive base of young people holding our leaders to account. My latest, for In These Times https://lnkd.in/e29hU4MF

Just explored this new corporate justice rating tool developed by Adasina Social Capital. Search by company name to see which climate, gender, economic, and racial justice impacts they should address. Thanks for posting the three-year company update video Julianne Zimmerman.