About EnviroJustice
Why We're Here
At the center of human existence lies community — the need to understand and to be a part of the world around us. There is a fundamental yearning to be in harmony with those around us and with our surroundings, a spiritual connection to each other and to all of creation. It may not take the form of organized religion, but in whatever form it does take, it is a major part of who we as human beings are.
But for many there is also angst. While even the most hardened corporate-types also seek spiritual consonance with the earth, there is a demonstrable and serious dissconnect between our innermost desires and the ways in which we communicate and express those desires by way of public policy.
And so, our goal is nothing less than fundamental systemic change through the use of already-existing but untapped wells.
Infiltrating the Perfect Storm
It has been said that to effectively run a market campaign against a recalcitrant corporation, or to effectively influence any institution towards change, there must be a "perfect storm" of coalitions that apply pressure from a variety of fronts. Here is a diagram of one such perfect storm.
But the fact is the real perfect storm looks like this:
The purple dots represent faith-based individuals — a combination of red-state and blue-state individuals that live, work and participate in all levels of society.
And it works for whatever target one has. If one is seeking to pressure Congress into acting on a particular issue, for example, there are faith-based individuals in all of the other groups in the diagram. Faith-based individuals and organizations have infiltrated the perfect storm!
And that is the core constituency that EnviroJustice addresses.
What We Do
EnviroJustice is a new organization that promotes environmental justice through education, activism and mobilization from a progressive, faith-based perspective. We are global in scope and local in focus.
Our job at EnviroJustice is to speak in broader terms and to articulate, disseminate and integrate the bigger picture into the landscape of both the environmental and faith-based communities. We tap into systems of thought and practice — very personal and developed early in childhood — that have oftentimes been allowed to become separate and distinct to the detriment of both.
And so we speak in terms of praxis and the interconnection with love and justice. Like the Civil Rights Movement that helped to launch the drive for environmental justice in the United States, EnviroJustice sees the world through a different lens. Although rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition, EnviroJustice is deeply ecumenical and strongly based in science. We understand the influence of the corporate sector, the power global financial institutions hold in the marketplace, and how to leverage that influence and power to achieve real change in the world.
As stated in our bylaws, the primary objectives and purposes of EnviroJustice shall be the promotion of environmental justice beneficial to the public interest through education, activism and mobilization from a faith-based perspective. Specifically, the bylaws provide that we shall engage in the following activities:
Provide educational resources and materials to the public promoting the principles of environmental justice;
Emphasize faith-based perspectives within the environmental justice movement;
Organize progressive faith-based communities to support environmental justice issues;
Promote the ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things;
Advocate on behalf of victims of environmental degradation; and
Work to transform the global marketplace through education, grassroots organizing and non-violent direct action.
At the present time there are really few, if any, other comparable organizations that provide the kind of service that EnviroJustice provides, and it is a main objective of EnviroJustice to bridge that gap. However, our work is quite complimentary with that of other organizations whose efforts we support and join.
Here are a few examples of our collaborative work:
EnviroJustice is a member of the Business Ethics Network and has worked closely with a number of its members on related issues.
EnviroJustice is a member of the Open the Government coalition of individuals and organizations, bringing together First Amendment advocates, good government groups, journalists, environmentalists, and organizations representing working men and women to stop the growth in government secrecy and advocates for greater public access to government information.
EnviroJustice is a member of the Environmental Paper Network, a diverse group of environmental organizations joined together to support socially and environmentally sustainable transformations within the pulp and paper industry.
EnviroJustice works with BankTrack, an international network of civil society organizations and individuals tracking the operations of the private global financial sector and its effect on people and the planet.
EnviroJustice participates in the work of the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Working Group.
EnviroJustice supports and highlights the work being done by other like-minded, progressive non-profit organizations, such as Rainforest Action Network (specifically on the Free Grassy Narrows campaign in the Canadian Boreal), EarthWorks and Oxfam (the No Dirty Gold campaign), Riverkeepers (clean up of Newtown Creek in Brooklyn, New York), and the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (post-Katrina activities in the gulf coast).