Intersectional Environmentalism
View Intersectional Environmentalism BLOG Posts
Watch a Message About Our Campaigns
Understanding how environmental issues intersect with social and racial issues.
People & the Planet
What is Intersectional Environmentalism?
An inclusive form of environmentalism advocating for the protection of all people + the planet.
Intersectional environmentalism brings to the forefront how environmental problems disproportionally impact vulnerable communities, and argues that we cannot successfully create a solution to environmental issues without acknowledging those inequalities.
Climate protest in Germany
Environmentalism & Social Justice
Campaigns:
Water Quality Scorecard (Coming Soon)
A scorecard to assess the quality of drinking water across all cities in Los Angeles and Orange County
Cadiz
More than 30 years ago, a company called Cadiz Inc. came up with a plan to pump water from aquifers in the Mojave Desert. Ten years ago, late desert activist Elden Hughes and other Sierra Club members who had worked hard on the Desert Protection Act opposed the project that could forever harm the desert’s ecosystem and drain one of its most precious resources.
Now, the plan resurfaces anew as do concerns about its viability and impact on the land.
Movers & Shakers
Giving a voice to Intersectional Environmentalism
At the Sierra Club, we are diligently working to explore the integration of social justice and environmental concerns. Our program seeks to provide an effective framework for addressing the damage, risk, and discrimination facing so many communities today. By encouraging, connecting, and advising grassroots and community organizations, we hope to foster the growth of the environmental justice movement so that oppressed communities will find justice and everyone can experience the benefits of a healthy and sustainable future.
Across the country, we have a growing number of regional environmental justice programs. From helping with rebuilding post-Katrina New Orleans to protecting sacred Navajo sites in Arizona and serving as a voice for Appalachian communities suffering from the abuses of Big Coal, our regional programs are working to make a difference in their communities and beyond.
Through our work in environmental justice, the Sierra Club is committed to leading the way toward just sustainability and a better tomorrow. For more information on our regional programs, please visit our Regional Programs page and get involved!
Climate change public demonstration
Intersectional Environmentalism Posts
Black, Asian & Bothered: (How to) Fill Your Cup and Keep It Flowing
As we close out Black History Month and look to spring, it’s imperative we continue the conversation about how climate change disproportionately impacts communities of color. Charming Evelyn from the Sierra Club shares the ever-growing importance of intersectional environmentalism and outlines some of the challenges these communities face.
Will Barons of Blue Water be More Equitable than those of Black Oil?
Posted on 17 February 2021 By William Smith Many of today’s under-resourced communities have no more access to blue gold (scarce water) than the under-resourced white residents of the Owens Valley have had since the 1920s. In 1924 greedy public and private water...
Pasadena Citizens’ Resource Guide
Regarding the Need for a Polystyrene (aka “Styrofoam™”) Ordinance Pasadena Styro Campaign PDF
Ocean Desalination Meets Homelessness?
Posted on 23 February 2021 By Charming Evelyn - Chair, Water Committee Who would think it? Ocean desalination intersecting with affordable housing?- Yet it has, in a little known state government agency called the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC)....