Sunday, October 21, 2018
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Environmental Justice and Democracy Issues
This blog was written by Amanda Robert, the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter's Democracy Organizer and a member of our Environmental Justice Action Group.
Environmental Justice and Democracy Issues
Environmental injustices happen every day and
in all types of communities, but they disproportionately affect low income
communities and communities of color. Why is this one might ask, and what can
we do to help remedy the situation. The Flint water crisis is probably the most
well-known current case of environmental injustice in Michigan, let’s examine
what allowed that situation to happen. For starters it is widely acknowledged
that having laws and institutions that promote transparency, inclusivity and accountability
are essential to effective governance. It is when these rights are available to
some and not to others that we see inequalities and injustices arise. According
to the Flint Water Advisory Task Force, governance failures were at the heart of
the crisis. In other words we have a problem of ineffective governance due to a
lack of transparency, public inclusion and accountability. If the residents of
Flint had been taken seriously and had their voices heard when they sounded the
alarm almost immediately the crisis could have been greatly minimized. Flint is
not alone though, these sorts of governance failures happen all over our state
especially to groups and communities that are politically or economically
disempowered. We in essence need to strengthen our democracy, and that is
exactly what we hope to do by passing both proposals 2 and 3 this November.
Proposal 2 would fix our current process of
redistricting or drawing electoral maps. In the current system politicians draw
the lines, giving themselves the advantage. This makes it very difficult to
then hold these representatives accountable, even when they allow people’s
water or air to be poisoned. Proposal 3 would update our voting laws, which
have not been substantially updated since 1975. Rights like the ability to get
an absentee ballot without a reason, the choice to vote straight-ticket and the
ability to register to vote anytime up to and including on election day as long
as it is in person and with proof of residency would be added. In all seven new
voting rights would be added to our laws, expecting to increase voter turnout
by 400K for the 2020 elections.
These proposals may not seem all that
important in the face of today’s political atmosphere. People are focused on
electing environmental and social justice champions who will protect the
interests of all. The problem is, without fixing the system electing some of
those great people may be close to impossible. Our electoral maps are drawn to
give an advantage to those already in power, and as we know many of them have
no interest or incentive to protect us or the environment. What’s even worse is
they are continuing their attacks on access to the democratic process and this
time it is with the removal of straight-ticket (or straight-party) voting.
Why would the Sierra Club care about
straight-ticket voting you may ask, being a non-partisan organization. That is
a good question, and it is simple, because it is more convenient for voters and
encourages electoral participation. Straight-ticket voting speeds up the
process of voting, leading to shorter lines. When lines are long people often
leave before they get a chance to vote, either out of frustration or necessity.
An MLive survey found that in the 2012 election
almost fifty percent of Michigan voters used the straight-party option when
voting. Some claim that it is only used by Democrats, but that is untrue, that
same survey found that of those straight-party voters 30% voted for Democrats,
19% voted for Republicans and 1% voted third party. Even more interestingly,
straight-ticket voting is believed to have helped the Republicans significantly during
the 2016 election.
 |
| Long lines on election day discourage people from voting, especially in urban communities dealing with environmental injustices. |
From an environmental justice lense we are concerned about the removal of the straight-party option because African Americans and other minorities tend to use it more often, a fact that is backed up by U.S. Census data. Removing the option will have a disproportionate effect on communities like Detroit and Flint with a high population of minority citizens. Without the option of only having to fill in one bubble for the partisan choices, ballots will be long and it is expected to take the average voter longer to complete. In a city like Detroit where wait times are already some of the longest in the nation, sometimes upward of two to three hours, this change is expected to have a significant impact on wait times. With the current issues Detroiters are facing, like the toxins in their air in the Southwest part of the city, the lead in the water at their public schools or the mass water shutoffs threatening their communities, they can not afford to have their voter turnout suppressed by any amount.
When the right to vote is under attack, there
is little as important. The ability to vote is what gives us the power to
control what the futures of our communities look like. Environmental injustices
don’t happen alone, but alongside other types of exploitation, which are
possible when people are not able to be a part of the system and their voices
are muted. Strengthening democracy is good for all of us and all environmental
concerns, but it is especially important when trying to fight environmental
injustices. Remember to vote yes on proposals two and three in November, for
yourself and for communities like Flint and Detroit.
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Monday, August 20, 2018
EJAG in Action at Michigan Environmental Justice Summit
 |
| Monica Lewis Patrick of We The People spoke at the Summit |
I’m proud of the Sierra Club Michigan
Environmental Justice Action Group’s (EJAG’s) hard work to support the Michigan
Environmental Justice Coalition in organizing the event. We contributed in a
number of ways, including:
●
Developing and being featured in
the opening “Flint in Focus” session where, on stage, we discussed the Flint
water crisis status, myths, environmental justice demands for the next
administration of Michigan government, and what needs to be done for Flint to
heal from the water crisis;
●
Curating the water justice track
by reviewing and selecting proposals
 |
| Flint pediatrician/activist Dr. Lawrence Reynolds appeared on a panel. |
●
Organizing the 2-hour “Water
Warriors Unite!” session, where we educated an audience of about 50
participants on the importance of policy development and how to use power
mapping as a tool for analyzing powerful influencers for/against an issue, and
gathering information to support the EJAG’s power mapping work regarding water
issues; and,
●
Recommending the event location
and local vendors.
The energy at the Summit was buoyant and
hopeful, with people networking and connecting across communities and
organizations to address pressing - and often interconnected - environmental
issues. For example, the dangerous presence of Enbridge pipelines is both an
energy justice issue and a water justice issue. Participants discussed
strategies to make room for new generations of environmental leaders, and the
intentional inclusion of a youth-organized youth justice track was a way for
the Summit itself to grow youth environmental justice leadership. Summit
participants also explored how to broaden environmental movements to be
inclusive of Native, First Nation and People of Color’s environmental matters
of concern like the Rights of Nature movement, and polluting
facilities (e.g. incinerators, petrochemical refineries, plastics
manufacturing), environmental disinvestment, and unaffordable drinking water
rates which tend to be concentrated in Native, First Nation and People of Color
communities.
In addition to our power-mapping session, the
water justice track highlighted an Anishinaabe-led workshop on grassroots
action on threats to Great Lakes water and a panel about forming just and
equitable research partnerships between academic institutions and communities
to address environmental injustices. One of the EJAG’s next steps is to circle
back to the full range of groups and organizations that participated in the
Summit to gather more information on how groups are working on water quality
and water affordability issues so that we can complete our internal power
mapping project and identify additional partners to work with to achieve
relevant Chapter priorities.
I was pleased to see Sierra Club Michigan
staff well-represented at the Summit, both to support the power-mapping session
and bridge tracks by learning from energy justice sessions that related to the
Chapter’s priorities. Great work, everyone!
In solidarity,
Mona Munroe-Younis
EJAG Chairperson
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