"Clean Up To Green Up": Building a Clean Energy Workforce and Brighter Future in Detroit

Industrial facilities are most often located in or near Black, Latino, Indigenous and low-income communities, exposing residents to disproportionately high levels of pollution, public health risks and hazardous working conditions. Donele Wilkins created the Green Door Initiative after experiencing the impact of these inequities in her community in Detroit.

The Green Door Initiative is using federal investments from President Joe Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and the Inflation Reduction Act, to revitalize neighborhoods and ensure that all people -- regardless of race, income or ZIP code -- have access to good jobs and live in safe and healthy communities.

For more information on the Green Door Initiative, visit: https://www.greendoorinitiative.org/



Securing Clean Air, Clean Water, and a Healthy Environment for All

Harold Mitchell’s firsthand experience with pollution’s dire effects in Spartanburg, South Carolina, inspired him to establish the ReGenesis Institute and ignited a movement for change. The success and lessons learned in Spartanburg are guiding ReGenesis in their efforts to expand their model of community engagement and restoration to other communities, by leveraging the groundbreaking investments from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Critical investments in environmental justice are not just addressing past and ongoing harms but also empowering communities with resources to improve public health, lives, and livelihoods in front-line communities.

For more information on the ReGenesis Institute, visit www.theregenesisinstitute.com.



A Community’s Stand Against Pollution in Newark: Stories From the Movement

Dr. Ana Baptista, co-director of the Tishman Environment and Design Center, shares the story of how, after decades of suffering from polluting projects—such as ports, waste dumping sites, and chemical plants—community members in Newark, New Jersey, are fighting back against toxic pollution and environmental racism.

For more information about environmental justice in Newark, visit www.IronboundCC.org, www.NJEJA.org, and www.TishmanCenter.org.



A community’s fight against environmental racism in Savannah — Stories from the Movement

Dr. Mildred McClain shares the story of how radioactive pollution from a nuclear weapons production site led to the founding of the Harambee House/Citizens for Environmental Justice in Savannah, GA. For more than 30 years, the Harambee House has fought environmental racism by providing community members with tools to become agents of change within their own neighborhoods.

For more information about the Harambee House, visit The HarambeeHouse.net.

To learn how we can build a just and equitable climate future, visit www.AJustClimate.org.



No Community Left Behind: Mossville, Louisiana

Mossville, Louisiana was once beautiful. Now, there are at least 18 industrial facilities that surround Mossville like a donut - poisoning the residents.