EQUITY
& JUSTICE
Without racial and social justice, there can never be climate justice.
Everyone Deserves
Clean Air and Clean Water
Our fossil-fuel powered economy has never operated in a clean, safe, or just manner. Fossil fuels have always required places to sacrifice for resources and people who will bear the brunt of the ecological destruction, pollution, and exploitation created by this system.
Throughout history, the United States has consistently sacrificed Black, Brown, and Indigenous lives and land by allowing oil, gas, and other polluting facilities to operate in these communities here and around the world.
While the climate crisis affects all of us, it impacts communities of color first and worst.
Global Problem, Local Impacts
In San Ysidro, our southernmost community, 41% of residents live within 500 feet of a pollution source. Much of this is linked to their extremely close proximity to the San Ysidro-Tijuana border—the busiest land-border crossing in the Western Hemisphere. Here, the asthma rates are 18 times higher than our national average.
This is directly related to pervasive racism, classism, and other forms of “othering” creating a worldview where certain people, places, and non-human species are viewed as expendable.
For our collective survival, we must replace this worldview that is deeply rooted in white supremacy, hierarchy, and dominance with a cooperative, egalitarian, and explicitly anti-racist vision for our future.
While the climate crisis affects all of us, it impacts communities of color first and worst.
Addressing the Root Causes of the Climate Crisis
Continuing to perpetuate this system is a choice. And for too long, powerful people and interest groups have stood in the way of meaningful climate action in their pursuit of concentrated wealth and power.
The climate crisis is a symptom of these broader problems—including a brutal and unfair economy, widening racial, gender, and class inequality, and racist and patriarchal ideology—and is now the greatest challenge of our time.
Our Struggles Are Connected, And So Is Our Liberation
Stopping the climate crisis is possible. But to do it, we’ll need integrated solutions that fight the climate crisis, center communities of concern, and build a just society with an economy in which everyone can prosper.
This is why Climate Action Campaign’s Five Fights battle the climate crisis through the lens of equity and justice. We fight for urgent climate action so that San Diego and Orange County’s communities of concern can enjoy access to clean air, clean water, and economic opportunity. We know that this is the only true path to our long-term survival on this planet.
