Environmental Justice and Civil Rights

The article "Green economy should grow from low-income grassroots" appeared in the Independent Weekly, Sept. 24. Unfortunately the article is not archived or I would provide a link. The reporter Bob Greary attended a recent conference, organized by N.C. NAACP, that brought together a number of environmental groups and social justice organizations to discuss how to assure that, "as federal and state funds are appropriated for 'sustainable energy' projects, they flow to grassroots efforts that produce jobs and community empowerment." Local groups hope to model their organization strategies after Majora Carter's "Sustainable South Bronx" (www.ssbx.org), for which Carter received a MacArther Foundation award. The organizers see their project as building "just" structures from the start, from the bottom-up. Local start-up groups have organized under the title CleanEnergyDurham, and they have a number of programs in place, from trainings and education programs, to activists and organizers who give talks.