Environmental Justice and Resilient Communities
We support the efforts of frontline and historically marginalized communities and their work to ensure clean water, air, and community well-being.
New Rule Ensures Local Input into Water Project Decisions
Water is essential for life and the economy. NWF advocated for a newly revised rule by the Environmental Protection Agency that restores the rights of states and Indigenous Tribes to protect their waterways. The EPA rule, finalized in late 2023, fully enables states and Tribes to review federal permits for projects such as dams, pipelines, and mines to ensure water quality is protected. Local input will safeguard the waters in many ways, including protecting fish migration, ensuring clean drinking water, and allowing recreational access.
Photo Credit: Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program
High School Students Work for Environmental Justice
High school students in Houston and Atlanta participated in the Earth Tomorrow Summer Institute (ETSI), an NWF-led project that enables young people to better understand how their local ecosystem shapes their own lives and opportunities. While Earth Tomorrow provides year-round environmental justice education, this summer program takes students into communities impacted by injustice. In Atlanta, students visited neighborhoods that are home to hospitals and schools, but also toxic Superfund sites. In Houston, students worked alongside Texas Rangers to restore recreation areas damaged by dangerous storms called derechos. ETSI teaches young people life skills, such as critical thinking, while also involving them in advocacy actions such as grant writing and public presentations.
Photo Credit: Earth Tomorrow Summer Institute
Funding Furthers Environmental Justice Efforts of Partners
NWF directly provided more than $400,000 to our environmental justice partners, aiding them in securing clean water and air. In Hawai’i, the Keaukaha Action Network will use these funds to address hazardous waste exposure in Hilo. The Federation monies supported the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice to address flooding issues that disproportionately affect the mostly Black Shiloh community in Elba, Alabama. Our funding supported the National Summit hosted by GreenLatinos. In Colorado, we helped sponsor the signature fundraising event for Environmental Learning for Kids, an organization dedicated to providing outdoor experiences to youth of color and encouraging environmental leadership. In South Carolina, we supported New Alpha CDC in their efforts to provide large emergency kits to communities devastated by weather events in Georgia, Texas, Florida, and Illinois. We also contracted with New Alpha CDC to assist us in determining items needed in a smaller “Grab and Go” evacuation kit for use during extreme weather events.
Photo Credit: Nappy Co.