St. Paul, MN – The Climate Justice Committee (CJC) and East Side Environmental Justice hosted a community meeting, March 15, in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood of Saint Paul, raising awareness among community members about the growing campaign against the Northern Iron foundry, a major polluter in the area.

Around 50 people were in attendance, including local residents, neighborhood activists, elected officials such as Saint Paul City Council Member Nelsie Yang and state House Representative Peter Fischer, and other concerned community members.

Neighbors near the foundry have been documenting dark soot on their windows, in their homes and on their cars. Testing confirmed the soot contained the same toxic compounds that can be found inside Northern Iron. Northern Iron has also been found in violation of their emissions permits by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), but it has refused to clean up its act, even taking the MPCA to court to avoid compliance with the agency’s enforcement action.

First, Mel Lorentz, an attorney and Payne-Phalen resident, talked through the details of Northern Iron’s operations and known pollution history, stating, “They’re taking in up to 30 tons per day of scrap metal, and up to 100,000 tons per year of silica sand, they pour molten metal into molds to make equipment for oil and gas drilling, agricultural equipment.”

Lorentz then offered a major update on the status of Northern Iron’s court battle with the MPCA, telling audience members that the agency recently sent Northern Iron a letter setting a deadline of March 27 to submit testing data and detailed plans for how they would get in compliance, or else face potentially having their permits revoked. Lorentz pointed out that this is a major escalation from the MPCA, calling out that “many people in this room know that this kind of thing almost never happens,” and that this was clearly the result of the community’s organizing efforts.

Next, a nursing and public health student, Candis Moore, offered a presentation on the adverse health effects that are commonly associated with the pollutants coming from Northern Iron, primarily lead and PM 2.5 (also known as fine particulate matter).

“Blood lead levels are important because it’s a neurotoxin, so when this is introduced to children, when their brains are growing very fast, it can actually impede that process. This can lead to problems in school, behavioral problems, and this is so important because these are foundational building blocks to kids leading fulfilling lives in their futures,” Moore said., She highlighted the fact that lead pollution is a common factor among many working-class cities and neighborhoods around the country that have high rates of school dropouts and crime among youth, such as many parts of Chicago and Detroit. During the Q&A, Moore underlined that “there is no safe level of lead in the body.”

The audience heard from Minneapolis-based community activist Joe Vital, who played an important role in winning the shutdown of Smith Foundry in East Phillips in 2024. Joe recounted the story of fighting for justice alongside the CJC and other allies in his own neighborhood, emphasizing the lesson that these fights require a diversity of tactics, such as call-ins, putting pressure on elected officials, and community rallies and protests. Vital put it succinctly: “It’s only when people get in the streets that things finally start to move.”

Finally, Britney Bruce, who lives right behind the foundry, shared her story of moving into the neighborhood with high hopes, only to have her dreams dashed when she learned her new home was right next to a major polluter.

“I spent many, many years saving up for my first home. I had plans of having a big backyard to host family barbecues, bonfires, have a garden, a place where my kids can run wild – a place that my boys could always call home,” she said. Bruce moved in almost exactly one year ago and quickly noticed that things were not right. “I noticed that no matter how much I cleaned my windowsills and baseboards, they were always covered in black dust. My oldest, who is diabetic, started having breathing problems. My middle child developed eczema all over his body. I went back to using an inhaler that I hadn’t used since high school.”

Bruce called for everyone in the room to stay in communication with one another, to spread awareness, and to continue to fight so that Northern Iron can’t pollute any longer. She concluded, “It’s easy to mute one voice, but it’s hard to mute many.”

The Climate Justice Committee is organizing a rally outside Northern Iron next week on March 22, and continues to build the struggle against urban pollution and environmental racism in the Twin Cities.

#StPaulMN #MN #Environment #CJC #TwinCities #ClimateJustice

Minneapolis, MN – In frigid weather, February 20, 50 people rallied with the Climate Justice Committee (CJC) to oppose Trump's attacks on the environment, along with the barrage of other attacks that have happened in the first month of Trump’s presidency. 

Speakers connected Trump's attacks on immigrants, trans rights, workers and Palestine to the rollback of environmental protections that Trump instituted in his first days in office.

Trump has used executive orders to push more fossil fuels and end the U.S. role in the Paris Climate Accords, ensuring that previously agreed upon goals to curb climate change won’t happen. The CJC speaker emphasized how every tenth of a percent of rising temperatures mean more intense weather, food scarcity and increasing energy costs that fall disproportionately on oppressed nationality and working class families and their communities. They also talked about the lack of action by Democrats like Senator Klobuchar, whose office the rally was in front of.

Rally goers chanted, “Stand up fight back” as the emcee rotated the attacks on immigrants, trans rights, Palestine, and workers that are happening from Trump and his cronies. 

Kristen Bledsoe from Minnesota Abortion Action Committee talked about the heart wrenching case of Sam Nordquist, a Minnesota native who had recently been tortured and killed in New York as a logical conclusion of the transphobic rhetoric coming from the Trump administration. 

Bledsoe ended her speech with, “We have to resist the impulse to shut down and hide. We have to recognize that the cruelty and the chaos of the Trump administration is meant to make us lose focus, and we have to counter that by being more strategic, more united, and more organized than ever before.” 

“Trump’s attacks on DEI show the white supremacist mindset, trying to kill anything that would make this country more equal for those who have been left out for centuries,” stated Minnesota Workers United speaker Neil Radford. Radford called on rally goers to focus on solidarity of the working class that needs to stand together and not allow Trump and his ilk to divide us. 

Mira Altobell-Resendez from the Minnesota Immigrant Action Committee talked about the important work MIRAC is doing using Know Your Rights trainings with immigrant communities and allies to stand against ICE and governmental agencies. 

Trent Fast from the Minnesota Anti-War Committee made a clear case, “We need to be mad as hell at Donald Trump and his attacks on everyday working people here at home - and those in Palestine. We all have more in common with everyday Palestinians than we ever will with people like Donald Trump. Solidarity across movements is our sharpest weapon against his presidency. Because when we stand together, there's way more of us than there are of them!”

All of the speakers emphasized the importance of getting involved and building solidarity among the people’s movements to stand against the Trump attacks over the next four years and beyond.

#MinneapolisMN #TwinCities #CJC #ClimateJustice #MNAWC #AWC #ICE #MIRAC #Immigration #NoDeportations #DEI

Tacoma, WA – Dozens of community members gathered at the Tacoma City Council chambers on Tuesday, December 17, in preparation for the city of Tacoma’s vote to pass the city’s first Climate and Sustainability Commission into law.

“It’s great that the city council is planning to pass an ordinance enshrining the Climate Commission into law, but as it stands there are some serious problems with it,” said Haze Bender, a rank-and-file member of Teamsters Local 174. “As written, the commission is only advisory, has no real power, and all members are appointed, rather than elected.”

“We’ve been here many weeks, and a lot of our members never miss council meetings,” said Catelynn Henion, a local activist with Climate Alliance of the South Sound (CASS). “I strongly believe that this Climate Commission wouldn’t even be an ordinance here tonight if there weren't so many people that organized for it.”

The city’s public comment section of the meeting opened with a statement calling to delay the vote on the Climate Commission until the language could be updated to match community demands. The comment was met with resounding applause and cheers from the audience. After the applause, Mayor Victoria Woodards said: “During public comment we ask that in these chambers you refrain from cheering after a speaker has spoken.”

One attendee, a letter carrier with the NALC Local 79, Bryce Phillips shouted from his seat: “It’s our constitutional right!”

Mayor Woodards responded, “This is not a back-and-forth. If you want to be respected, then you must respect the rules of this council. If we can’t abide by the rules of the council, then we won’t have public comment tonight.”

Dozens of community members testified in favor of a strong commission and implored the council to delay the vote until the language could be changed. Despite the mayor’s threats, indigenous community members in the audience continued to beat hand drums at the end of supportive comments.

“I have been an educator in Tacoma for over ten years, and the youth are experiencing the worst of pollution, especially in the South End,” said Phil Harty. “The commission must have the ability to veto permits and projects based on consultation with local tribes and preservation of native ecosystems.”

“By empowering a stronger climate commission, Tacoma can address its urgent environmental challenges and improve public health outcomes. Instead of mega warehouses, we should be planting more trees” said Stephanie Reasor. “Tacoma has the lowest tree coverage of any city in western Washington.”

“The climate commission needs to actually be able to protect the environment, but right now it’s just a little band-aid,” said Zipporah Jarmon.

“Systems are designed to produce the outcome that they get, and we are in a climate catastrophe because our system was designed to create it,” said Rachel Ostheller. “Your commission leaves the power in the hands of that very same system, unchecked. Essentially your commission is politely asking the system to do better, but we don’t have the luxury to be polite anymore.”

Despite earlier threats from the mayor, Phillips gave a powerful testimony that resulted in resounding applause from the audience, “There’s a lot of things I like about Tacoma, but let’s be real: this city is known as a toxic waste dump, as the place where the most exploitive, extractive, pollutive garbage goes. It’s treated as a garbage dump by the capitalist class. The toadies on city council say ‘oh hey, put your toxic waste dump here, put your big warehouse here, put your big polluting thing here, our people are poor, are people won’t say anything, this isn’t Seattle, this is Tacoma.’ So I’d like to ask: what kind of legacy do you want to leave? Do you want your legacy to be that we made some feel-good statements?”

Phillips continued, “Or you want your legacy to be that you turned Tacoma around, started to make this into a world-class city, started to make this the beautiful city that it can be, and that you started listening to the residents, to Indigenous people, to labor, and to our communities that are demanding that you put some actually teeth in this legislation and stop playing games.”

After public comment ended and dozens of activists, scientists, indigenous people, and union members testified in favor of a strong climate commission and delaying the vote, the council blazed through the rest of the agenda.

When they reached the vote to adopt the Climate Commission ordinance, it became clear there would be no amendments. Before the city clerk could call the vote, an organizer with CASS, Aife Pasquale, rose from their seat and chanted “Liberate the people!” Dozens more rose from their seats and responded, “Liberate the planet!” The chanting continued as activists moved to the front of city council chambers and linked arms in an attempt to block the vote.

In an unprecedented move, Mayor Woodards insisted the clerk call the vote despite the disruption. Council members had to shout into their microphones in order for their votes to be heard above the chanting community members gathering at the front. The ordinance passed with eight voting yes and a single council member, Jamika Scott of District 3, abstaining. After the vote, Woodards immediately moved to adjourn the meeting.

As council members shuffled out the back door and police lingered at the periphery, the community continued to rally, producing a megaphone and sharing speeches, songs and poems on a variety of issues.

“City council chose to end the meeting early and cancel community forum, so we held our own community forum,” said Gemini Gnull, member of the Osage Nation and organizer with CASS.

Community forum is the section at the end of council meetings where constituents can talk about anything, even if the subject of their comment is not on the agenda.

Addressing the crowd in chambers, Pasquale said, “Our actions are not drawn from thin air, and our demands are not drawn from thin air. We use historic examples from successful movements to guide our actions. We work with elder activists who have put everything on the line to make a better world. We synthesize ideas from the community and represent their felt needs. And then the council silences us! This is repression! The council is too comfortable taking away our rights. When the council ignores us and silences us, we are forced to escalate.”

“It’s incredibly disappointing that despite months of calls, emails, meeting requests and testimony at council, the city pushed through this ordinance unamended,” said Gnull. “But the road to victory is paved with losses, and tonight we showed the power of our community, of the alliance between labor and Black and indigenous people. We showed that the people of Tacoma are ready to fight.”

“I love Tacoma. I was born and raised here. I love the people of Tacoma” said Pasquale. “This is a climate emergency, and we need to act like it. There is no future unless we start fighting.”

#TacomaWA #WA #Environment #ClimateJustice #CASS

Minneapolis, MN – On June 18, 40 activists, organizers and community members gathered to rally and march in celebration of the recent Roof Depot victory in the East Phillips community of Minneapolis. The march was initiated by the Climate Justice Committee (CJC).

The community has been fighting for nearly ten years to prevent the Hiawatha Expansion Project and Roof Depot demolition, both of which would have poisoned an already environmentally burdened community with diesel fumes and arsenic. Instead, the community wanted the city to give the Roof Depot property back to the people, so they could use the building in ways that serve East Phillips, a majority oppressed nationality, immigrant, and working-class neighborhood. The city finally caved and agreed to sell the Roof Depot property, but only after the people of East Phillips and their allies began to raise the stakes for the city by packing city council meetings and holding rallies and marches, culminating in an indigenous-led occupation of the Roof Depot site.

In celebration of the city finally agreeing to sell the property to the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI), a coalition of forces organized a block party in Little Earth, a native-preference housing complex within East Phillips. The CJC’s rally began at the Roof Depot site. Members of Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) marched to the Roof Depot site as part of a national day of action for the Legalization for All Network, and their march joined the CJC rally as it began.

Speakers from the CJC, MIRAC and EPNI spoke about the win and the solidarity and in-the-streets organizing that made the win possible. Kay Lerohl of the CJC summed up the prevailing perspectives, stating, “Let us remember the strength of collective action, the power of our communities, and the profound impact we have when we stand together.”

The protesters marched through the East Phillips neighborhood to Cedar Field Park, holding a “Fight environmental racism” banner, and shouting chants such as, “¡Sí se puede!” and “When we fight, we win!” Passing cars honked in support, and neighbors came out in their lawns and front porches to witness the celebration. Upon arriving at Cedar Field Park, community groups set up educational tables, musical performances, free food and mutual aid tents to share in celebration and show that the support for the East Phillips community is ongoing.

The Climate Justice Committee was honored by the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, the American Indian Movement and community with a blanket as part of a ceremony at the block party celebration.

#MinneapolisMN #EnvironmentalJustice #ClimateJustice #communityOrganizing

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) is hosting another meeting for general members this coming Thursday, November 11 at 8 p.m. Eastern time. We will use Zoom to again to welcome the scores of new members who chose to join the FRSO over the past four months.

Tracy Molm, an environmental justice activist, and Masao Suzuki, chair of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) Joint Nationalities Commission, will speak on how capitalism destroys the environment to achieve ever greater profits. This also harms the working class and puts the greatest burden on oppressed nationality communities. This includes indigenous land and sovereignty issues around Line 3 oil pipeline in Minnesota.

Saving the planet means changing the system. Together we can continue to organize and claim victories for the people. Come join the discussion. Join the FRSO at www.frso.org

Thursday, November 11, 2021 at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central/6pm Mountain/5pm Pacific

Register at https://bit.ly/FRSOGenMeeting

#UnitedStates #PeoplesStruggles #EnvironmentalJustice #ClimateJustice

Appleton, WI – On April 24, a coalition of seven local environmental and social justice groups assembled with more than 100 members of local communities to make demands for a livable future. The event was led by Sunrise Appleton, a youth-led movement that works to advocate the adoption of Green New Deal policies, reducing carbon emissions by building new sustainable sources of energy and infrastructure, and putting a stop to climate change.

The energy of the crowd was one of fervent anti-capitalism. At one point a speaking representative from Sunrise stated, “We are no longer asking, we are demanding” as they shift away from passive attempts at changing the system and call directly on elected officials from local governments and all the way to President Biden to begin to address climate change with a sense of urgency.

Another youth-led organization in the coalition, Youth Climate Action Team (YCAT), stated that they are “a statewide alliance of climate activists working to end environmental injustice and the exploitative systems that created it. YCAT advocates for state and local climate action while standing against resource extraction and disaster capitalism.”

Members of YCAT also brought large hand-painted banners on tall poles with statements like “Keep it In the ground,” “No pipelines,” “Stop Line 3,” and “Renewable energy by 2035.” Other signs were focused on resource extraction and its direct causal relationship to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis; “Violence to our land is violence to our bodies” and “No more man camps, no more MMIW.”

Kirsten Welch, a member from ESTHER Fox Valley and a Menominee woman, gave a powerful speech about the irreversible pollution of our waters and the violence, rape and murder of indigenous people that stem directly from the temporary housing, the ‘man camps’ built by oil and drilling companies. She stated that this is not just a crisis in Wisconsin or the U.S., but all over the world in areas where indigenous people have lived harmoniously with the land and seek to protect the sacred. Nearing the end of her speech she said that we need to “cut off the head of the black snake.” The black snake is what water protectors and indigenous people commonly call pipelines.

Other groups in the coalition were the Fox Valley Sierra Group, Citizen Action Northeast Wisconsin, PopEarth, and Our Wisconsin Revolution. But other groups like Food Not Bombs Fox Valley and the Wisconsin Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression mobilized to support this action. Many of these same groups will be attending the upcoming May Day rally in Appleton on May 1.

#AppletonWI #PeoplesStruggles #EnvironmentalJustice #ClimateJustice #EarthDay

St. Paul, MN – Over 200 people gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol grounds, April 17, to demand climate justice from the Walz and Biden governments. The event was organized by the Climate Justice Committee of Minnesota.

The native dance group Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue opened the rally with a performance punctuated by a brief address from member Susana De León, expressing gratitude for us all being able to experience “a day with sun, a day with wind, a day with fire, a day with water,” all essential elements of life, she remarked, that future generations may not live to enjoy if we don't care and fight to preserve the environment that fosters them.

A heartfelt speech delivered by 12-year-old sixth-grader Audrey Keirstead formally acknowledged the lands as stolen from the Dakota people, and explicitly denounced the genocide, displacement, violence and injustice perpetrated then, and shamefully still today. “We agree with the Iroquois philosophy,” Keirstead, said, “that the decisions we make should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future.”

After her statement, members of local activist groups took the microphone to speak up about the many issues derived from increasing ecological degradation. Subjects ranged from environmental racism to the U.S. military as top polluter in the world and the Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

“Until the grass grows and the river flows, Mni Wičoni, water is life,” said Gabriel Black Elk, from Native Lives Matter as he described how the ravaging of Grandmother Earth affected indigenous people, from the destruction of the Black Hills for gold “to these nasty-ass pipelines we call the black snake.” Black Elk also took a moment to acknowledge the most recent native stolen life murdered by police just two days ago in Maine, while undergoing a mental health crisis.

Both Veterans for Peace as well as the Anti-War Committee explained the devastating effects of the U.S. war machine on the planet. Much accountability was placed before the current administration. Misty Rowan from the Anti-War Committee said that “Joe Biden isn’t just breaking promises, he is hinting at what is to come – which is more wars and more occupation. His budget proposes more military spending than Trump, not less.”

“There can be no climate justice without racial justice,” called Katherine Gould, from the Climate Justice Committee, “Governor Walz and other politicians have completely ignored the demands of native nations to stop Line 3. Across the country, landfills and other environmental hazards are disproportionately located in communities of color. Climate refugees are turned away by the most polluting country of the world. Enough is enough. It is time for the people to lead and it is time for real change.”

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #EnvironmentalJustice #ClimateJustice #EarthDay