HBCUs Partner With Al Gore on Environmental Issues
By
Sheryl Nance-Nash
The economics of climate change – higher gas and food
prices, for starters, strike hard in low-income communities. The time
for action is now, says Nia Robinson, executive director of
Environmental Justice and Climate Change (EJCC), an Oakland,
California-based advocacy group.
"Climate change is such a huge issue and people of
color are disproportionately affected," says Robinson.
"Large environmental groups, when they talk about
climate change, they talk about melting glaciers and polar bears, but
what about what this means to our people in New Orleans, Georgia,
Detroit or Oakland."
EJCC just launched its HBCU Initiative – a partnership
with former vice president Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection’s
"We" campaign, which has provided some funding for the effort. Rapper
Coolio and jazz saxophonist Jarez have signed on to help attract the
attention of the college crowd.
"Our goal is to educate, organize and mobilize
students and others without a voice to weigh in on the policy debate on
this issue," says Robinson.
"If we don’t speak up, we run the risk of getting
harmed by policies that are supposed to help us," she adds.
 Some
HBCUs are already involved. Spelman has long been out front on
environmental issues, says Victor Ibeanusi, PhD., chair of the
Environmental Sciences program. He has been a leading figure not only
nationally, but internationally, as chair of the upcoming West Africa
Climate Change & Water Forum in Nigeria later this year.
Spelman has already hosted forums, information days, and recently joined
with the EPA to host a sustainability conference.
As a participant in the EJCC HBCU Initiative, it will
further ramp up its activities on campus. The environmental sciences
program is also looking to expand its curriculum. The significance of
the issue cannot be overstated. While Spelman students are engaged in
this issue and see how it affects their lives, there’s still much to be
done, says Ibeanusi.
EJCC has already gotten the interest in participation
from HBCUs like Howard, Grambling and Morgan State. This weekend the
first training of campus coordinators and students will take place in
Atlanta with Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, Spelman and Morris Brown
students.
EJCC will train and organize students on Black college
campuses to promote the greening of university grounds, grow support for
climate justice, and encourage HBCU presidents to sign a President’s
Climate Commitment.
Robinson says they didn’t want a "cookie cutter
approach to activities on campus," so they are having campus
coordinators, those who know best how to reach other students there, to
come up with a game plan for events, methods and strategies for reaching
the students most effectively.
The group wants to be ready to begin activities in the
fall, and is working to get more celebrity power to shine the spotlight
on the issue.
Illai Kenney, 19, the student coordinator for the
Initiative at Howard University, intends to approach Coolio about coming
to Howard. "Somebody like him represents a different kind of
perspective. He’ll open the eyes of young people," says Kenney, who is
working with a team of other students to come up with innovative events.
"We don’t want boring panels. It has to be exciting, fun. We have to
make it so they get it, but also to make them want to get involved," she
adds. The sophomore majoring in radio/film/TV has long been interested
in environmental issues, an interest she inherited from her mother. At
12 she founded Georgia Kids Against Pollution.
"The environment isn’t on most college kids’ list.
They’re worried about grades, scholarships, they don’t make the
connection about how this issue affects their every day life. Not only
do they need to know this, but also be up on the new technology that can
help them be more environmentally responsible. Young people have to step
up their game too," she adds.
Kenney says she wants to do her part to raise
awareness about environmental problems and solutions. "What’s important
is that the solutions be realistic and applicable to people that look
like me."
If you’re thinking of sitting on the sidelines, don’t.
"This is a social issue, a justice and human rights issue," says
Robinson. "College students who opt not to be involved, do so at their
own detriment."
She adds, "This is an opportunity to get involved in
one of the biggest issues of our time. The environmental movement will
be larger than the civil rights movement."
Environmental Trivia
*Global warming will increase the number of
floods, drought and fire occurrences worldwide.
*Wealthy homeowners are able to move, whereas
low-income people (who usually rent) cannot.
*Low-income people typically lack insurance to
replace possessions lost in storms and floods.
*Only 25 percent of renters have renters
insurance.
SOURCE: EJCC
For more information and to learn how to get involved,
contact:
www.ejcc.org
www.wecansolveit.org
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