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For those committed to racial, social, and environmental justice, the national election was a gut punch. A result that will have far reaching and devastating consequences for ourselves, our loved ones, our communities, and the planet. The coming days will require us to catch our breath, then begin organizing to
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By Zully Juarez More than 30 million households in the United States are energy insecure, meaning that they are unable to adequately meet household energy needs.1 High energy costs as a fraction of household income — called energy burden — is a major stressor on the finances of low-income households.2
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By Jennifer Moon, PhD. There has been growing attention on the failure of key markets to keep pace with climate change, including the housing, insurance, and utilities markets, and the dire consequences for communities across the country. The healthcare market, however, has received less attention. While significant progress has been
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By Miriam Zuk, Ph.D., Idalmis Vaquero, Zully Juarez, MURP., and Lin Chin In partnership with Ground Works Consulting Ensuring the well-being of people, their homes, and the environment is increasingly important in the context of the climate crisis. The connections between housing and climate justice are vast1, and in
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By Jennifer Moon, PhD. Increasing the capacity of frontline communities to meet the current and future challenges brought about by climate change will require a significant future expansion of assistance programs and resources. There are decades worth of lessons to be learned from the design and implementation of past laws
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By Cristina Muñoz De La Torre, PhD. In the face of climate-related disasters, effective communication around evacuation orders and recovery resources can mean the difference between life and death. Unfortunately, individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), who are at the front lines of climate change and climate-related disasters, are often
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By Sylvia Chi Climate justice is inextricably linked with economic justice, and individual and household economic precarity is increasingly important in the context of the climate crisis. As in so many other aspects of climate change, the household finances of low-income and communities of color are already experiencing impacts “first
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Author: Arjun Makhijani, PhD, Senior Fellow, Just Solutions. President Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. VIEW THE PDF Hiroshima was obliterated on August 6, 1945 razed to the ground by just one bomb from a single plane. That day, Mitsuno Ochi1 had been waiting to withdraw money from a bank;
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By Jennifer Moon, PhD. Investment in weatherization is sound public policy. Weatherization checks all the boxes of improving energy efficiency among low-income households, easing the strain on household budgets, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Residents experience improved health and well-being as a result of a more comfortable living environment, with
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By Zully Juarez and Idalmis Vaquero Just Solutions’ latest brief analyzes two Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) programs that provide targeted investments in housing, the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP) and Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). This brief also examines four innovative model policies
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By Jennifer Moon, PhD. This month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new drinking water dataset that has now been incorporated into the Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool (EJScreen). For the first time, environmental justice communities will be able to link Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
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By Cristina Muñoz De La Torre, PhD. Northeast Houston residents are not just confronting Hurricane Beryl's aftermath; they’re forging a path to resilience and environmental justice through community-driven solutions. On Monday July 8, tropical Storm Beryl made its landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in Texas, producing