Dec 3

Dec 3 Sacramento's new environmental justice committee seeks members

Building a sustainable future, Supporting Sacramento's health, Making sure your voice is heard

Zoom webinar planned for Dec. 9

When it comes to the environment, low-income communities and communities of color suffer the greatest impacts. They live in neighborhoods with more pollution, fewer safe places to walk or bike and even fewer trees.

Yet their residents are often left out of the conversation when it comes making neighborhoods healthier places to live and combatting climate change.

The City of Sacramento aims to make the environmental discussion more inclusive with the formation of a community-led Environmental Justice Collaborative Governance Committee (EJCGC).

Led by Nailah Pope-Harden, project manager for the non-profit Climate Plan, the EJCGC will include twelve Sacramento residents from various backgrounds with expertise in different issue areas who care about environmental justice.

Committee members will meet monthly during 2021, participate in an ongoing public discussion forum, and every three months, forward recommendations to the Sacramento City Council related to climate, land use, transportation, and environmental justice matters. Each committee member will receive a $50 monthly stipend.

Creation of such a committee was one of the top first-year recommendations from the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change, and it was endorsed by the City Council “to support marginalized communities, particularly communities of color and youth, in owning and shaping environmental solutions.” (MCCC Technical Report, p.7). The City also provided $25,000 in seed funding.

“Every day that we do not focus on environmental justice work, we are making our world worse,” Pope-Harden said. “As a City, we have committed to ambitious targets and now it’s time to implement. The EJCGC is a step in that direction. Not only do we have an opportunity to move towards a better Sacramento, but we can do it while centering and valuing voices that have historically been discriminated against. It’s not enough to solve some of our most pressing challenges if we are not going to do it equitably."

“Environmental justice must be at the forefront of our decision-making processes as we move towards becoming a carbon free city,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “We are striving to become a model for community-informed climate mitigation and adaption.”

People interested in serving on the committee can complete a short application due no later than December 21, 2020. Climate Plan will interview and select the final candidates for the EJCGC, hold an orientation, and convene the first virtual meeting in January 2021.

Applicants who are not selected for the inaugural EJCGC may participate in the EJCGC Study Group. All homework assignments and meetings will be open to the study group and their input will inform the recommendations of the EJCGC. Meetings will also be open to the public.

Learn more about recent environmental justice efforts in Sacramento and about the EJCGC by tuning into a Zoom webinar on Wednesday, December 9 at 6 pm. Guest speakers joining moderator Nailah Pope-Harden include Jose Bodipo-Memba (SMUD), Jackie Cole (VG Consulting), Herman Barahona (United Latinos) and Jennifer Venema (City of Sacramento). You may register in advance for the webinar.