CONTACT: Sasha Tenenbaum
Senior Manager, Media and Public Engagement
stenenbaum@momscleanairforce.org
(917) 887-0146
Washington, DC (February 15, 2023) – Today, dozens of women of faith, women of color joined together to urge the Biden Administration and Congress to take bold climate action to protect communities on the frontlines of climate change. In an open letter signed by religious leaders, healthcare advocates, community organizers and environmental justice champions, the signatories stated, “communities of color—our communities—are at the frontlines of the climate crisis,” and urged policymakers, healthcare professionals, and church hierarchy to, “respect the values of human dignity and conscience and protect our communities from the harm of pollution and climate change.”
“The Black and Brown community has influence and agency. We see ourselves not as lost, last or forgotten but as belonging to a strong and resilient contingency of Black and Brown mothers, sisters and daughters,” state the signatories. The letter makes clear the need for more climate educational resources, information on weatherization, increased access to public transportation, and the prevention of polluting industries to be located in communities of color. To make possible a healthy, safe, thriving future for communities, the leaders also asked healthcare professionals, church leaders, and policymakers at every level to stand with them in climate solidarity and to work to advance a climate-resilient future.
The letter reflects the deliberations of a roundtable series hosted by Moms Clean Air Force, the National Religious Partnership for the Environment and the Environmental Defense Fund that brought together women of faith leaders in the African American and Hispanic community. The series was sponsored by Moms Clean Air Force, the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment.
The National Religious Partnership for the Environment is an alliance of independent faith groups across a broad spectrum of religions including Catholic, Evangelical, Protestant, and Jewish. Guided by biblical teaching, the National Religious Partnership for the Environment seeks to encourage people of faith to weave values and programs of care for God’s creation throughout the entire fabric of religious life and to bring the religious voice to the forefront as we join together to address environmental concerns and care for God’s Earth and God’s people.
One of the world’s leading international nonprofit organizations, Environmental Defense Fund creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. To do so, EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships. With more than 3 million members and offices in the United States, China, Mexico, Indonesia and the European Union, EDF’s scientists, economists, attorneys and policy experts are working in 28 countries to turn our solutions into action.