Rtn. Prof. Taddeo Rusoke, Ph.D, MSc, BSc, CEPA, CNbS’ Post

🌿 ATTENTION Environmental Justice Advocates! Are you passionate about environmental justice issues? Would you like to learn how to utilize DEP's resources to tackle environmental challenges in your community? The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is excited to launch the Environmental Justice Seminar Series! 🌍 Dive into DEP's tools, connect with like-minded advocates, explore funding sources, and understand how these resources can impact your community advocacy. #EnvironmentalJustice #NJDEP #CommunityAdvocacy #SeminarSeries 🌱✨ 

🌱 Exciting news out of Michigan! The state is making significant strides in environmental justice by applying for federal funding aimed at tackling health and environmental disparities in underrepresented communities. Here's a closer look at what this means and why it's essential. Michigan is competing for valuable grants from the EPA's Environmental Justice Small Grants program and the Brownfields Program. These initiatives are crucial as they specifically target communities in Detroit, Flint, Muskegon, Grand Rapids, and Saginaw—areas that have long faced the brunt of pollution and health issues. 🔍 The Environmental Justice Small Grants seek to empower communities with up to $200,000 for local projects. These projects focus on addressing dire public health and environmental challenges that disproportionately impact low-income and minority groups. 🏗️ Likewise, the Brownfields Program is about transformation—revitalizing contaminated lands into productive properties, with Michigan aiming for up to $600,000 in grants. Both programs aim not just at cleanup but also at fostering education, outreach, and community planning to ensure sustainable futures. 🤔 Have you witnessed similar initiatives in your area? How effective do you think these programs are in addressing environmental justice? 💬 Let's discuss how strategic funding and community involvement can turn the tides toward healthier and more equitable environments. #EnvironmentalJustice #CommunityDevelopment #Sustainability #EPA #Michigan 📢 Share your thoughts and experiences! Let’s learn from each other on how best to advocate for and implement these crucial environmental justice initiatives. https://lnkd.in/gMgTPVc8

📢 You can still join the next roundtable of our Nature Restoration cycle this Saturday the 11th of May at 11am CET with Generation Climate Europe (GCE) Biodiversity Working Group with whom we will discuss the role of youth advocacy in this critical moment of the Nature Restoration Law. 🌳 Save the date, spread the word, and let us know if you can make it!  Video call and calendar link:  https://lnkd.in/eUD-ymdS #Naturerestoration #Natureisbae #YouthAdvocacy #NatureRestorationLaw

We bring you regular updates from ourCentre for Environmental Justice newsletter, which dive into our latest insights. Whether you are totally new to our work, or you've been familiar with us for a while, the Centre for Environmental Justice newsletter is a great way for us to stay in touch. To join, sign up to our CEJ newsletter, visit: https://lnkd.in/dc84W8BD #CentreforEnvironmentalJustice #CEJ #Newsletter #Environment #ClimateChange #LegalAdvice #housing #homelessness #childlaw #clinic #policymaking #advocacymatters #AdvocacyForChange

🌩🌿Want to know more on the “storm” that is ongoing about nature restoration in EU policy making? ❗ Join us on Saturday the 11th of May at 11am CET in our next roundtable with Generation Climate Europe (GCE) Biodiversity Working Group, where we will discuss the role of youth advocacy in this critical moment of the Nature Restoration Law. 👉  Video call and calendar link: https://lnkd.in/eUD-ymdS  👀 See you there! #naturerestoration #natureisbae #youthadvocacy #NatureRestorationLaw

For my plastic pollution folks, it's not always as simple as replacing plastic with another material. Take a look at this eye-opening mini-doc by my People over Plastic colleague Mary Black who recently took a toxic tour of an aluminum facility in West Baden, North Carolina. We need to be closely examining extractive industries as a whole and understand who is being impacted, and the legacy of those impacts. #peopleoverplastic #plasticpollution #environmentaljustice

We bring you regular updates from our Centre for Environmental Justice newsletter, which dive into our latest insights. Whether you are totally new to our work, or you've been familiar with us for a while, the Centre for Environmental Justice newsletter is a great way for us to stay in touch. To join, sign up to our CEJ newsletter, visit: https://lnkd.in/dc84W8BD #CentreforEnvironmentalJustice #CEJ #Newsletter #Environment #ClimateChange #LegalAdvice #housing #homelessness #childlaw #clinic #policymaking #advocacymatters #AdvocacyForChange

Keep up to date with our work at the Centre of Environmental Justice! Each month, bring you regular updates from our Centre for Environmental Justice newsletter, which dives into our latest insights. Whether you are totally new to our work, or you've been familiar with us for a while, the Centre for Environmental Justice newsletter is a great way for us to stay in touch. To join, sign up to our CEJ newsletter, visit: https://lnkd.in/eS6SPYQZ #CentreforEnvironmentalJustice #CEJ #Newsletter #Environment #ClimateChange #LegalAdvice #housing #homelessness #childlaw #clinic #policymaking #advocacymatters #AdvocacyForChange

Why does Indiana need CLC’s new Environmental Legal Aid Program? Hoosiers in Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, and Whiting live with the highest concentration of heavy industry in the state, and suffer higher rates of asthma, cancer, and pollution-induced disease than almost anywhere else in the nation. This environmental inequity is no accident. It is rooted in the same pattern of systemic racism that has plagued our country since its founding and perpetuated by continued institutional barriers. Chief among those are the intractable hurdles faced by low-income people in having their voices heard in land use, zoning, and environmental decision-making that impacts their health and quality of life. CLC aims to eliminate this structural barrier by providing residents with the legal resources they need to tackle the environmental challenges they face.

While supportive of the concept, it is normal to be skeptical that federal IRA funding will actually reach poor rural communities like mine. After working through four decades of business community development here, I can not think of a single instance where federal funding intended for small businesses was not rerouted to more affluent areas. Most recently, the federal funding for installation of internet in rural communities is blocked. Before that it was federal Covid recovery funding where local businesses in targeted underserved communities was approved but not delivered. Before that was SBA funding where local governments failed to take action on opportunities. Before that it was federal Sandy recovery funding blocked by state government that targeted rich east coast regions and blocked our poorest west coast counties. Can IRA federal funding open paths in my poor rural community after decades of economic decline due to the actions of elected and unelected government officials? I will believe it when I see it.