Dear John,

This year you might notice a few changes to the Frontline Temp Check. Firstly, it’s coming from me, a real, live person now! I was always here – usually, unless I was out of the office – but now we’re putting a face to a voice, and a name to these pixels that you so graciously welcome into your inbox once a month. My name is Mark Chavez, I’m the editor of this newsletter, I’ve been with CJA for a little over six years now, and I really love that part of what I get to do is share the stories of our movement with you. 

We also changed the email address the newsletter comes from, that way your replies will come directly to me. I really want to hear from you. What’s your relationship to climate justice? What stories inspire you the most? How are you staying warm during this polar vortex?

You’ll also notice that we’re going to play with the format a little bit. The goal is to make things more understandable with deep dives into the work and jargon of our movement, and to start sharing more exciting resources coming from CJA and our members.

Outside of this newsletter, this month has been…a lot. To top off another year of Trump: he kidnapped a foreign leader, pulled the country out of the UN body that creates shared accountability to climate commitments, ramped up threats to take over Greenland, and has troops on standby to invade a U.S. city, as ICE agents continue to harass, violently attack, kidnap and murder mothers and fathers. More on the impacts of this last year below, along with some positive things as well.

Before that, check out this beautiful video created by our friend Keenan Lacy-Rhodes who joined our team in Brazil for COP 30 back in November. It’s important to remember what Sachio Henson, CJA’s Political Education Program Manager, reminds us: “Even with all of the different languages and cultures, people want to eat good food, they want to have good relationships. They just want to be able to be in their homes in a healthy environment. This system that we live in, it’s designed to bring out the worst in people. It’s designed to really hurt and traumatize people. It's designed to keep us isolated. There’s the same few people who are at the top causing all of these harms across all of these continents and all of these different places. There’s so much similarity and shared struggle that we all need to do on an international scale.”

What Trump’s Return to Office Has Cost Our Communities

It’s been just over a year since Donald Trump returned to office. This time around his team was ready to restructure the federal government while wielding its power to oppress people on day one and, as the unending cycle of horrific news shows, they haven’t let up. 

What’s clear is that polluters have used this moment as an opportunity to increase their influence on federal politics, avoiding accountability while continuing to harm people, plants, animals, and the planet. All of this is happening while people overwhelmingly acknowledge environmental hazards exist (70% of adults in the U.S.) and want their governments to be doing more to address climate change (80-89% globally).

The bad news – if you needed to hear more – is that at least $29 billion in federal funding to address pollution and encourage growth has been unlawfully terminated and canceled or frozen. NRCD and WE ACT put together this helpful tool so people can see on a map where funding has been denied. Throughout our membership we’ve seen millions of dollars in funding promised by the federal government stolen from projects across the country.

The good news is that our work partially stems from failures of the federal government in the first place, and continues despite this most recent wave of attacks. We’re working to create resiliency hubs, to bring energy democracy to our communities, growing food sovereignty, and rebuilding after disasters with our community in mind. 

Frontline communities continue to serve the public good, regardless of zip code or political affiliation, even amid increased violence at the hands of ICE ramping up in so many of our communities. Read our recent statement here and learn more about what you can do. Remember, “Climate justice is inseparable from migrant justice. Both are rooted in a deep tradition of creating a just and livable future for everyone. Both demand collective, bold solutions led by frontline communities. Solutions that build a world where everyone can thrive.” 

Justice for Migrants poster created by Angelica Frausto for Creative Wildfire

Mar Zepada, CJA’s Legislative Director addressing members of Ccongress on the impacts of data centers

A coalition of progressive groups fighting for our communities and our planet hosted a congressional briefing on Data Center Harms, Community Impacts, and Solutions. The briefing, directed at Congressional staff, highlighted how Big Oil and Big Tech are behind the build out of data centers for artificial intelligence that pollutes our communities and is used to surveil us. Over forty Congressional staff were in attendance, and represented offices from a diverse range of states and from across the Republican and Democratic party.

CJA’s Legislative Director Mar Zepada was joined by: Dr. Sarah Myers West, co-Executive Director of the AI Now Institute; Greg LeRoy, Executive Director of Good Jobs First; Jean Su, Energy Justice Director and a senior attorney at the Center for Biological

Diversity; Jim Walsh, Policy Director for Food & Water Watch; Marissa Paslick Gillett, a Senior Fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project; 

A few years ago CJA’s Black Caucus decided to create a documentary to uplift the stories of Black Environmental Justice communities. It was made by two brilliant young filmmakers from CJA’s ecosystem – Keenan Lacy-Rhodes and CJA’s own Leah Derray. So far the film has been selected by three film festivals and received the jury award from one.

For Black History Month we are releasing the film to the public and encouraging people to host a watch party with friends and family! Check out the trailer here, and be ready to watch the film here when it drops on Saturday, February 6th. On that page you’ll also be able to download a conversation guide that you can use after you watch. 

About the film: 

Grasping at the Roots is a film that highlights the stories of forefront Environmental Justice activists in the United States and shares how climate change is intimately connected to our lives. It shares the goals, challenges, victories, and hopes of Climate Justice Alliance member organizations in Detroit, MI, Indianapolis, IN, Richmond, CA, and Jackson, MS while highlighting local action, education, and collective strategies in these 4 cities as residents adapt to political, economic, and ecological circumstances surrounding climate change. It is a love letter to the movement and a beacon of hope in an ever-changing environment. 

If you end up having a watch party be sure to take some photos and share your thoughts with us online @CJAOurPower or by dropping me a line at [email protected].