Great Rivers Environmental Law Center mourns George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tory Sanders – and so many others – and condemns their unjust murders.

Systemic racism, police brutality and environmental racism are interconnected issues that work concurrently to promote the unfair treatment of black communities across the nation. We cannot address these as separate issues, as we cannot fight environmental racism without also confronting racial injustice.

Historically, the environmental law movement has ignored black and brown communities who suffer from environmental racism.  We are all too aware that effects of climate change and environmental pollution disproportionately harm black communities, and we are dedicated to being advocates for these communities in our work.  

A core tenet of Great Rivers’ mission is combating environmental racism, and we are more motivated than ever to fight against these injustices.

However, we acknowledge that we have not done enough and we must do better. In our everyday work, we will take more steps to foster an anti-racist workplace, and we will prioritize educating supporters of our organization on racial injustice. We will use our platform to build and strengthen connections with local leaders and organizations. Our commitment to the communities we serve has never been stronger, and we are ready to create real, actionable, and lasting change.