People’s Justice Council (PJC)
Birmingham, AL
In 2021, Climate Nexus launched an Energy Equity Regranting Project to help resource organizations, tribes, and community leaders on the frontlines of climate change and the impactful work they are doing to fight the gas industry. The energy equity transition grants prioritize grassroots groups with an annual budget of $1 million or less to boost their efforts in racially, ethnically, gender, and culturally diverse communities across the United States and at the intersections of public health and energy justice.
In our first year running the program, nine organizations received grants ranging from $20,000 to $40,000, including the People’s Justice Council, whose work is detailed below.
Overview
The Alabama Energy Democracy Coalition, led by the People’s Justice Council and Alabama Interfaith Power & Light, seeks to build organizing capacity in targeted electric cooperatives surrounding the Montgomery, Alabama, area to grow the constituency for energy and environmental justice, advocating for clean energy, and reforming democratic processes at electric cooperatives.
Activities
PJC leveraged existing capacity and hired new capacity for organizing in the service territory of Central Alabama Electric Cooperative (CAEC). The organizers were tasked with the following:
- Better understanding of the wants and needs of local residents;
- Contacting and educating member-owners about their rights as cooperative members;
- Activating residents at critical junctures, such as board meetings and annual meetings, to increase the likelihood of success of key reforms;
- Working with coalition organizations to inform media and communications; and
- Recruiting community organizations to join the coalition.
Lessons Learned
The PJC is under no illusions that change will come quickly or easily. Their ultimate intent is to institute changes at CAEC that improve the day-to-day lives of its members and make the cooperative more representative of and responsive to the members it serves.
Future and Sustainability
PJC is pursuing the creation of energy efficiency programs that are accessible to all residents regardless of income, credit, or home ownership status, the creation of locally-owned renewable energy projects that eliminate the need for extractive fossil fuels, and governance reforms to reflect the cooperative’s membership better.
Filter Grantees by Year:
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Great Plains Action Society
Great Plains Action Society addresses the trauma that Indigenous Peoples and the Earth face from colonial capitalism and works to prevent further violence.
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Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania
Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania has spent the past decade educating Pennsylvanians on the health dangers of the gas industry.
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7 Directions of Service
7 Directions of Service is fighting to cancel the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s Southgate Extension and to advance Rights of Nature laws.
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North Carolina Climate Justice Collective
NCCJC uses an intersectional approach to address environmental issues that directly impact North Carolinians living on the frontlines of extractive industries.
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South Carolina Interfaith Power and Light
SCIPL develops programming and resources around food insecurity, high energy bills, electric vehicle infrastructure, and resilience hubs.
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The People’s Justice Council
The People’s Justice Council is led by pastors, community organizers, and working professionals to create an equitable, sustainable, and just world.
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Better Brazoria: Clean Air & Water
Better Brazoria: Clean Air & Water supports residents of Brazoria County by watchdogging petrochemical companies trying to export liquid “natural” gas.
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Society of Native Nations
SSN works to recognize the existence of Native peoples in Texas, and contest the petrochemical buildout from the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast.
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Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas
The Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe travels throughout Texas, monitoring pipelines, disposal wells, ongoing border wall construction, and fracking/flaring violations.
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Rio Grande International Study Center
RGISC conducts independent research and community education to steward the environmental preservation and restoration of the Rio Grande Basin.
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People’s Justice Council (PJC)
PJC organizes not-for-profit electric co-ops around Montgomery to avoid monopolized utility and grow constituency around energy and environmental justice.
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Oregon Just Transition Alliance (OJTA)
Oregon Just Transition Alliance had three significant policy gains over the second half of 2022 due to strategic and tactical grassroots advocacy efforts.