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50 Envtl. L. Rep. 10216 (2020)
Environmental Justice, Just Transition, and a Low-Carbon Future for California

handle is hein.journals/elrna50 and id is 220 raw text is: Copyright © 2020 Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELRO, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, JUST TRANSITION, AND A LOW-CARBON FUTURE FOR CALIFORNIA byJ. Mijin Cha, Madeline Wander, and Manuel Pastor J. Mijin Cha is an assistant professor at Occidental College. Madeline Wander is a senior data analyst at the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at the University of Southern California (USC). Manuel Pastor is a distinguished professor of sociology/American studies and ethnicity, Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change at USC, and director of PERE. SUMMARY We must substantially reduce carbon emissions within a short time line, and this rapid decarbonization will cause negative economic and social impacts on workers and communities dependent upon fossil fuel extraction and use. Just transition often refers to addressing the needs of those communities, but an equitable transition into a low-carbon future should also take into account environmental justice communities that have suffered from dispro- portionate exposure to environmental hazards and that could and should benefit from job creation. This Article presents the results of a community-informed research project analyzing the challenges and opportunities of a just transition for environmental justice communities in California. Through interviews, case studies, and original data analysis, a framework for just transition policy development is presented built on four pillars: strong governmental support, dedicated funding streams, diverse and strong coalitions, and economic diversification. The signs that the climate crisis is already here are clear. The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report has detailed the evidence from more than 6,000 studies that over the past decade, a series of record-breaking storms, forest fires, droughts, coral bleaching, heat waves, and floods have occurred around the world in response to the 1°C of global warm- ing that has taken place since the pre-industrial era.1 These Authors' Note: The authors would like to thank the 11th Hour Project for funding this research. We also thank the Climate Equity Network for supporting this research as well as its partnership, feedback, and invaluable ideas and insights along the way. Thank you also to Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education and the California Envi- ronmental Justice Alliance for coordinating and convening stakeholder feedback, and to our interviewees-Mariah Ashley (Black Mesa Water Coalition), Lauren Breyneart (outreach manager, Yes on 1631), and Ivy Brashear (Appalachian transition coordinator, Mountain Association for Community Economic Development)-for taking the time to discuss their experiences and share their wisdom with us. Finally, we thank the larger research team: Occidental College undergraduate research assistants Spruce Bohen and Jacqueline Dall for data collection and case study support former USC PERE Data Management Specialist Gabriel Wat- son and Occidental College Professor James Sadd for data cleaning and geographic information system analysis; Occidental College Se- nior Program Coordinator Sylvia Chico for administrative support USC PERE Senior Communications Specialist Gladys Malibiran for communi- cations support and former USC PERE research assistants Sandy South- ivilay and Stina Rosenquist for copy editing. 1. INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, GLOBAL WARMING OF 1.5'C 5 (Valerie Masson-Delmotte et al. eds., 2018), https://www.ipcc.ch/ srl5/. events, and the losses associated with them, are expected to become substantially worse with 1.5°C of warming cur- rently targeted by global climate agreements, and far worse if these agreements are not effective.2 Without major cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, this warming thresh- old could be reached in as little as 11 years, and almost certainly within 20 years.3 Any chance of staving off even worse impacts from cli- mate change depends on significant reductions in GHG emissions and a rapid shift from a fossil fuel-based econ- omy to a low-carbon economic future. While this tran- sition is fundamentally necessary, the challenges it poses are great. Though declining, the crude petroleum, natural gas extraction, and coal industries employed more than one million workers in 2016.4 Oil and gas mining alone contributed more than $600 billion to U.S. gross domes- tic product in 2018.5 Replacing the employment and eco- nomic contributions of fossil fuels will require substantial investment and planning. With a federal Administration hostile to action on climate change, aggressive climate action must neces- sarily be led by states and localities. The size of many 2. See id. 3. See id. 4. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, U.S. ENERGY AND EMPLOYMENT REPORT 40- 42 (2017), https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/01/f34/2017%20 US%20Energy%20and%20Jobs%2OReportO.pdf. 5. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Industry Data, https://apps.bea.gov/iTable/ iTable.cfm?ReqID=51&step=1 (last visited Jan. 5, 2020). ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 50 ELR 10216 3-2020

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