CALL FOR APPLICATIONS:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting applications for the 2009 Achievement in Environmental Justice Awards. Nominations must be postmarked by May 13, 2009.
National awards for achievements in environmental justice will be given to multi-stakeholder partnerships for their achievement in addressing environmental justice issues or achieving the goals of environmental justice in a manner that results in positive impacts to a community. Multi-stakeholder partnerships bring together diverse organizations with multiple perspectives and interests to address these issues. Such partnerships refer to arrangements in which stakeholders work together to achieve common goals. Multi-stakeholder partnerships must be made up of three or more of the following organizations:
Community-Based Organizations (required)
Academic Institutions
Business and Industry Organizations
Non-Governmental and Environmental Organizations
State and Local Government Organizations
Tribal Government and Indigenous Organizations Multi-stakeholder partnerships will be evaluated based on how they addressed environmental justice issues in accordance with the following criteria:
Partnerships and Collaboration;
Innovation;
Community, Equity, and Public Involvement;
Integration;
Leveraged Resources/Capacity Building/Sustainability; and
Demonstrated Results/Effectiveness.
Each multi-stakeholder partnership applying for an award must have reached a significant environmental justice milestone or accomplishment within the past 5 years (2004-2008). EPA will announce award winners in Fall 2009. Award winners will receive national recognition for their significant environmental justice achievements. Winners will also be featured on the EPA Office of Environmental Justice's Web site. National recognition may also open doors for the award winners to network and partner with other organizations across the U.S. that share a similar commitment to environmental justice excellence.
Application
Environmental Justice Achievement Awards Program
Contact Lisa Hammond at (202) 564-0736
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
EPA's EJ Achievement Awards (Due May 13, 2009)
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4 comments:
I wrote this letter to Congress to show them that the next generation needs is waiting for them to do something on global warming and to not sacrifice my future. Please tell me what you think:
Dear Congress,
My name is Daniel Knickelbein and I am 17 year-old high school student from Oak Park, Illinois. I guess you could call me an “environmentalist,” based on the fact that I believe that global warming is a serious threat to mankind and I believe in the conservation of natural lands and resources in their purest form. But I don’t think I can be labeled as a crazy left-winger because, well, who doesn’t like clean water, or land available for fishing or hiking, or restoring natural forests to their original beauty.
The reason I am writing this letter is because I believe that starting TODAY, the United States Congress must act to pass serious climate change legislation, and must also recognize that we must conserve the few natural lands we still have left in this country.
The science on global warming is unmistakable. When 97 percent of climatologists in this country believe that global warming is man-made and will have serious effects on our world, we must act to do something about that. It is unfathomable to me how some of you in Congress can not address this issue, while you sit and bicker about party ideals.
For those who say that addressing climate change and global warming will hurt the economy, you must think again. As many economists and scientists point out, a “green” economy is an investment in the future, sort of like beginning to tackle the large deficit that has been passed down by many presidents. Now some of you skeptics will say that I am an affluent suburban teenager who has no idea what it is like to experience financial hardship that you say will be cause by tackling global warming. Please think again. My father was a chemist employed at his dream job for 20 years, but when the recession hit, his lab was forced to fire him because of lack of funding. While I am currently by no means poor, my father’s misfortune has left our family in a somewhat difficult situation.
Now, we have any opportunity to help millions of other Americans like my father. If our country (you guys and girls in Congress) decide to invest in my future with green technologies, my father might be able to work again. And yes investing in renewable energy and green technology is MY future. Long after all 535 of you are gone, I would like to live in a safe and prosperous planet, not a planet where I have to worry about where I find my next meal, or my next glass of water. If we continue to allow global warming to go unchecked, that scenario is not exactly science fiction, it could and very well may become reality.
So today, on the 39th Earth Day, I ask every single member of Congress to consider their priorities as some of the most powerful people in the United States. Do you wish to leave your children and grandchildren in a safe and prosperous world? Should we leave them in a place that is dangerous and unhealthy? Should we allow the few remaining natural lands to be destroyed for a profit? These are questions that I hope you will consider when voting on a climate change bill. The only thing I ask of all of you is to please read my letter, and to consider what I have said.
I also want to give thanks to every single one of you for the service you do for your country. I am very lucky to be able to live in a country where I can write this letter freely, and a country where I am able to express my opinions without afterthought.
Please consider what I have said in this letter.
Sincerely,
Daniel Knickelbein
It's uplifting to know that the EPA sees the importance in recognizing such EJ achievements. Hopefully its focus on multi-stakeholder partnerships will encourage further partnerships on the matter, as I personally find collaboration to be an essential tool that is too often overlooked.
Also, you might be interested to know that Witness, the group I work with, just launched a new video called "Environment is Life: Voices of Human Rights Activists from Around the World". It deals with the connection between environmental and human rights, a large facet of which is environmental justice. You can watch it here.
http://hub.witness.org/EarthDay2009
So what we are doing now is asking leading environmental and human rights sites and blogs, such as Environmental Justice Blog, to help honor Earth Day by helping spread this video and sparking an online conversation about this very important topic. So please feel free to download the video, share it with your friends, and use it in your own materials and efforts. Thank you so much for your efforts.
Dave
-Witness Intern
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