Students and faculty from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) around the nation met with climate advocates, researchers, and Biden Administration officials for the HBCU Climate Conference this month, and targeted the climate crisis and environmental injustice for urgent attention.

This was the conference’s eighth session, after a two-year interruption for the pandemic. It was also the first meeting of the HBCU climate group since the change from a completely hostile national administration to one for which their concerns are a key priority. 

Beverly Wright is a conference co-founder and now a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. “The movement has changed,” said Wright, who is also director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. “It’s resourced for the first time at a level higher than it’s ever been resourced before.”

At the same time, leaders and activists are frustrated by the lack of progress on key initiatives, and a lack of progress toward addressing disparate pollution impacts in many communities. Participants at this meeting are determined to see that change.

With the days until the critical midterm elections waning, now is a crucial moment for Congress to pass a bold bill that enacts climate justice for these communities most impacted by climate change’s worst impacts. Tell your senators and representative to get moving now!