Introducing: Climate Impact LA
Hello, everyone! It’s Jecca Bowen, here again to introduce you to another exciting climate project led by one of our Earth Guardians supporters. As the Youth Litigation Mobilization Coordinator with Earth Guardians, I get to help our community members all over the world get involved with climate lawsuit mobilizations and climate-focused civic engagement projects.
Recently, I’ve been working with an amazing new Earth Guardians partner, James Crisafulli, who has a climate-focused video storytelling project focused on LA. Over the coming months, we will be featuring his videos and his words right here on the Earth Guardians blog!
James is a recent graduate from Northwestern University and a current Humanity in Action fellow. As a part of his fellowship, he is designing an action project to be implemented in Los Angeles. This project is called Climate Impact LA, and it combines his interest in environmental justice and climate change mitigation with his skills as a storyteller. Raised by an author and a documentarian in Los Angeles, James has a passion for narrative storytelling that he is now applying to his climate activism.
James Crisafulli
Creator of Climate Impact LA
For this project, James is creating a series of short videos that address pressing issues of environmental justice in the LA area. He has watched as wildfires have threatened his home and pollution has ravaged communities across the city, while leadership on climate issues has been limited to few public officials and a narrow scope of sustainability commitments. He is determined to change that.
Topics he’s investigating include:
Environmental litigation and City Attorneys
Warehousing and indirect source pollution
Oil and gas wells in LA
Wildfires and air quality
LA’s Sustainability Plan (Green New Deal)
In addition to researching each of these topics, James is interviewing people who are involved in every aspect of the local climate crisis—from members of frontline communities who are directly affected by oil and gas development to city leaders, activists, and scientists influencing policy—in order to highlight the inequities and obstacles inherent in addressing climate change. This project, we hope, will inspire others to turn the same critical eye toward their own communities and local governments.
These videos will be released in a sequence between now and June 2021, and along the way, you can read updates about James’ interviews and research right here on the Earth Guardians blog. Each video will also end with a specific, targeted action that each of you can take to help combat the climate crisis in LA and your own communities.
Earth Guardians is thrilled to be working with James, and we hope you’ll join us for this deep look into climate change in LA. The first video—on the LA City Attorney and their role in addressing climate change—is coming soon!
For more information, check out James’ project website (climateimpactla.com), follow his Instagram account (@climateimpactla), and check back here for regular updates.
