Democracy
Environmental progress — from curbing climate change to ensuring the safety of the food we eat and the water we drink — is hampered by threats to our democratic system. We work to establish stronger and more effective environmental policies by fostering representative and responsive democratic institutions across the United States.
North Carolina Voter Suppression
Voter suppression, in particular gerrymandering, is an attack on our democratic process that affects everyone, especially communities fighting for environmental justice. Communities of color not only disproportionately bear the brunt of pollution, but they are also on the front lines of climate chaos. Gerrymandering silences their political voices, and fundamentally undermines communities’ ability to elect public officials who represent and fight for their concerns.
In North Carolina, one of the country’s most notoriously gerrymandered states, we work with allies like Blueprint NC to counter gerrymandering through advocating for the creation of an Independent Redistricting Commission.
National Democracy Reform
Our democracy is broken – with our federal agencies more responsive to large corporate lobbyists than to the public interest; and our elected officials more beholden to wealthy donors than to everyday people. We support the wholesale reform of our political system as outlined in the For the People Act and envision a democracy where everyone participates, every vote is counted, and everyone’s voice is heard.
In particular, we work to end to the corporate capture of our regulatory bodies, our politics and our elections. Friends of the Earth is a proud member of the Democracy Initiative, a network of 75 civil rights, environmental, labor, and civic organizations formed to restore the core principles of democracy and political equality.
Following comments from Governor Cooper about the need for an independent redistricting commission to secure equitable voting throughout North Carolina, a diverse group of people and organizations that reflect the state’s demographics are pushing for elected officials to meet Cooper’s call.
Judge Jackson's confirmation is an important step in putting underrepresented, progressive voices front and center for people and the planet.
Today President Biden announced his support for splitting the Build Back Better Act into several smaller bills in order to allow the climate provisions to pass through the Senate sooner than the education, healthcare and welfare provisions.
As our country faces a pandemic, an economic depression, a reckoning with racial justice, and a climate crisis, President Biden has the opportunity to use his first address to Congress to chart a new path forward.
In the wake of natural disasters, disaster funding is distributed based on the population. The census is also used in drawing redistricting maps for every state. In other words, as we told the Florence survivors we met on the ground, to fight for the census is to fight for every…
This bill will serve as an answer to such a need — one which helps get to the core of democracy and equity for communities of color and this nation. H.R. 1 is a revolutionary bill for the people and is just what we need in this crucial time of our democracy.…