Climate Justice Futures Collaborative Study Explores Costs & Alternatives
Environmental justice (EJ) communities, long burdened by pollution, have called for climate solutions rooted in justice—not just carbon reduction. Yet U.S. climate policy increasingly favors carbon management strategies like carbon capture, despite strong opposition from EJ groups. This shift is driven by fossil fuel industry influence, reliance on carbon removal in climate models, and federal investments with limited oversight.
To take a closer look at the dangers of carbon management, Dr. Ana Baptista, Dr. Yukyan Lam, Jennifer Ventrella, Dr. Nicky Sheats, Thomas Ikeda and Brooke Helmick from the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School, and Ansha Zaman from CEED published Climate Justice Futures: Carbon Management Risks and Alternatives in Journal of Climate Resilience & Climate Justice (MIT Press).
This collaborative study reveals how “carbon management” has become the fossil fuel industry’s latest con game, just like how natural gas was sold as a “bridge fuel” that became a roadblock to renewables. While oil companies rake in BILLIONS in taxpayer subsidies for unproven carbon capture tech, frontline communities face new pollution burdens and we lose precious resources that should go to REAL solutions like community-owned solar and wind.
The research shows 90% of proposed carbon capture projects will be dumped in EJ communities and we are not surprised. Meanwhile, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirms renewables are cheaper and more effective at cutting emissions. We need energy democracy, not fossil fuel bailouts disguised as climate action.
This important research validates CEED’s consistent advocacy for genuine renewable energy solutions over false technological fixes. It exposes how the current moment represents a critical moment that requires laser focus and collective harnessing of immense resources to avert climate and environmental injustices.
The paper’s conclusion aligns with CEED’s mission: Equitable climate mitigation policies are not only possible but necessary to achieve an enduring climate just future. Our research provides the evidence base for CEED’s continued fight for energy democracy and against the false solutions that would further entrench fossil fuel interests at the expense of frontline communities. Frontline EJ organizations and marginalized communities worldwide have called for a rapid transition away from an extractive fossil fuel-based economy, toward a regenerative, just, and democratic economic system.
Read the full study here and see why we must reject these false solutions and fight for a just energy transition that puts communities first.
Byron Ramos Gudiel is Executive Director of Center for Earth, Energy & Democracy (CEED).