This week the coalition held a press conference and launched an online petition to call for a fair redistricting process through an independent, community-led redistricting commission. Recent polling shows that the people of North Carolina are tired of politicians engaging in partisan gamesmanship while wasting taxpayer dollars on unnecessary litigation year after year.

Gerrymandering efforts throughout the state has cost North Carolina between $10-25 million from 2011-2023, while more effective and far more democratic solutions exist. These civil society, nonprofit and community-led groups are leading efforts to unify communities rather than allowing partisan efforts to tear them apart for political gain.

“It is a fact that our most vulnerable communities, specifically our Black, Brown and low wealth communities, are the most directly impacted by gerrymandering,” said Jovita Lee, Program and Policy Director, NC Black Alliance and Advance Carolina. “It strips their ability to develop adequate and equitable political power by diluting their representation and creating a more difficult pathway to the ballot box. As a state, we deserve a transparent process that is led by the actual community who will be impacted by the process. An independent redistricting commission will achieve that.”

“We wanted to envision a redistricting process that puts the actual people of North Carolina and their communities first. The people of North Carolina are tired of partisan gamesmanship and gerrymandering – not only do we know that from recent polling but we also see that evidenced by the fact that the largest growing segment of voters in our state are unaffiliated voters,” said Kyle Hamilton Brazile, Director of Civic Engagement for NC Counts Coalition. “We also want to embrace the uniqueness of North Carolina in a way that draws lines to unify communities and not tear them apart, as the current redistricting process has done time and again for decades. That is why we support a truly independent redistricting commission that draws political boundaries in a way that makes sense for the people of the state, and puts the people’s interest over the politicians’.”

“Twenty twenty-four will be the 100 years that we, Indigenous Peoples of the United States, were granted Citizenship of the United States,” said Mary Crowe with Eastern Cherokee Organization. “Henry Owle, the first member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians graduated from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill soon after and went to vote in Swain County and was denied the right to vote.”

“Having politicians draw their own voting districts is one of the biggest conflicts of interest in our government,” said Tyler Daye with Common Cause NC. “When Democrats and Republicans have been in power in the North Carolina legislature, they both have shown an unwillingness to draw maps that do not favor their party. We need a better process, and the Independent Redistricting Commission in S642 provides that, placing the power of drawing the people’s voting districts where it should be in the hands of the everyday people of this state, not politicians.”

“When I hear about any piece of legislation, the first questions I ponder are ‘Is it fair?’ and ‘How does it impact the lives of people?’ If these questions are not answered in the affirmative, it does not pass the litmus test,” said Conchita McIver with North Carolina Counts Coalition.

Coalition members include: CROWD/Venture Enterprise, NC Counts Coalition, NC Black Alliance, N.C. Voters Clean Election, NC Counts Coalition, NC Asian Americans Together (NCAAT), Advance North Carolina, El Pueblo, Democracy NC, Common Cause NC, NC A Philip Randolph Inst., Fville Chapter, Action NC, Friends of the Earth, Raleigh Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Public Interest Network, League of Women Voters NC, Hispanic Federation, NC Business Council, Eastern Cherokee Organization, Redistricting Foundation, BluePrint NC, NC APRI Charlotte, Southern Vision Alliance, Robeson County Sustainable Development Co-op.

Contact:
Shaye Skiff, Friends of the Earth, kskiff@foe.org, 202-222-0723
Joselle Torres, Democracy NC, press@democracync.org

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Hallie Templeton, Legal Director at Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement in response: 

Today’s confirmation marks a proud accomplishment for our nation’s highest court, and for our country. We have taken a crucial step toward reversing our shameful history of dictating policies that disproportionately impact people of color and other disenfranchised communities who lack adequate representation. Justice Jackson’s service on the Court will finally bring a new perspective that is necessary to truly achieve justice for all.

Communications Contact: Brittany Miller, (202) 222-0746, bmiller@foe.org

The post Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Historic Confirmation Is A Win for Communities and the Climate appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

Friends of the Earth president Erich Pica issued the following statement in response:

President Biden’s agenda is alive because of the activists who fought for it over the past year. These same activists are ready to pass all of Build Back Better—not just a piece of it.

Climate justice and social justice are inseparable. Any strategy that seeks to separate them is doomed to fail. This is not a plan to pass a climate bill, this is a plan to pass no bill at all.

Environmental, climate and other progressives must fight to keep Build Back Better together, or else we all lose. Friends of the Earth will not support a bill that separates climate action from the rest of the progressive agenda.

Expert contact: Lukas Ross, (202) 222-0724, lross@foe.org
Communications contact: Kerry Skiff, 202-222-0723, kskiff@foe.org

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In response, Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica issued the following statement: 

As we witness an unprecedented effort at the state level to suppress voters, particularly voters of color, we commend Senators Merkley, Schumer and Klobuchar for introducing this important legislation.   

The For the People Act (S1) is a once-in-a-generation, landmark bill that will repair our damaged political system, which has prevented our country from tackling critical threats such as climate change and ecosystem collapse. It will transform our democracy by putting people, not wealthy interests or big polluters, back in the heart of our democratic process.   

Now is the time for deep reforms and bold leadership. We particularly call on Senate Majority Leader Schumer to ensure that obstructionist and racist tactics like the filibuster are not used to thwart the will of the people, who voted in record numbers for leaders who believe that every voice should be heard in our democracy. 

 Contact: Erin Jensen, (202) 222-0722, ejensn@foe.org 

The post Friends of the Earth applauds introduction of democracy reform bill in Senate, urges Congress to pass the For the People Act appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

In response, Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica issued the following statement: 

Throughout American history, people have fought to expand access and protect the freedom to vote. Today that fight has taken an important step forward with the House passage of HR1. Friends of the Earth thanks and commends every Member of Congress who supported this bill.  

We urge the Senate to immediately follow suit by introducing and passing the For the People Act. Our broken political system has prevented our country from tackling critical threats facing our planet, from climate change to ecosystem collapse, and now is the time for deep reforms and bold leadership.  

We particularly call on Senate Majority Leader Schumer to ensure that obstructionist and racist tactics like the filibuster are not used to thwart the will of the people, who voted in record numbers for leaders who believe that our democracy works best when every voice is heard. 

Communications contact: Erin Jensen, (202) 222-0722, ejensen@foe.org  

The post Friends of the Earth applauds House passage of HR 1, urges Senate to follow suit appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

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. But to begin this journey, and to make meaningful progress on any of these issues, we need a fully functioning democracy.

Indeed, progress on every issue that Friends of the Earth works on – from climate change, to sustainable farming, to the clean-up of toxic waste – has been and will be hampered without fundamental reforms to our political system. And our democracy is deeply damaged.

In the last four years, we have witnessed historic levels of corruption at the highest levels of government, the dangerous erosion of democratic norms and even an attempted coup in our nation’s Capitol. These threats have come on top of decades of other antidemocratic developments — in the courts, in our states, in the halls of Congress and within political campaigns – that have steadily disenfranchised millions of voters, particularly people of color.

In the last election cycle, we saw unprecedented voter suppression tactics (including attacks on the US Postal Service) along with widespread, baseless and racist allegations of voter fraud. Yet despite these suppression efforts, and in the face of a deadly pandemic, people turned out in record numbers to vote. Now, according to the Brennan Center, some 33 states have responded by introducing or pre-filing 165 bills to restrict voting – a four fold increase from last year.

These voter suppression efforts not only have inordinate consequences for BIPOC communities, but they also harm the planet. For example, in Eastern North Carolina, where Friends of the Earth works, communities of color not only bear the brunt of industrial and agricultural pollution, but they are also on the front lines of climate chaos and are hit first and worst by hurricanes and severe storms. Voter suppression, in particular partisan and racial gerrymandering, has fundamentally undermined environmental justice communities’ ability to elect public officials who represent and fight for their concerns. Ensuring fair representation in the political process is critical to helping communities combat pollution and create climate-resilient futures.

In 2019, Congress made a huge first step towards repairing our democracy when the House of Representatives passed HR1, the For the People Act. This is a landmark democracy reform package that will expand and protect voting rights for all, end partisan and racial gerrymandering, get dark money out of politics, and restore transparency and accountability in our government.

Today, the current House and Senate have both made the For the People Act (HR1 and S1) a top legislative priority, with a vote scheduled in the House for the first week of March. Now we need President Biden to use his bully pulpit – in particular his first address to Congress — to express his commitment to democracy reform and to champion HR1/ S1.

We need a political system where all voices can be heard; where the public interest, not special interests, guide decision-making; and where the people can put faith in their leaders to do the right thing for the country. Our planet depends on it.

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