Inspired by King’s words, experts say the fight for climate justice anywhere is a fight for climate justice everywhere
Terms like “environmental racism” or “environmental justice” were not yet part of the national lexicon when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis on April 4, 1968.
And while insider records reveal that the nation’s oil and gas lobby was being briefed that same year on the dangers of rising greenhouse gas emissions, the term “global warming” wasn’t credited with being coined until 1975, seven years after the civil rights leader’s death.
Yet leading climate scientists, theologians or environmental and climate justice activists today find much meaning and inspiration from what King wrote, said or did. In advance of this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Inside Climate News reached out to scientists, theologians, ministers and environmental and climate justice advocates to reflect on King’s legacy, as seen through a climate and environmental justice lens more than a half a century after King’s death. Some said they see their work as a direct extension of King’s, while others said King’s teachings offer a global guide for a world that is struggling to address the climate crisis.
“MLK showed us the power of the voices of ordinary people—not the powerful or wealthy, but the underprivileged, the ordinary, and the oppressed,” said Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist, evangelical Christian and author of the new book, “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World.“ “Their voices changed the world before, and I believe their voices will change the world again.” [Continue reading…]