What is a Just Transition?

The principle of just transition is that a healthy economy and a clean environment can and should co-exist. The process for achieving this vision should be a fair one that should not cost workers or community residents their health, environment, jobs, or economic assets. Any losses should be fairly compensated. And the practice of just transition means that the people who are most affected by pollution – the frontline workers and the fenceline communities should be in the leadership of crafting policy solutions. (Just Transition Alliance)

More broadly, Just Transition is a vision-led, unifying, and place-based set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

The JTNWI Team at the Climate Justice Alliance’s Being the Change Training in Atlanta, 1/24

Roots of Just Transition

The concept of “just transition” emerged during negotiations between unions, community members, and environmental organizations around the closure of a nuclear power plant. Its roots can be traced back to labor, with this saying often being quoted:

“There is a Superfund for dirt. There ought to be one for workers.”

— Tony Mazzocchi, the late leader with the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union 

The term has taken on a more holistic meaning across the environmental and climate justice movement. A just transition creates a safety net and just pathways for workers and communities affected by transformations in the economy and our way of life through:

  • Democratically made decisions and providing a seat at the table

  • Unionized job creation that provides family-sustaining wages and comprehensive benefits

  • Addressing harms endured by low-income communities, communities of color, and Indigenous communities to transform current and historical social injustices

  • Community and worker ownership of resources (including energy, land, water, and food systems)

  • Ecological resilience and sovereignty

This framework establishes a trajectory from today's capitalist, extractive economy to a new, regenerative economy of tomorrow.

What is a “Regenerative Economy”?

A regenerative economy is an idea that goes beyond minimizing the impact of destructive and extractive industries, instead emphasizing a positive vision for the future based on ecological restoration and community protection.

We believe that we can make this possible by centering justice in our organizing work, building equitable partnerships across our communities, and implementing fair, participatory processes to make space for everyone to participate in this vision for the future.

Image by Climate Justice Alliance for Green New Deal

  • We can live well without living better at the expense of others.

  • Create opportunities for people to learn, grow, and develop to their full capacities and interests.

  • All peoples have the right to participate in decisions that impact their lives.

  • Build new systems that are good for all people, and not just a few.

  • Advance ecological resilience, reduce resource consumption, restore biodiversity and traditional ways of life, and undermine extractive economies, including capitalism, that erode the ecological basis of our collective well-being.

  • Create inclusionary spaces for all traditions and cultures.

  • Recognize the interconnectedness of our communities as well as our issues.

  • Because there’s no time to wait.

Why NWI Needs a

Just Transition

Indiana leads the nation in toxic pollution emitted per square mile, with Northwest Indiana (NWI) home to some of the worst air and water pollution in the country, including from steel making, oil refining, and coal burning. NWI has historically been treated as a sacrifice zone for industrial pollution.

JTNWI is organizing at the grassroots level to confront NWI decades-long designation as a sacrifice zone to reclaim our community health and wellbeing and narratives.