Global Justice Ecology Project Turns Five

As a fairly new employee at Global Justice Ecology Project, I am still
working to piece together the stories and events that have taken place
under the umbrella of this organization. It seems as if co-Directors
Anne Petermann and Orin Langelle have fit at least fifteen years worth
of activities into the five years that GJEP has been in existence. The
work of Global Justice Ecology Project has taken its two co-Directors
and Rachel Smolker, the group’s Agrofuels Campaigner, all over the
world, to places like Cancun, Mexico (to document and support
international protests against the World Trade Organization’s unjust
trade policies in September of 2003), Espirito Santo, Brazil (to
co-host an international strategy meeting around efforts to stop
genetically engineered trees and monoculture timber plantations in
November of 2005), and Brussels, Belgium (to present before the
European Parliament on the dangers of agrofuels [unsustainable,
large-scale biofuels] and GE trees).

They’ve also traveled extensively
in the United States presenting and attending meetings of similar
issues. When asked, “Why Hinesburg?” their response is simply:
“Because we love it here!” Langelle and Petermann have lived in
Hinesburg since 1996, but their first twelve years in Vermont were
spent working for other organizations in Burlington. “When Global
Justice Ecology Project was formed we didn’t see any reason to commute
any more. Combined with climate change and rising gas prices, it just
seemed more sensible to base our organization in our community. Plus,
we wanted to get to know our neighbors,” says Petermann. “We’re also
of the mind that if we’re going to solve world crises we are going to
have to start working with our community, because solutions are going
to have to be community based—from the people up,” added Langelle. The
spark behind the creation of Global Justice Ecology Project was simply
that the founders felt it was their calling to work for an
organization that linked social, economic, and environmental issues
together. They felt they needed to get at the root causes of these
linked problems and decided to start a new organization. High on the
priority list for GJEP is avoiding “band-aids” and surface solutions
to these problems. Langelle and Petermann feel this separates them
from other organizations that are working on similar issues. “One of
the biggest challenges we face right now is climate change. We are
trying to get to the root of problems like environmental destruction
and overconsumption of resources, oppression of indigenous peoples,
and economic domination because they are all connected to climate
change,” says Langelle.
http://www.globaljusticeecology.org/connections.php?ID=156

— Posted to http://forestpolicyresearch.com via gmails to posterous &
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Posted via email from Deane’s posterous