How we Win! Summary of findings on successful climate justice campaigns in North America

This page is a work in progress! Stay tuned for more information :)

How we win was a 2023 research project supervised by Dr. Jen Gobby, and conducted by McGill students Cassandra Ciafro, Anna Henry, Frida Sofia Morales Mora, Thomas Nakasako, Dafne Ozcan, Nico Serreqi and Lea Vadez Reyes. It investigates the following question: What can be learned from the struggles and successes of intersectional climate campaigns across Turtle Island (North America) over the past 20 years, and what factors contribute to the success of these campaigns? This page includes a summary of the campaigns/movements included in the report and the tactics used, key factors that contributed to the success of multiple campaigns/movements, HUB team observations and suggestions based on key takeaways, plus key quotes from interviews and surveys with successful activists/organizers for more specific suggestions and examples.

To read the full report, see the following: How We Win! A Qualitative Review of Successful Climate Justice Campaigns in North America in the Last 20 Years

Summary of the successful climate justice campaigns

Suggestion: look for campaigns that most resonate with an issue near you, a campaign you're working on etc. Are their tactics that haven't yet been applied in your context?

'‘Success’ was defined as having achieved material gains, or advancements in physical, financial, legal, or electoral conditions. 14 successful intersectional climate justice campaigns from Mexico, the so-called United States and so-called Canada were explored to respond to the research question. These were:

Stand LA (US)

Summary	Founded in 2013, Stand-LA formed to halt oil drilling in residential areas in Los Angeles. Their campaigns address environmentally and health hazardous projects that impact marginalized communities. The movement uses coalition-building, community engagement, science-based research, effective communication, legal expertise, and political pressure.	“For us [...] it's a justice issue. And it's also an equity issue. If there is a universal good, we have to start with the most vulnerable, because equity never ever trickles down. It has to start from the bottom”.
'People Not Pozos' (People not wells) campaign	Targeted AllenCo drilling site, which was polluting a low-income, minority community. This had negative health impacts on residents.  Organizing tactics included: Door-knocking to gather data on the various symptoms experienced by residents, followed by making a health report  Making an art piece of eight styrofoam heads, each suffering from one of the symptoms caused by the drill site pollution. Organizing a community call-in campaign to the Air Quality Management District (AQMD) Conducting a press conference. This got the attention of Senator Barbara Boxer, the federal head of the environmental committee. SUCCESS: Senator Boxer called on the Environmental Protection Agency to perform an investigation, and the AllenCo site shut down.
'No Drilling Where We Are Living' campaign	Following their success, the STAND-L.A. coalition formalized. Some key factors lead to several more successes: Coalition building and community engagement. Extensive outreach efforts increased participation. These efforts also strengthened the influence of residents. Science-based evidence and effective communication. In 2015, AQMD modified the law. It mandated fossil fuel extraction sites to disclose their chemicals. Activists found that each chemical caused the symptoms they identified in their door-knocking. This strengthened their arguments when communicating the problem. SUCCESSES: E&B Natural Resources electrified and enclosed the Murphy drill site to keep toxic fumes out of nearby homes and reduce pollution. Won a resolution prohibiting new oil drilling in the Inglewood oil field (Liberty Hill Foundation 2023; Stone 2023). Influenced legislative changes. For example, Senate Bill 1137 bans new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of sensitive areas. It has contributed to significant oil phaseout resolutions in Los Angeles, both at the city and county levels (Gross 2022; Stone 2023).
Major challenges faced by STAND-LA	Oil lobbying to oppose legislative measures Reports the oil industry is employing canvassers to use misleading tactics when gathering signatures to qualify the referendum for ballots (Gross 2022).

Stop Cop City (US)

Summary or project being proposed	Stop Cop City began in 2017 in response to the city of Atlanta's plan to build the biggest police and firefighter training facility in the country. The majority of the funding is expected to come from taxpayers, despite no public consultation on the project. The proposed site is an important green space known as Weelanee forest. It comprises the South River, one of the most endangered rivers in the United States due to historical sewage pollution. Historically, this land belonged to the Muscogee Creek Nation before they were displaced by the 1830 Indian Removal Act. At the beginning of the 20th century, the land was the site of a low-security prison farm where several accounts of torture and violence against black inmates were recorded. Today, the forest serves as an important green space for the residents of the predominantly Black surrounding neighborhoods.	“Whether the win comes through the ballot, in the courts or in the streets, Cop City must never be built”
Summary of resistance	After the project was announced, the Atlanta City Council solicited a session of public feedback that was attended by over a thousand people and lasted over 17 hours. The majority of people were against the project, but the council still ended up voting in favor of leasing the land to this police facility. Organizing tactics included: Weekly safe space events by community members in the Welanee forest, such as potlucks, reading groups, and teach-ins. The goal was for people across Atlanta to learn about the issue, and connect with the forest.  Direct action in the form of protests all over the city to spread awareness. Many protesters were arrested and charged for racketeering and domestic terrorism.  A ballot referendum campaign to allow constituents to vote on the issue. DeKalb County, being an unincorporated borough of Atlanta, barred its residents from participating in the voting or signature collection process for the referendum.  Door-knocking in various neighborhoods to collect signatures. SUCCESS: Four county residents took legal action with a lawsuit against the City of Atlanta. They won the right for DeKalb residents to both collect signatures and initiate a new 60-day countdown. Activists needed 58,000 signatures from registered voters in 60-day timeframe. They gathered over 116,000 signatures.
Major challenges faced by Stop Cop City	Police violence has been a major challenge throughout the campaign. During a protest, activist Manuel Terán (“Tortuguita”) was shot fourteen times by Georgia state troopers. Most recently in November 2023, the coalition planned a peaceful protest and tree planting in the forest, but they were met with physical resistance and tear gassed by the police. At the time of writing the report, the government was delaying the signature approval process. Cop City may not be included on the ballot.

Keystone XL Pipeline (US/CAN)

Summary or project being proposed	Initially proposed in 2008 by TC Energy, the Keystone XL pipeline extension project was designed to increase the transport of crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas (Denchak and Lindwall 2022). The pipeline extension project was expected to transport 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day across the Canada-U.S. border.  The pipeline is an example of environmental racism. Its construction would have affected Indigenous communities in Montana and South Dakota (Lindwall 2021). The pipeline’s proposed path was altered to not cross Indigenous reservations in the U.S., However, it still ran the risk of jeopardizing multiple Indigenous lands and important sources for drinking water such as the Ogallala Aquifer, a 175,000 square-mile freshwater system that serves as the main water source for millions of people (Adler 2015).
Summary of resistance	Many grassroots activists, including Indigenous communities and environmentalists, were involved before larger organizers, such as 350.org (Adler 2015). They aided in the organizing of the initial coalition, consisting of national environmental organizations including the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), the Sierra Club, and First Nations and Native American activist groups such as Idle No More and local landowners (Adler 2015). The project was then resurrected by the Trump administration after a brief win SUCCESS: An initial win for campaigners came in 2015, when then-President Obama rejected a much needed cross-border permit for Keystone XL after years of large acts of civil disobedience and protest along the construction route and in Washington (Henn 2021). NRDC and their partners issued legal petitions, effectively delaying the completion of the project (National Resource Defense Council 2021). Finally, the project was fully put to an end in 2021, as the newly elected Biden administration rescinded a crucial permit for the KXL pipeline, effectively killing the project (Engelfried 2021).

Grassy Narrows (CAN)

Summary or project being proposed	Initially proposed in 2008 by TC Energy, the Keystone XL pipeline extension project was designed to increase the transport of crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas (Denchak and Lindwall 2022). The pipeline extension project was expected to transport 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day across the Canada-U.S. border.  The pipeline is an example of environmental racism. Its construction would have affected Indigenous communities in Montana and South Dakota (Lindwall 2021). The pipeline’s proposed path was altered to not cross Indigenous reservations in the U.S., However, it still ran the risk of jeopardizing multiple Indigenous lands and important sources for drinking water such as the Ogallala Aquifer, a 175,000 square-mile freshwater system that serves as the main water source for millions of people (Adler 2015).
Summary of resistance	Many grassroots activists, including Indigenous communities and environmentalists, were involved before larger organizers, such as 350.org (Adler 2015). They aided in the organizing of the initial coalition, consisting of national environmental organizations including the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), the Sierra Club, and First Nations and Native American activist groups such as Idle No More and local landowners (Adler 2015). The project was then resurrected by the Trump administration after a brief win SUCCESS: An initial win for campaigners came in 2015, when then-President Obama rejected a much needed cross-border permit for Keystone XL after years of large acts of civil disobedience and protest along the construction route and in Washington (Henn 2021). NRDC and their partners issued legal petitions, effectively delaying the completion of the project (National Resource Defense Council 2021). Finally, the project was fully put to an end in 2021, as the newly elected Biden administration rescinded a crucial permit for the KXL pipeline, effectively killing the project (Engelfried 2021).

#RightToBreathe/PES (US)

13 Pueblos (Mexico)

Trans Mountain Expansion Pipeline (CAN)

Atlantic Coast Pipeline (US)

Public Power New York (US)

Mi’kmaq Resistance (CAN)

GNL Quebec (CAN)

Standing Rock

Athabasca Tar Sands Resistance

Nitaskinan60

Results and key research findings

Researchers key themes for successful campaigns/movements

• Direct action: most commonly used to successfully overcome government opposition and police repression.
• Legal action and political pressure: most effective for procedural delays, reducing the economic viability of projects, and sometimes, for facilitating the recognition of Indigenous rights and sovereignty.
• Coalition building : both a strategy and a success, leading to new campaigns and/or activist groups, and providing more perspectives and knowledge.
• Community engagement: both a strategy and a success, fostering collaboration, strong community support and diverse campaigns that engage a wide variety of people.

The researchers concluded that a diversity of actors, strategies, and tactics contribute to the effectiveness of a successful intersectional campaign. Direct action, community engagement and building strong, large, and diverse coalitions seem to be the most effective strategies.

HUB team observations of key tactics supporting the success of campaigns/movements

Door-knocking/canvassing. 

Relating to issues concerning community members (i.e. rather than a blanket 'stop climate change', the campaigns addressed a specific project, proposal or law that impacts the local community).

More to come!

HUB team observations for additional lessons for activists

(To come)!

If you have corrections or additional resources to share with us related to this content, you can contact kenzie@lehub.ca.

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