Climate Justice Organizations on the Colorado Plateau
Here is a list of some of the many organizations engaged in climate justice in the Southwest and Colorado Plateau. Learn more about the incredible work going on and get involved!
Black Mesa Water Coalition (Flagstaff, AZ)
BMWC is dedicated to preserving and protecting Mother Earth and the integrity of Indigenous Peoples’ cultures, with the vision of building sustainable and healthy communities. We strive to empower young people and spark collaboration with surrounding communities and organizations to address the problems we collectively face.
Environment Arizona (Phoenix, AZ)
Environment Arizona is a citizen-based environmental advocacy project of Environment America. Our professional staff combines independent research, practical ideas and tough-minded advocacy to overcome the opposition of powerful special interests and win real results for our environment.
Indigenous Environmental Network (Flagstaff, AZ)
IEN is an alliance of Indigenous Peoples whose Shared Mission is to Protect the Sacredness of Earth Mother from contamination & exploitation by Respecting and Adhering to Indigenous Knowledge and Natural Law
To Nizhoni Ani (AZ)
To Nizhoni Ani (TNA) was founded in 2001 in response to Peabody Coal Company’s excessive use and waste of the only potable water source the Navajo people have on Black Mesa. TNA is working to educate young people about coal, and is developing solar projects at a number of sites on Black Mesa that would produce energy needed for the Navajo Nation and decrease dependence on fossil fuel and importation of electricity made elsewhere.
Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter (Phoenix, AZ)
We work to protect Arizona’s wild places, wildlife, and waters, as well as the people and communities who depend on them. We also promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, and smart transportation solutions in order to reduce energy consumption and pollution
CHISPA - League of Conservation Voters (AZ, CO, NM, NV)
The Chispa approach is one of Latinos putting solutions on the table and the community’s political power seen, heard and felt by decision makers across the nation and in the six states – Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, New Mexico, Nevada, and Maryland – where Chispa programs have been underway.
Earthworks (AZ, CO, NM, NV)
Earthworks is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral and energy development while promoting sustainable solutions.
Frack Free Four Corners (AZ, CO, NM, UT)
Frack Free Four Corners is dedicated to the following points of concern from fracking: health and cultural effects on area residents including indigenous peoples, methane emissions, destruction of our ancient and cultural sites, water contamination, earthquakes & the ruination of farming and their communities.
Great Old Broads for Wilderness (AZ, CO, NM, UT, NV, Natl)
Great Old Broads for Wilderness is a national grassroots organization, led by women, that engages and inspires activism to preserve and protect wilderness and wild lands.
Haul No! (AZ, UT)
Haul No! is a volunteer Indigenous-led group collaborating with Indigenous communities and leaders, environmental organizations, and community-based advocates working to stop nuclear colonialism in the Southwest. We intend to spread awareness and stimulate action to ensure sacred sites, the Grand Canyon, and our communities are safeguarded from this deadly toxic threat.
350 Colorado (CO)
We believe that organized grassroots people power is the only way we can expect to counter the influence of the fossil fuel industry in our society. 350 Colorado is dedicated to achieving three primary organizational goals: Movement Building, Keeping Fossil Fuels in the Ground, and Promoting Local Solutions
Clean Energy Action (Boulder, CO)
Clean Energy Action works at the local, state and national level on issues related to clean energy and climate change mitigation. CEA aims to achieve its goals through Citizen Power by inspiring, training, and empowering citizens to advocate for decreased reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear power, and through increased reliance on clean energy such as energy efficiency and renewable power.
Colorado Communities for Climate Action (Louisville, CO)
Colorado Communities for Climate Action is a new coalition of local governments across the state that advocates for state and federal policies to protect Colorado’s climate for current and future generations. The state and federal actions CC4CA seeks are needed to complement the strong local climate actions CC4CA members already have underway, to keep Colorado a special place to live, to work, to enjoy.
Colorado Interfaith Power and Light (Denver, CO)
COIPL supports these necessary shifts as Colorado goals: Decarbonize electricity by 2020, with a focus on our local electricity systems; Fully decarbonize cities and states by 2050; Implement a preference for EVs in new purchases by 2020 (ultimate phase out of gas/diesel vehicles); Assure equity so that all sectors of society make these transitions on the same schedule, subsidizing the energy poor in order to achieve the common good of addressing climate change.
Eco-Justice Ministries (Denver, CO)
Eco-Justice Ministries is an independent, ecumenical agency that helps churches answer the call to care for all of God's creation, and develop ministries that are faithful, relevant and effective in working toward social justice and environmental sustainability.
Environment Colorado (Denver, CO)
Environment Colorado is a citizen-based environmental advocacy organization and a project of Environment America. Our professional staff combines independent research, practical ideas and tough-minded advocacy to overcome the opposition of powerful special interests and win real results for Colorado's environment
Frack Free Colorado (Boulder, CO)
Frack Free CO is a people's movement that seeks to protect Coloradans’ basic rights to clean water, clean air, a safe home, and a sustainable future.
Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center (Boulder, CO)
Rooted in the spirit of unconditional nonviolence, the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center is dedicated to radically progressive personal and social change. We are a multi-issue organization that works to restore and protect Earth and human rights. We educate, organize, act and build community in order to create a culture of justice and peace.
San Juan Citizens Alliance (Boulder, CO)
San Juan Citizens Alliance advocates for clean air, pure water, and healthy lands – the foundations of resilient communities, ecosystems and economies in the San Juan Basin.
Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute (Hopi)
Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute is a community-based non-profit founded in 2004 and based in the Village of Kykotsmovi which is located in Northern Arizona, USA on the Hopi Reservation. Our mission is to create community-based solutions in order to pass knowledge to the future generations and rebuild culturally sustainable and healthy communities.
Diné CARE (Navajo)
Diné CARE is located on the Navajo Nation and is a non-profit organization that works with many Navajo communities affected by energy and environmental issues. Since the late 1980s, community people have stood up to demand environmental protection and sustainable development practices, bringing systemic changes in tribal politics and making the grassroots voices evident in the realm of energy development.
Diné Food Sovereignty Alliance (Navajo)
The purpose of the DFSA is to restore the traditional food system and foods on the Navajo Nation, in addition to researching and educating on the issues and gathering solutions for true food sovereignty.
350 New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM)
350 New Mexico is the New Mexico chapter of 350.org, the international grassroots organization committed to building a global climate movement. We partner with many environmental, social justice, and political organizations around the state as part of the Albuquerque Climate Coalition. We work together for climate justice for all.
Environment New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM)
Environment New Mexico is a citizen-based environmental advocacy project of Environment America. Our professional staff combines independent research, practical ideas and tough-minded advocacy to overcome the opposition of powerful special interests and win real results for New Mexico’s environment.
New Energy Economy (Santa Fe, NM)
New Energy Economy (NEE) was founded in 2004 to build a carbon-free energy future for our health and the environment. New Energy Economy employs public education, community organizing, targeted litigation methods, and model solar energy projects to shift our energy economy from fossil fuel and nuclear extraction to clean alternatives in pursuit of environmental justice and human and environmental health
New Mexico Environmental Law Center (Santa Fe, NM)
The New Mexico Environmental Law Center’s missionis to protect New Mexico’s communities and their air, land and water in the fight for environmental justice. Founded in 1987, the Law Center works with clients — often individuals, neighborhood associations, environmental organizations, Tribes and Pueblos — seeking to protect the environment.
Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter (NM)
The Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club is a volunteer-led organization representing more than 7,000 members in New Mexico and West Texas. Our mission to is to explore, enjoy and protect the planet, and we prioritize action on protecting our climate, clean air, clean water, and conservation of wildlife and public lands in New Mexico and West Texas.
Southwest Organizing Project (Albuquerque, NM)
Through advocacy, policy work, organizing, and direct action, we do more than simply raise awareness, we seek to change and challenge systems that are harmful to the youth and families in our community. Although we believe numerous issues are important, we have focused our efforts on the following five issues: Environmental Justice, Youth Rights, Food Justice, Feminisms, Civic Engagement
Frack Off Greater Chaco is a collaborative effort between Indigenous community leaders, Native groups, nonprofits, and public lands and water protectors across the southwest and the country working to stop fracking in Greater Chaco.
Environment Nevada (NV)
Environment Nevada is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization. Our professional staff combines independent research, practical ideas and tough-minded advocacy to overcome the opposition of powerful special interests and win real results for Nevada’s environment.
Living Rivers (UT)
Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper empowers a movement to instill a new ethic of achieving ecological restoration, balanced with meeting human needs. We work to: RESTORE inundated river canyons, wetlands and the delta; REPEAL antiquated laws which represent the river's death sentence; REDUCE water and energy use and their impacts on the river; RECRUIT constituents to aid in reviving the Colorado
Canyon County Rising Tide (Moab, UT)
Canyon Country Rising Tide (CCRT) is a grassroots organization based in Moab, Utah that works to confront the root causes of climate change on the Colorado Plateau. We educate the public on regional climate justice issues; we organize residents to speak out and take action against extreme fossil fuel development; we support local efforts to build just, sustainable, and climate-resilient community infrastructure; and we collaborate in a direct action campaign to stop tar sands and oil shale mining in Utah.
Peaceful Advocates for Native Dialogue and Organizing Support (UT)
PANDOS is a Utah-based, Native and environmental rights organization that began in September 2016 in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests at Standing Rock. The Standing Rock struggle has brought a spotlight to the interconnected issues of environmental racism and Native sovereignty that have long been ignored. These issues effect and unite Native and non-Native communities alike, all across America. We work with community leaders, tribal leaders and activists to raise visibility for Native American and environmental issues through dialogue, education, mass mobilization, and direct action.
Sierra Club Utah Chapter (Salt Lake, UT)
The Utah Chapter works to protect Utah’s wild places, wildlife, and waters, as well as the people and communities who depend on them. Our activism and advocacy are based on our strong grassroots networks, citizen-based leadership, and the guidance and skillsets of professional staff support. With over 5,600 members, and growing, we work to protect public lands, promote renewable energy, and support initiatives that promote clean air strategies.
Wasatch Rising Tide (Salt Lake, UT)
Wasatch Rising Tide is a climate justice collective based in Salt Lake City.
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (Salt Lake, UT)
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is made up of people like you — concerned citizens from Utah and throughout the nation who share the common goal of preserving Utah’s remaining desert wild lands, known collectively as America’s redrock wilderness.
Utah Tar Sands Resistance (UT)
Utah Tar Sands Resistance is a grassroots organization of people determined to prevent the imminent threat of tar sands and oil shale mining in Utah, the Colorado Plateau region and, ultimately, the entire world.