Conversation on Climate with CJE
In my time at The Victoria Voice, I’ve written a fair share of articles about climate change, so, when I was setting up interviews with Edmontonian icons, I thought it was only fitting that I talked with Climate Justice Edmonton (CJE). If you’ve ever been to a climate protest I’m sure you’ve heard of this group, many students are actually members of it. Basically, if our dying planet is of any concern to you my conversation with Carter Gorzitza (he/him), organizer with CJE and Environmental Science student at U of A, should be of great interest.
What do you do with Climate Justice Edmonton?
We kind of do a wide range of things, I would say it’s a lot of planning,[but,] I do a lot of work with Free Transit Edmonton which is a campaign of Climate Justice Edmonton. With Free Transit Edmonton we’ve been trying to get more involved at a municipal level with Edmonton. It’s obviously much easier to ask for, and win, free transit than it is solving the climate, per se. So, yeah, I’ve been doing some work there, mostly around coalition buildings, talking to other groups, trying to build connections. Those groups [Black Lives Matter Edmonton, Pekiwewin etc.] obviously aren’t works of Climate Justice Edmonton but we’re all working for similar reasons or have common goals in the end so a lot of organizers with [CJE] have been spending lots of time doing stuff like that. Just showing up and showing solidarity.
What does Climate Justice Edmonton stand for?
Generally, I would say [CJE] is tasked with reacting to and helping build this collective idea of what the future can be. I think part of why “climate justice” is in the title of Climate Justice Edmonton is really tying the environmental movement and the climate movement, which are things that have built up a lot of importance, to social justice. How climate justice is social justice, how climate justice is racial justice, our justices are intertwined. It’s intersectionality, all of these intertwining systems that have put us where we are; we’re not going to get out of that problem that we have by just focusing on one thing, we have to look at the bigger picture.
So, [CJE] functions as a group to start to expand that idea, we want to be a space for people to begin to understand the intersections of oppression and to actively oppose those when we can and strategically chip away at what that means. Then slowly we can build a movement of people [by working with other groups] that can start to tackle these problems from the base colonial oppressive structures.
What got you involved? What's the best way to get involved?
I started about 2 years ago by working on the Paige Gorsak campaign when she was running for a seat in NDP and wasn’t officially [CJE] but that’s how I started to meet some of the same people and get involved.
If you’re looking to get involved directly with [CJE] I would suggest shooting us an email is a good first step. Following our social media is also pretty obvious, seeing the campaigns that are happening.
Why is Climate Justice Edmonton important to you? Why not another group?
My dad worked in the oil field growing up, still does. My family and my community are deeply involved in the resource industry […] when I got into university and started studying environmental science I found that the lens of justice was a really appropriate way to look at [the oil industry]. I often talk about a ‘just transition’ which is how we can transition our economy but we need to do it in a way that uplifts people who don’t have the privilege that we have but also supporting those who do work in the oil and gas industry, giving them security in times of job insecurity and helping their lives and livelihoods. Conversations about caring about workers and making sure they have a liveable future was something that was really attractive to me.
