July 2020. Water Affordability. Vulnerable Communities.

Water Prices are on the Rise It is essential that the African American community across the U.S. become more aware of the vast opportunities in the water sector, including the aims and mission of the water utility of the future that promotes more community engagement, empowerment and economic development. This infographic represents facts about water affordability, which will be further outlined in a forthcoming report by Dr. Afia Zakiya, CBCF Senior Fellow, Water Infrastructure and Workforce Development. Dr. Zakiya's previous publications are available for download below. CBCF Makes Water Work Publications Water Careers and Opportunities for African Americans Continuous access to clean, safe and affordable water is critical to our economy, health, and way of life. This briefing note focuses on career opportunities for African Americans with public water and wastewater utilities responsible for providing such services. Download Report Apprenticeships: Pathways Toward Workforce Diversity in the Water Sector This issue brief provides data and useful resources to inform African Americans about the benefits of apprenticeships. It also identifies where apprenticeships can be found that can help them start a journey towards obtaining the middle-income and well-paying water careers available now and in the future, especially in water utilities area. Download Report STAY CONNECTED! ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

July 2020. LULAC National President Meets With Tyson Foods CEO and Goes On-Site to Berry Street Poultry Plant on Fact Finding Mission

Nation’s Oldest and Largest Latino Civil Rights Organization Goes Inside Arkansas Meat Processing Facility to See Worker Conditions WASHINGTON - The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) today announced that it held the first round of face-to-face talks with Tyson Foods as well as completed a walk-through of the company’s facility in Springdale, Arkansas to see what steps were being taken to protect worker safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “The enemy here is the coronavirus,” says Domingo Garcia, National President of LULAC. “We traveled to the headquarters of Tyson Foods to make it clear to the company that nothing is more important to LULAC than worker safety. We went inside one of their biggest plants in the country ourselves to observe and talk to employees to find out what the company is doing to fight the virus that is infecting Juan y Maria, our nation’s essential workers in the meatpacking industry.” By touring the Berry Street plant, LULAC was able to see the investment that Tyson has been making to create a safe working environment for its employees, as well as the efforts underway to protect the health and safety of its workers. The LULAC team met with Noel White, CEO of Tyson Foods, who reviewed specific operational actions taken by the company as COVID-19 began to sweep across the United States. LULAC also learned of other changes being made in response to the influx of new information about the virus. Garcia spoke with White about a series of community demands centered around five areas of concern: regular free testing of all workers for COVID-19, complete personal protection equipment, line speed to labor adjustments, compensation for infected workers undergoing care, and assistance to families who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus. After evaluating the preexisting safety protocols, the LULAC team left feeling optimistic about the success of those endeavors. Some of those standards were closely related to the community demands outlined by Garcia, including screenings upon plant entry, temperature checks for employees, ubiquitous in-language signage, an obligatory mask policy, social distance marker placements, dedicated cleaning for common areas, and hands-free water and sanitizer stations. Furthermore, Tyson spoke to the LULAC team about their ongoing efforts to make Tyson Foods’ plants safer. Some of those efforts involve COVID-19 onsite testing, contact tracing and health support, research and development for superior ventilated masks, over $100 million in bonus pay, hunger relief, and infrastructure across Tyson plants, and cooperation with local health agencies enabling Tyson to go beyond the CDC and OSHA’s recommended procedures. “LULAC’s number one priority is taking every action we can to protect tens of thousands of workers to the fullest extent possible with what we know about the virus. It appears Tyson is making significant changes and investments to improve worker safety and America’s food supply. LULAC will work with Tyson Foods and other meat processing companies to help save as many people as possible from COVID-19. We are going to do what LULAC has done for 91 years: get the job done." # # # About LULAC The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit www.LULAC.org.

Groundswell Will Cut Your Utility Bill in Half! July 2020

Groundswell Will Cut Your Utility Bill in Half! COVID-19 is hitting the pocketbooks of DC residents hard and some of us are being forced to choose between food, utilities and rent. We want to help make that choice easier. We're reaching out to inform DC renters and homeowners that if you receive benefits through SNAP, TANF, Section 8 or SSI you are automatically qualified to cut your utility bill in half through a Groundswell Community Solar Project. This means you could begin reducing your utility bill now, so you can use your money for immediate needs during this crisis. If you don't use SNAP, TANF or SSI, that's ok - you can still qualify for this program based on household income and other qualifications. For questions about whether you qualify, please get in touch with a member of our customer support team at the email address below or fill out our Empowered Subscriber webform here and a member of our team will respond to your request within 24 hours. We only have 28 of these slots left, so if you're interested please reach out sooner rather than later.  Our organization builds community power. We develop community solar projects and subscriber management programs that connect solar power with economic empowerment for local communities. We operate a number of community solar projects that are already bringing savings and services to communities across DC. More than ever, we believe that energy - specifically clean energy - is a necessity, not a luxury. We're all in this together; and we can't afford to leave our neighbors in need behind. So if you think you qualify, or have a family member or friend who you know needs a hand right now, please reach out or forward this email.  To request more information about how you, a friend or a family member can begin saving up to $500 a year from your energy bill please fill out webform on the Groundswell website or email us directly at Customerservice@gruondswell.org.

News & Updates from the Georgetown Climate Center. July 17, 2020

News & Updates from the Georgetown Climate Center Now Available: Managed Retreat Toolkit for state and local governments Communities across the U.S. are facing urgent challenges from sea-level rise and climate impacts; a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration documented the increasing frequency of "sunny-day" flooding in coastal areas, and recent analysis by the First Street Foundation suggests that millions more U.S. homes are at risk of catastrophic flooding than previously estimated. Communities and states are increasingly considering managed retreat – the voluntary movement of communities and transition of ecosystems away from vulnerable coastal areas – as a strategy for protecting people, infrastructure, buildings, and coastal ecosystems from the impacts of climate change.  To help state and local policymakers who are considering managed retreat, the Georgetown Climate Center (GCC) this week released the Managed Retreat Toolkit. The first comprehensive online legal and policy resource on managed retreat, the toolkit combines legal and policy tools, best and emerging practices, and case studies to support peer learning, public engagement, and decisionmaking around managed retreat and climate adaptation.  On July 15, GCC hosted a launch webinar that drew more than 450 attendees. Featured speakers included Fawn McGee of the New Jersey Blue Acres Program and Liz Williams Russell of the Foundation for Louisiana, who discussed their experiences working with communities to implement retreat strategies. The Blue Acres Program and LA SAFE, which the Foundation for Louisiana helps implement, are both featured in case studies in the Managed Retreat Toolkit. (Watch the recorded webinar here.) The toolkit features more than 70 case studies from communities across the US that have begun engaging with managed retreat strategies. GCC also released Managing the Retreat from Rising Seas, a companion publication that presents 17 case studies in greater depth. GCC developed the Managed Retreat Toolkit in concert with leading state, local, and federal policymakers, academic leaders, and people from affected communities. Between 2018 and 2020, GCC’s outreach efforts related to the development of the Managed Retreat Toolkit have engaged more than 1,000 people at more than 20 events, a testament to the growing interest in this important topic. Explore the Managed Retreat Toolkit on the Georgetown Climate Center website! GCC would like to thank the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) and the other generous funders who support GCC's work for making this project possible, and DDCF's Sacha Spector for participating in this week's launch event. For questions, contact GCC Senior Associate and toolkit lead author Katie Spidalieri, Katie.Spidalieri@georgetown.edu.  Register Now: GCC's Equitable Adaptation Legal & Policy Toolkit launches July 29 Please join the Georgetown Climate Center on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, for a webinar launching GCC’s new Equitable Adaptation Legal & Policy Toolkit, an online resource for community-based organizations and state and local governments working to put frontline communities first. The GCC team will provide an overview of the toolkit's contents and how it was developed. The webinar will also feature speakers Jalonne White-Newsome (Kresge Foundation), Mayra Cruz (Catalyst Miami), and Melissa Deas (D.C. Dept. of Energy & Environment). The Equitable Adaptation Legal & Policy Toolkit explores best emerging practices, legal and policy tools, and case studies to help state and local governments work with frontline communities to develop and implement equitable climate adaptation solutions. Register for the webinar The toolkit was co-created by GCC staff and a panel of advisors, and informed by the insights and expertise of a network of local, state, and federal adaptation practitioners; community-based organization leaders; and other partners. Learn more about the Equitable Adaptation Legal & Policy Toolkit. Vicki Arroyo joins Amy Holm of The Climate Registry for latest episode of Coffee with Climate Leaders Executive Director Vicki Arroyo joined Amy Holm, Executive Director of The Climate Registry for a conversation on GCC's work promoting state and federal climate action in the latest installment of Coffee with Climate Leaders, a video series highlighting the climate work continuing even in light of the global pandemic. Vicki shares the state action progressing on clean and resilient transportation through the bipartisan Transportation and Climate Initiative, a coalition of Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states facilitated by GCC. She also discusses some proposed climate-related federal legislation, including making climate resilience and clean energy and transportation a priority in climate, infrastructure and COVID-19 relief legislation. The interview is available now on YouTube and on The Climate Registry's website.

Counterfieit PPE Identification and dangerous hand sanitizers July 2020

The EMR-ISAC InfoGram for July 16, 2020 contains the following articles:

1. FDA adds to the list of dangerous hand sanitizers containing methanol

2. Risks of counterfeit PPE, how to identify them, how to report them

3. FEMA releases updated public assistance guidance

4. New industrial control system security 5-year strategy released

5. Cyber Threats

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