Meet Jasmine Lamb, Environmental Justice Advocate

Jasmine Lamb is a PhD student in environmental and ecological science at the University of Maine.  She's also a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point and the founder and chair of the Sipayik Resilience Committee. Her work is focused on the effects of climate change on Indigenous communities and helping people have a stronger voice in the environmental justice movement to increase tribal climate resilience.  

Tell us about your background. What sparked your interest in environmentalism?

I'm am member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point.  I grew up in Poland, Maine which is in the southern part of the state.  I have always had an interest in environmental justice since I was a child.  While I attended college at the University of Maine pursuing a degree in speech pathology, I had the opportunity to participate in a weatherization initiative to help measure windows and build window inserts for the Penobscot Nation.  It was through this position that I eventually realized a career in sustainability could be practical and realistic for me.  I withdrew from my program of study for speech pathology and applied for a PhD in environmental and ecological sciences at the University  of Maine.

How are you planning to leverage the Tom's of Maine Incubator Program's support?

I'm leveraging the Tom's of Maine Incubator Program to support my efforts as a PhD student at the University of Maine, the citizen-led Sipayik Resilience Committee - which I founded in August 2022 and currently chair - and the citizen-led resilience committee that I'm helping other tribes create.

What do you hope to gain from the Incubator Program?

I hope to gain professional development and help develop the Sipayik Resilience Committee and other citizen-led initiatives so we can achieve our goals to increase the tribes' climate and energy resilience and access to sustainable energy technology.  I hope to come away from this program with a stronger voice in the environmental justice movement and to be able to amplify the voices of underrepresented people that have been there all along.

 

What ways do you see climate change disproportionately impacting underrepresented communities?

I see climate change and the effects of colonization disproportionately impacting underrepresented communities, specifically Native American populations.  The health of Indigenous people is inextricably linked to the health of the environment due to reliance on traditional ways of subsistence.  Unfortunately, actions that harm the environment such as pollution and resource exploitation, tend to occur more frequently in areas where Black, Indigenous, and other people of color live, as well as low-income communities.  Because of this Indigenous people have some of the highest rates of asthma, cancer and other health issues.

Participating in traditional ways of subsistence exposes us to higher levels of contaminants.  You can not eat the fish from certain rivers in Maine without risking reproductive harm, eat certain wildlife or forage because of PFAS contamination, or even breathe the air without being exposed to harmful contaminants.  Our energy production system was purposely designed to spare whiter and wealthier communities from bearing the negative impacts of energy generation, while BIPOC and other lower-income communities are denied access to the economic benefits of energy generation.  Despite Indigenous people being the original people of this land, we are often the first to bear the negative effects of climate change and the last to benefit from energy generation in the United States.

How do you think we can make the mainstream environmental movement more inclusive

Indigenous people across the United States have been voicing their concerns about the changing environment since the arrival of European settlers.  It's a matter of the mainstream media starting to amplify ad listen to the voices of Indigenous people and to hold the health of the environment and all people who depend on it in higher regard than they hold profit.

 

What are the top three climate facts you believe more people should know?

  1. Native plants sequester carbon from the air, do not require fertilizer, and require less water than nonnative plants.
  2. The last decade was the hottest in the past 125,000 years with no signs of slowing down.
  3. Sea levels could displace 800 million people by 2050.

What advice would you give someone who wants to get involved in climate organizing but doesn't know where to start?

My advice is that you can participate in local energy and climate action in any capacity - you just have to take the first step to get involved.  There are tons of ways to participate in the transition away from fossil fuels, whether you become trained to install heat pumps or solar panels, participate in research for your community to advance the sustainable energy transition, help with weatherization initiatives, participate in activism, or start conserving more energy in your home. Start locally.

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