On Saturday, she asked those in attendance to take an active role in drafting environmental justice legislation. It's the fourth stop in Ohio for the Center for Health Environment and Justice, a Washington DC based organization that she founded to help communities combat industrial pollution. The objective is to gather the input of people all over the state to draft a new policy.

 

“This policy is growing from the grassroots. This is a policy about the people, for the people of Ohio to determine what do we do in communities where environmental justice is very relevant – and prevail,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs said some communities suffer from negative environmental impacts over and over again because of their small, rural populations, poverty rate, or race. That's why Gibbs says the rules need to change.

 

“What we're doing is going from community to community and stopping and asking people: What should this look like? What should the rules look like? How do we create more of a balance in a conversation about what should go into a community, what should not go into a community, and why,” Gibbs said.

Elisa Young of Racine was one of the local leaders who attended Saturday's session. She leads Meigs Citizens Action Now, a group formed to fight the placement of four additional power plants in the county.

 

“We've got nine power plants between existing and proposed that we are trying to fight. We need to get resistance in place to fight this,” Young said.

Later this year, proponents will meet to compile the comments gathered in the workshops into a comprehensive bill that they will take to lawmakers – all with the goal of making Ohio's polluted communities cleaner and safer.