One year ago, BP's Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and beginning over 100 days of the worst oil spill in US history. Despite this clear warning, we remain deeply dependent on fossil fuels, which poses a dire threat to our communities and environment.

After the U.N Climate talks in Cancun last month brought the world no closer to a strong inter-governmental climate agreement than the Copenhagen meeting did a year earlier, leaders in the climate justice movement are saying this: It is up to communities to lead the way. This mantra is gaining steam.