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Past events
How can we build up the workforce to ‘electrify everything’?
The race to “electrify everything” is picking up. President Joe Biden’s signature climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, signed in August, contains billions of dollars to help Americans electrify their homes, buy electric vehicles, and install solar panels. Meanwhile, cities all over the country, including New York, Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco are requiring that new buildings run only on electricity. To reach our climate goals the United States must prepare for a monumental increase in electricity use. The problem is, electrical contractors are already in short supply. Residential electricians are swamped with calls and struggling to find experienced people to hire. The schools tasked with training the next generation of electricians are tight on funds and short on teachers.
Grist’s Executive Editor Katherine Bagley hosted a conversation with Dr. Janell Hills; Director of Workforce Programs at the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), Adewale OgunBadejo; VP of Workforce Development at GRID Alternatives, Emily Pontecorvo; Staff writer at Grist and Nathanael Johnson; electrician and former environmental journalist.
Loss, Damage, and Progress: Unpacking COP27
Last month, climate leaders from across the globe gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt for the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27). There, delegates reached a historic agreement to set up a fund for “loss and damage” to assist regions feeling the greatest impacts of the now-unavoidable effects of climate change. Other measures, however, stalled out, delivering little progress in adaptation funding or phasing out fossil fuels.
Grist CEO Nikhil Swaminathan hosted a conversation between Grist 50 Fixers Jade Begay, Climate Justice Campaign Director of NDN Collective; Moñeka de Oro, Just Transition Curriculum and Policy Fellow with Climate Justice Alliance; and Adrien Salazar, Policy Director at Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, to unpack their experiences at COP27. The event featured an engaging discussion on what it was like to be at the gathering, what was accomplished, and where COP27 fell short.
Climate Solutions From the Frontlines of Environmental Justice
As humanity tackles the threat of climate change, it must move with urgency to ensure a liveable future. At the same time, it must also protect the lives and livelihoods of those on the frontline of the crisis today — who suffer unduly from the pollution that contributes to warming, as well as the impacts of a changing climate. Leaders from frontline communities throughout the United States have worked hard to ensure a voice for their neighbors and have also developed a framework for evaluating solutions to the climate crisis that are just and equitable.
In this discussion, leaders from across the country will discuss the framework of centering equity and justice and tackling the root causes of the climate crisis as society moves away from fossil fuels, share real-life examples of how solutions that meet that framework operate on the ground, and warn of what they see as “false solutions,” which rather than benefiting vulnerable communities will ensure they remain sacrifice zones.
Law of the Land: Climate Justice on the Hill
Grist CEO Brady Walkinshaw will sit down with Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey, who co-introduced the Green New Deal, for a live conversation about the fight to bring climate justice to the halls of Congress.
Growing climate justice: The recipe for a just and sustainable future
Principal of Black Futures Lab and co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter, Alicia Garza; food justice activist and co-executive director of Soul Fire Farm, Leah Penniman; and Grist CEO, Brady Piñero Walkinshaw convened for a discussion on food sovereignty, climate justice, and racial justice.
Climate justice and racial justice are inextricably linked. But how can they evolve from protest rallying cry to real results for the communities most impacted by climate change and environmental harm — particularly communities of color? We heard it first from folks creating change in the world.
Sponsorship Spotlight: This conversation was brought to you in partnership with Nature’s Logic, 100% natural pet food
The Year Ahead: American Leadership on Climate
White House Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy and Grist CEO Brady Piñero Walkinshaw held a discussion about the Biden administration’s plans to tackle the climate crisis in 2021.
After four years of environmental rollbacks, White House climate action is entering a new chapter. But what will it look like in practice? How will the Biden administration set climate policy priorities, address environmental justice, and what needs to happen for the US to hit its ambitious net-zero emissions goal by 2050?
Sponsorship Spotlight: This conversation was brought to you in partnership with Nature’s Logic, 100% natural pet food
Climate. Justice. Solutions. Reframing the Climate Story
Grist CEO Brady Piñero Walkinshaw, Grist Executive Editor Nikhil Swaminathan, and Fix Director Lisa Garcia had a conversation about Grist’s new focus, the climate opportunity in 2021, and how stories can change the climate crisis.
Sponsorship Spotlight: This conversation was brought to you in partnership with Nature’s Logic, 100% natural pet food
The Uproot Project Launch
The Uproot Project, a new network by and for environmental journalists of color, hosted a launch event featuring a discussion with Julian Brave NoiseCat, award-winning journalist and VP of Data for Progress, and Yessenia Funes of Atmos.
