Happy Tuesday! We’re going a day early.
This week, instead of looking at one speaker specifically, we’re going to look three of our speakers whose work involves climate change related issues. Remember, this Friday, Sept. 20, is the beginning of the Global Climate Strike, and Boston in general (and our office in particular) will observe it by closing for the day (emergency services always available!).
Michael Mann is a climate scientist and the head of the Earth Science Systems Center at Penn State. His work contributed to the International Panel on Climate Change, and the group’s efforts were recognized with a Nobel Peace Prize. His research analyzes current and historical climate patterns, and led to the well-known ‘hockey stick’ chart that shows the impact of human carbon emissions on the climate.
Sandra Steingraber’s work as a biologist (and activist) looks more specifically at the here and now- in particular, how the sources of our energy are extracted and used at the cost of human health. Fracking increases the amount of leaked methane into the atmosphere (a much more impactful ‘greenhouse gas’ than carbon dioxide). It allows cancer causing chemicals to leach into the water table. And, as the folks in Massachusetts’s Merrimack Valley will tell you, it’s not particularly safe, either.
Robert Bullard views climate change through his training as a sociologist. His decades of research have reveals dozens of ways in which environmental impacts affect communities of color the hardest. From incinerators located in poorer neighborhoods to the failure to protect these neighborhoods from repeated flood damage (Houston, New Orleans, etc.) it is the people without the economic power to fight back that pay the heaviest price. For Dr. Bullard, climate change is already starting to impact communities in low-lying regions of the US, and contributes to the tensions on our southern border.
While all three view the problem very differently, what they share in common is this; the knowledge that the house is on fire and we’re not doing nearly enough about it.
Please contact us any time for more information on these speakers or anyone else on our exclusive roster. Just not this Friday, please.
—And that is the story for this week! Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with the latest from all of our speakers, scientists and change makers