Emory Climate Talks: Dr. Sanya Carley
Energy security is defined by the IEA as “the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.”Unfortunately, while many people live in areas that have energy security, there are many families that do not have this privilege. A study by the Energy Information Administration showed that 31% of American households have issues with affording consistent heating and cooling in their homes. One in five U.S. household report that essentials like food and healthcare take less priority than paying energy bills. In the past year, COVID-19 has impacted almost every family in America as individuals have been laid off or unable to work due to strain on businesses across the country. The effects of COVID-19 are especially detrimental for already low-income families who already have to give up basic necessities in order to afford energy bills.
Emory Climate Talks introduced Professor Sanya Carley, Professor and Director of Master of Public Affairs Programs, O’ Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington. Dr. Carley emphasized the effects of having no electricity with example like being unable to charge electronic devices (which results in a variety of communication issues), the inability to store perishable foods in cooling units, inability to access medical devices, and the inability to regulate body temperatures (no heating or cooling). As a result of the pandemic, people have been using much more energy, likely due to the increase of time spent at home given quarantine measures. Even though there are certain protections put into place by state governments to reduce energy insecurity, they expire and/or are now ineffective.
Dr. Carley proposed research questions discussed the prevalence of energy insecurity in the U.S and the impacts that COVID-19 has had on it. She also researched who suffers the most from energy security and what factors cause it to be more likely. Finally, she looked at the implications for energy insecure households. It seems as though Environmental Justice may play a large role into what she researched as her results indicated that minority communities were disproportionally affected by energy inequality.
Dr. Carley’s presentation was a huge eye-opener and a sort of a slap on the face. Often times I think it is easy to get caught up in your own world and forget about all the people who maybe do not have the same privilege we do. It is so sad and disheartening to think that some people have to give up food and medical care in order to afford bare minimum energy sources. Unfortunately, the U.S. government has not been of much assistance to people that are struggling with monetary issues during COVID. It would. Be much nicer if we had a government that was more supportive and giving to those who are unable to afford such basic necessity during these unprecedented times.
I hope that in the future, we can continue to come together as a society in order to meet the needs of the most vulnerable.
Emory Climate Talks introduced Professor Sanya Carley, Professor and Director of Master of Public Affairs Programs, O’ Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington. Dr. Carley emphasized the effects of having no electricity with example like being unable to charge electronic devices (which results in a variety of communication issues), the inability to store perishable foods in cooling units, inability to access medical devices, and the inability to regulate body temperatures (no heating or cooling). As a result of the pandemic, people have been using much more energy, likely due to the increase of time spent at home given quarantine measures. Even though there are certain protections put into place by state governments to reduce energy insecurity, they expire and/or are now ineffective.
Dr. Carley proposed research questions discussed the prevalence of energy insecurity in the U.S and the impacts that COVID-19 has had on it. She also researched who suffers the most from energy security and what factors cause it to be more likely. Finally, she looked at the implications for energy insecure households. It seems as though Environmental Justice may play a large role into what she researched as her results indicated that minority communities were disproportionally affected by energy inequality.
Dr. Carley’s presentation was a huge eye-opener and a sort of a slap on the face. Often times I think it is easy to get caught up in your own world and forget about all the people who maybe do not have the same privilege we do. It is so sad and disheartening to think that some people have to give up food and medical care in order to afford bare minimum energy sources. Unfortunately, the U.S. government has not been of much assistance to people that are struggling with monetary issues during COVID. It would. Be much nicer if we had a government that was more supportive and giving to those who are unable to afford such basic necessity during these unprecedented times.
I hope that in the future, we can continue to come together as a society in order to meet the needs of the most vulnerable.
Emory Climate Talks: Vicki Arroyo
Vicki Arroyo, the Executive Director of the Georgetown Climate Center based at Georgetown University Law Center, spoke with us about mitigating and adapting to climate change through policy and government leadership.
She began her presentation by showing us photos of the Hurricane Katrina natural disaster, and how it affected her family personally. The photos were devastating to see and to hear someone speak about their experience with it firsthand made me very sad and anxious for the state of our future. Climate change can exacerbate the extent and frequencies of natural disasters and can cause many more lives to be lost.
The Georgetown Climate Center has supported state leadership when it comes to climate and clean energy. They were also present at the Conference of Parties, specifically the COP in Paris. I thought this was very cool to hear her talk about since this semester we researched extensively into the Conference of Parties and even participated in a Mock UN event. It was amazing to hear how the Climate Center brings state leaders from to U.S. to the COP because even though they do now have legislative power, it is still very necessary to have dialogue with all levels of government including state and regional.
She worked closely with the formation of the Clean Power Plan that was developed under the Obama administration which is so impressive! Unfortunately, they Georgetown Climate Center was unable to convince the new White House administration to not back out of the Paris Climate Agreement despite drafting proposals from different state leaders and bipartisan support. It is great that different government authorities are still committed to what the U.S. was dedicated to in the Paris Climate Agreement (such as renewable energy targets) despite no federal level participation. This once again reiterates the importance of including different levels of government in the international dialogue.
I really like how the Climate Center is committed to renewable and clean energy in transportation because it is something that is very relevant to everyone, regardless of your location or other social factors. According to the EPA, 28% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. come from transportation. Transportation makes the largest contribution to GHG emissions.
It is always heartening to see people that are dedicated to mitigating climate change when it seems that large companies are winning the war that is inherently against themselves. It gives me motivation to remain passionate and not give up hope, so I am grateful to people like Vicki Arroyo! I hope that one day I have the opportunity to visit the Georgetown Climate Center and learn more about their work.
“Public Trust: The Fight for America’s Public Land”
After watching the documentary “The Fight for America’s Public Lands,” I could not believe that more people were not talking about it. I was completely saddened, but more so angered by the fact that America claims to be “The Land of the Free” and we pride ourselves on our democracy, yet it seems that those concepts are jokes to the people in power. I always knew that wealthy people would do anything to increase their wealth, however I did not realize to what extent they would go in order to do so.
The documentary begins by relating stories of people with personal experiences on public lands and looks at Bears Ears to begin with. The land is full of Native American history, but it is also full of oils and natural gas. It is devastating to see how politicians simply allow mass destruction of public lands in order to gain more money. Along with the destruction of the land itself comes complete disrespect to the people that have lived there for generations. We claim to have a “democracy,” yet these people had to watch their homelands be ripped apart. What was even more heart touching was the reaction to the Trump administration’s decision to open up Bears Ears The understanding that the elders of the Native community still had for those that wanted to destroy their lands was truly admirable.
The documentary begins by relating stories of people with personal experiences on public lands and looks at Bears Ears to begin with. The land is full of Native American history, but it is also full of oils and natural gas. It is devastating to see how politicians simply allow mass destruction of public lands in order to gain more money. Along with the destruction of the land itself comes complete disrespect to the people that have lived there for generations. We claim to have a “democracy,” yet these people had to watch their homelands be ripped apart. What was even more heart touching was the reaction to the Trump administration’s decision to open up Bears Ears The understanding that the elders of the Native community still had for those that wanted to destroy their lands was truly admirable.
The documentary then goes on to speak about the Boundary Waters, a federally protected wilderness area in Minnesota, which has been protected for the last 100 years. However, the mining company that is located near the protected area could potentially highly contaminate the Boundary Waters. Why is a Chilean Mining Company allowed to destroy the habitat and ecosystems surrounding a community in Minnesota that was not even allowed a say in the matter?
The third land that the documentary talks about is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska which is sacred land to the Gwich’in. People must really have no conscious to want to destroy such a valuable and important lands just for the sake of oil and gas.
Farmers especially are proponents of protecting public lands as they rely on natural resources to thrive. It also makes it easier for farmers and ranchers to utilize the public lands so that they do not have to pay high fees.
It was very interesting to hear about the history of conservation in America, and kind of scary to think that one rebellion and one bad President completely destroyed so much progress and conservation efforts. One aspect of the documentary as a whole that I found refreshing was that many of the issues described go beyond partisan issues, and people who held both political stances were in favor of saving our public lands. Having free access to the lands of the U.S., our home, is something that is common to everyone. I think it is disturbing how politicians have somehow constructed a narrative that, depending on your stances of the environment, you are placed in a certain political category.
There were many moments during the documentary where I felt physically nauseous because of how disgusted I was with what I saw and how self-serving people can be at the cost of others. As long as there are people like that in the world, we will always be fighting against heartless, selfish officials.
Even though there are so many evil people who do not care about the wellbeing of others and the environment, there are those that are so inspiring and passionate about conservation efforts and species beyond their own. I think it is amazing how resilient people are and how they continue to fight for their land and values despite so much pushback.