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Yes, we did a 90 minute Season finale. You will thank me later.

I dedicated this episode to my mom, Lois Whitehead, who sadly passed away earlier this year from leukemia. During her professional career, for a time, she worked for a nonprofit in Trenton, NJ that addressed food insecurity issues and helped people get back on their feet. She taught me a great deal in 41 years, but this issue stands out as it was something we went back to often in the last couple years as I did more EJ work. She loved that I found my path, and I think a lot of the reason for that is I followed some of her work from years ago. I love you Mom.

We were thrilled to be joined by Smita Narula, Haub Distinguished Professor of International Law (Pace University) and Chef Aaron Mccargo Jr (Managing Partner, Flavor Frontier Development Group).

Food insecurity is a pervasive global issue that is only getting worse due to increased climate change impacts. Smita does an outstanding job laying the groundwork for why this is occurring and Aaron does an inspiring job bringing it home for us and providing local solutions.

I am tremendously proud of this discussion and hopeful for where it may lead. Enjoy!

Professor Smita Narula’s faculty page, and scholarship.

The National Right to Food Community of Practice: https://www.righttofoodus.org/

La Via Campesina: a transnational movement to advance food sovereignty

Aaron's Food Innovation Center Project in Camden, NJ!

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No matter what your climate goals look like, where your project is located, or who is in office at the time, your project will not happen if the financing is not in order. Projects have to make money, and have to usually incur levels of risk through development. Whether a clean energy startup or billion dollar offshore wind developer, there is great opportunity right now, but also great risk, and fluctuations in supply chain, interest rates, and other outside forces, can directly impact your project.

For this episode, Chris was joined by Jonathan Kennedy (Chief Development Officer, Clean Energy Terminals), and John May (Managing Director, Hamilton Clark Sustainable Capital, Inc). Both are attempting to be first movers in critical aspects of decarbonization. Perhaps even more shocking than the fact that Chris didn't mess up John vs Jonathan for an hour, is potential benefit to our economy from developing these projects. John May also discusses smart steps like technology insurance, that should help derisk many projects.

Enjoy!

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One of the topics that I have been asked about most over the last few years from community members is how they can get their own community air monitoring. Many are concerned over possible contamination in their air, and want to see improvements. As we often say, their lived experiences are the ultimate screening tool. They know if there's a problem. There is a direct link between air contamination and health impacts, and objective tools like ambient air monitors can help inform policy choices which will ultimately equate to lower emissions.

My guests this episode, Eben Cross (Chief Science Office and Co-Founder, QuantAQ) and Darren Riley (Co-Founder and CEO, JustAir Solutions), are experts on this topic. I pose a role play to them where I am a concerned community member and they walk me through what's involved and why this is so important. My hope is that this sort of information may help communities in need apply for grant support to get these monitors in place. There is great potential for collaboration in this space.

Show Notes/Suggested Resources

• EPA
  • Webinar Series on Community Air Monitoring Fundamentals
• NIEHS
  • Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) Webinar Series on Community Air Monitoring
• Bay Air Center
  Defining an Air Monitoring Objective by Asking the Right Questions – Worksheet
  • Designing a Community Scale Air Monitoring Project
  • Placement of Air Monitoring Devices
• There's also the Thriving Communities Grantmakers Subgrant program which will go live for most regions any day now (supposed to be Fall 2024). This program is designed to be lower-overhead, faster-turn to resources at the $75-350k/project funding level.
  
  Community Change Grant link to that unprecedented $2B program

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Anyone who has listened to past episodes likely knows that I am an offshore wind (OSW) energy advocate. I am a renewable energy advocate, and I am an advocate for smart answers to complex problems.

There is no better example than the need to urgently modernize our transmission systems. My guests for this week, are Theodore Paradise (Energy Partner at K & L Gates) and Dane Pehrman (Director of Strategy & Growth - Power and New Energy, Worley Consulting). Both men have been working on major energy and transmission projects for decades, both are leaders in the OSW industry, and both are incredibly sharp minds that understand logistical constraints and critical project processes.

Our transmission infrastructure is well past its useful life, undersized for modern needs, has not been maintained well, and is not designed to support multi-sourced renewable energies. Dane and Theodore cover an astounding amount of information in 49 minutes, taking us from Grid 101 to the intricacies and cost models for upgrading. We also focus on the need for cross state collaboration on this issue and spend some time looking forward to an upcoming RFP in New England.

Critical issue and really fun episode.

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Environmental Justice communities are diverse collections of perspectives, concerns, and drivers. No two are identical, but there are some common themes that most share. Love of their culture, protection of their communities and children, and concern that our planning systems have not historically taken their views into equal account when making decisions that would affect the community. Community leaders are the EJ experts. Outside expertise can come in to play a role but no one should mistake the fact that the people in these communities know this better than the rest of us.

This week Chris was joined by Naomi Davis, Founder and CEO of Blacks in Green, and Robert Weinstock, Director of the Environmental Advocacy Center at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. Both are at the forefront of critical EJ issues in the city and both were directly involved in the landmark HUD zoning case that everyone heard about a few years ago. They each come from different perspectives but each is a passionate story teller and brilliant mind when it comes to these issues.

Enjoy!

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For this episode Chris was joined by Rebecca Karp (CEO and Founder) and Ali-Sutherland Brown (Principal) from Karp Strategies.

Chris recalls, "I first met Rebecca through the offshore wind space a few years ago when we were both presenting at the International Partnering Forum (IPF) event in Atlantic City, NJ. I was immediately struck by her expertise, her ability to connect with local communities, and understand multiple drivers affecting that community."

On this episode we discuss at length a few major issues affecting modern city planning and sustainability efforts; workforce development, climate change impacts, community partnership, stumbling blocks and challenges to renewables development, and more. Somehow we cover a ton in the hour and it felt like chatting with friends over coffee. Ali and Rebecca are great, and the first time all season that I invited two experts from the same company. We did that to show that even within one firm, differing perspectives can flourish and benefit projects.

Cities will play an increasingly critical role in our society in coming years, but they will also be faced with incredible logistic challenges and constraints. Smart planning now based on projected impacts helps to equitably alleviate those future constraints.

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For this episode Chris was joined by Sarah Henderson (Scientific Director, British Columbia Centers for Disease Control) and Christine Wiedinmyer (Associate Director of Science at Cires at the University of Colorado Boulder). Chris went heavy on the graphics and visuals during his intro this time because wildfire is such a visceral issue. Annual acreage burned is rising each year, insurance costs are a huge problem that not enough people are addressing, and air quality impacts from wildfire smoke are substantial.

It seems like many of the east coast of the US woke up to this issue when their skies were darkened multiple times in 2023 by Canadian wildfire smoke. Perhaps this is due to the level of change that would be needed to cause such an effect? I say this every time, but this episode made me feel smarter on these issues, made me have more questions, and made me wonder what coming years would look like? Turns out that Sarah and Christine have pretty nifty modeling programs that can help answer many of those questions. They are two brilliant leaders, enjoy.

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For this episode, Chris was joined by two colleagues to continue a discussion that the three of them started over breakfast in Minneapolis earlier this year. Michael Jung, Government Affairs & Public Policy at Modern Hydrogen, and Madeline Urbish, Orsted Head of Public Affairs for the Americas Region, both live these issues every day. Our climate is changing, impacts are stacking up, the cost of business is rising (as is associated uncertainties), and most importantly, health impacts are expected to also rise...unless we do something about it.

But these are really heavy issues and progress can be difficult to see at times. I'd like to list Hannah Ritchie's "Six Things to Keep in Mind" from her excellent book, Not the End of the World. Thanks Maddie for the great recommendation.

1. We face big and important environmental challenges
2. The fact that our environmental issues aren't humanity's largest existential risk doesn't mean we shouldn't work on them.
3. You will have to hold multiple thoughts at the same time.
4. None of this is inevitable, but it is possible.
5. We cannot afford to be complacent.
6. You are not alone in this.

It was a fantastic discussion among friends, hearing from two people who know this stuff darn well, and who are actively trying every day to do difficult legacy projects, and make a positive impact. That's laudable and I hope you enjoy what they had to say.