Chris Whitehead sits down with Rebecca Bratspies, a professor at CUNY School of Law where she runs the Center for Urban Environmental Reform, and Thomas Abdallah, the Vice President of Environmental Services at MTA Construction and Development Agency. Their work surrounding sustainable transportation development is crucial to the larger conversation as a large percentage of greenhouse gasses come from the transportation sector. With New York City leading the country with initiatives in climate and sustainability, it is great to listen to their perspectives on congestion pricing, climate impacts, and the NYC Environmental Justice plan.

For this episode we are joined by Abby Watson (President and Co-Founder of The Groundwire Group) and Professor Raphael Heffron (University of Pau and Adour Countries (France)) to discuss energy justice. Abby and Raphael are well-known for their innovative thought leadership on energy issues. Our discussion started around objective realities of cost and reliability always coming first, but then stemmed off to multiple areas of progress around the world in taking on these very challenging topics. Renewables can and should take a much larger chunk of our energy profile over time, and that makeup will vary depending on geography and support structures. It was a great discussion and be sure to listen to the end to hear their recommendations for future educational resources on these issues.

In our first two episodes we covered climate change and environmental justice issues. I hope they filled you with a sense of wanting to do something about it. The "doing something about it" on a policy end takes time, and having a sound economic model (or models) included is imperative. Join us for a fun discussion with Dr. Ken Richards of the University of Indiana and the Gnarly Tree Sustainability Institute. Dr. Richards is the Fullbright Canada Research Chair in Environmental Policy through the University of Ottawa and a world-renowned expert on environmental economics and various tax models. He regularly works with the World Bank, IMF, and countless countries around the world.  Ken is a professor by trade, an engineer and attorney by training, and a great objective but passionate voice on these issues. I always enjoy our chats and walk away learning quite a bit and wanting to learn even more.Enjoy!

Environmental justice work has become my passion. After working technically in air quality for over 16 years, and projecting the potential impact of the New Jersey EJ Law, I began to see EJ issues almost everywhere I looked. The data is clear and so is the lived experiences of citizens living in overburdened communities, which act as a clear indicator of potential problems in those areas. Join me, Arielle King and Julius Redd as we discuss some of the most pressing current EJ issues and drivers, historical ones like the Flint water crisis, and how EJ has progressed over the last few years.Further Suggested Educational ResourcesArielle King's EJ Resources List - WORD file available upon request (chris.whitehead@worley.com) Julius Redd - https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/federal-resources-environmental-justice

Chris Whitehead sits down with Andy Bochman, Senior Grid Strategist from Idaho National Labs and Marisol Maddox (Sr Artic Analyst from the Woodrow Wilson Institute.Topics covered: Climate change tipping points, health impacts, climate justice, national security and supply chain implications, and infrastructure.Andy and Marisol's tips for other opportunities tp learn more on these topics:America Adapts: https://www.americaadapts.org/Adapt: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/adapt-climate-change-and-the-built-9MZVH0Le81P/ Skeptical Scientist: https://skepticalscience.com/Global Wierdling: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi6RkdaEqgRVKi3AzidF4ow Elisabeth Kolbert: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/climate-one/id296762605?i=1000651516989

Hosted by Chris Whitehead.Climate change and environmental justice are two of the largest drivers in environmental regulation and sustainable development. This podcast will bring together subject matter experts on major topics to discuss these issues and how we potentially avoid major problems going forward. The first episode will be released on April 15 with further episodes following every two weeks thereafter. The format of each episode will be similar; opening monologue from me, introducing the SMEs then approximately 45 minutes of discussion and challenging each other on the topics. I decided to begin with climate change and EJ to highlight the fact that they affect so many other issues, and must be considered early. This podcast is not about me, not about the SMEs on each episode, but about the issues and what can be accomplished by having challenging conversations. I hope you join us. Upcoming episodes by topic, release date, and SMEs confirmed to participate. April 15, 2024 - Climate – Andy Bochman (Sr Grid Strategist and Infrastructure Defender, Idaho National Laboratory) and Marisol Maddox (Sr Artic Analyst, The Wilson Center)EJ – Julius Redd (Principal, Beveridge and Diamond) and Arielle King (EJ educator and Strategist)Energy Transition – Tony Reames, PhD (Professor, University of Michigan) and Kelly Crawford (Sr Advisor, Energy and EJ, US DOE)Energy Transition/Justice – Raphael Heffron (Distinguished Professor, University of Pau and Adour Countries) and Abby Watson (Founder and President, Groundwire Strategies)OSW – Dane Pehrman (Offshore Wind Market Director, Worley Consulting) and Local Union LeadershipNYC (EJ/planning/sustainability)– Rebecca Bratspies (Professor, CUNY School of Law) and Tom Abdallah (VP and Chief Environmental Engineer, NYC MTA)EJ legal – Tanya Nesbitt (Partner, Thompson Hine LLP) and Mike Showalter (Partner, Arent Fox Schiff)Economic Development and Urban Planning– Rebecca Karp (CEO and Founding Principal) and Ali-Sutherland Brown (Principal) (Karp Strategies) Ambient Air Monitoring/EJ – Eben Cross (Chief Science Officer, QuantAq) and Marc Hudock (Sr VP, Air Logics)State EJ programs and special issues: Sean Moriarty (Director of Public Affairs, Archer Public Affairs) and Jeremy Orr (Director of Litigation and Advocacy Partnerships, Earthjustice)Sustainable Building Practices - Eugene McGrane (Executive Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefield) and John Thomas (President, Mount Materials and the Construction and Demolition Recycling Association)