This panel brought together frontline communities, including Indigenous elders from the Pacific Northwest and environmental justice advocates from rural Appalachia and the Gulf South. Drawing on intergenerational knowledge and the lived experience of struggle, speakers shined a spotlight on the costs, public health impacts, and environmental damage caused by extractive and fossil fuel-based energy initiatives. They also addressed the power of people around the world to come together around truly clean energy solutions — solutions that contribute to the regeneration of the air, land, and water, and to the flourishing of communities that have been sacrifice zones for decades and longer.
Moderator * Beka Economopoulos, The Natural History Museum, Pacific Northwest
Speakers
* Rueben George, Sacred Trust Initiative, Tsleil-Waututh Nation
* Yvette Arellano, Fenceline Watch, Texas/Gulf Coast
* Germaine Patterson, Women for a Healthy Environment, Pittsburgh/Mon Valley, PA
* Heaven Sensky, Center for Coalfield Justice, Washington County, PA
* Gillian Graber, Protect PT, Westmoreland/Allegheny County, PA
Roundtable co-organized by @BreatheProject and @The Natural History Museum at @Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens Pittsburgh, PA Thursday, September 22, 2022
