StateImpact Pennsylvania invites public to forum in Philadelphia on climate change adaptation, resilience, social equity

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The effects of climate change pose risks to Pennsylvanians that include frequent extreme weather events and threats to human health through air pollution, diminished water quality, and heat stress.

Those effects could be felt more deeply by vulnerable communities.

At 6 p.m Sept. 12 at The Energy Forum at the Kleinman Center in Philadelphia, StateImpact Pennsylvania will present a distinguished panel to discuss the intersection of environmental justice, social equity and climate change, and explore the potential damage to infrastructure, agriculture and the environment to the public and to those vulnerable communities in the Delaware Valley and South Jersey.

The forum is free; food and drink will be available. You can register to attend here.

The StateImpact event follows a Kleinman Center event at 4 p.m. Sept. 12 featuring Vox’s Dave Roberts leading a conversation with Rafe Pomerance about national climate action efforts. Pomerance is chairman of Arctic 21, which describes itself as a network of organizations focused on communicating the unraveling of the Arctic as a result of climate change to policy makers and the public. Find out details and register here.

At the 6 p.m. event, StateImpact reporter Susan Phillips of WHYY will moderate the discussion among the panelists:

Jeanne Herb is the executive director of the Environmental Analysis & Communications Group, a center of research and practice at the Rutgers University Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Herb leads applied research and demonstration projects on topics related to environmental planning, climate change, oceans and coastal management, and Health in All Policies. She also serves on the leadership team for the Rutgers Coastal Climate Risk and Resilience Initiative.

Tanya Seaman earned her master’s in City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania, with an emphasis on public transit and active transportation. Soon afterward, she co-founded and directed the award-winning nonprofit PhillyCarShare, which became the largest nonprofit car-sharing organization in North America: it enabled 50,000 residents to give up or forego car ownership and saved the City of Philadelphia over $8 million. Seaman has co-authored a climate action platform, which details how the city can make systemic changes to reduce its carbon emissions and lessen the impacts of climate change.

Charles D. Ellison is managing editor of ecoWURD.com, a publication covering the intersection of the environment, race and income, and he is executive producer & host of Reality Check, a daily public affairs program on WURD (96.1FM / 900AM / wurdradio.com in Philadelphia). He’s an award-winning thought leader, political strategist, commentator and advocacy expert with nearly two decades of applied expertise in the arena of politics, public policy, campaigns and elections, crisis management and emerging/digital media strategy.

 

Note: This story has been updated to reflect a change in the start time for the Kleinman Center event with Rafe Pomerance.

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