Join us Thursday, October 20, 10:00 am-11:30 am PT, for a briefing on the expected impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on fossil fuel-dependent communities, what an equity and justice approach could look like in the bill’s implementation, and the lessons for the ongoing global climate justice movement. The first event of this new Climate Justice Series features a fantastic panel consisting of the Climate and Community Project’s Executive Director Johanna Bozuwa, Prosperity Now’s Senior Fellow Sarita Turner, Senior Campaigns Strategist at People’s Action Ann Pratt, and Chief Executive Officer at Praxia Partners Joe Recchie. It will also feature OBI Director john a. powell, and will be facilitated by Eli Moore, director of OBI’s Community Power and Policy Partnerships Program (CP3).
The climate crisis calls for massive public investment that allows for a transition toward renewable energy systems to get us off our collective fossil fuel dependency. We need an investment that repairs the disproportionate impacts on communities where pipelines, refineries, and other polluting infrastructure are strategically placed. The recently passed IRA is one step in this direction. This massive bill includes widespread corporate tax increases and investments that can lower energy costs. Also, IRA sets new standards for quality jobs and lower healthcare and pharmaceutical costs. Clear-eyed analysis and action are needed to implement and distribute these benefits justly and to achieve new policies that meet the scale of our visions.
In this first-of-kind panel series with experts, we will discuss the following:
- What exactly can the Inflation Reduction Act do for my state or neighborhood?
- How can policy advocates, researchers, and power-building organizations proactively prepare for equitable and community-influenced implementation of the bill?
- Where does the IRA miss the mark or cause harm?
- What must we proactively organize for in future legislation around domestic and global climate justice?
Click here to register for the live event.
SPEAKERS
- Johanna Bozuwa (she/her) is the Executive Director of the Climate and Community Project. She directs the network of researchers and experts to develop crucial and justice-based climate policy. Her research focuses on the extraction and fossil fuels, energy justice and democracy, and the political economy of transitions. Johanna cut her teeth organizing in the Netherlands against fossil fuel infrastructure, influence, and finance, particularly against Royal Dutch Shell. Her work has been published and cited in the Nation, the Guardian, Huffington Post, and the Hill.
- Eli Moore (he/him) is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute’s Community Power and Policy Partnerships Program with grassroots community-based organizations to develop research and strategic capacity related to just transition planning, equitable development and housing, and other areas.
- john a. powell (he/him) is an internationally recognized expert in civil rights, civil liberties, structural racism, housing, poverty, and democracy. john is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, a research institute that brings together scholars, community advocates, communicators, and policymakers to identify and eliminate the barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society and to create transformative change toward a more equitable world.
- Ann Pratt currently serves as the Senior Campaigns Strategist for Leveraging Federal Funds for State & Local Victories at People’s Action. Previously, Ann served as the Director of Organizing for Connecticut Citizen Action Group, a statewide membership organization committed to advancing issues of environmental justice, tax reform, stronger democracy, and racial and economic equity. Ann has served as the Executive Director for numerous organizations, including the Progressive States Network, CT Early Childhood Alliance, CT Parent Power, and the Interfaith Coalition for Equity and Justice. Ann works with communities and institutional leaders to create innovative strategies for social and economic change related to strengthening economic democracy, building a more just and sustainable “green” economy, improving access to affordable health care, and addressing educational disparities.
- Joe Recchie is the Chief Executive Officer of Praxia Partners, which incorporates venture investment, innovative finance, and a Neighborhood Stabilization Fund to advance community development. His best practices have been gleaned from collaborations with nonprofit and government partners to overcome exclusionary zoning policies and enhance the quality of life in marginalized communities.
- Sarita Turner is a Strategy Senior Fellow at Prosperity Now. An accomplished, self-directed, critical-thinking Executive Leader with proven success in advancing strategic actions to foster equitable economic and community development in urban communities throughout the United States. Sarita brings sensitivity, personal experience, and professional knowledge about communities' challenges, needs, and opportunities to her work. Sarita's expertise has derived from her experiences as a Black woman growing up in a divested Black neighborhood and the myriad roles and organization types she has served in, including global and national intermediaries, federal and state governments, and community-based organizations.
