If you've ever wondered why some neighborhoods flood every time it rains, or why some blocks feel ten degrees hotter than others just a few miles away, today's guest has spent his career answering exactly that question, and doing something about it.

 

My guest is Dr. Sacoby Wilson, a Professor in the Department of Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health, and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, at the University of Maryland, College Park School of Public Health. He also directs the Health, Environmental, and Economic Justice Lab, known as the T.H.E. E.J. Lab, where he and his team dig into the intersection of public health, frontline communities, city planning, and extreme weather.

 

Dr. Sacoby has spent years showing how the map of environmental risk in this country lines up, again and again, with the map of race and income. Communities of color are more likely to live in neighborhoods with less tree cover and more pavement, creating urban heat islands where surface temperatures can far exceed the air temperature just a few blocks away. Those same communities are more likely to flood, thanks to a lack of green space to absorb water. And they're already paying a higher share of their income on energy bills, leaving little room to absorb what's coming next.

 

And what's coming next is a big part of why I wanted to talk to him. Data centers are rapidly expanding across the country, and Dr. Sacoby has been outspoken about the risk they pose to the very communities already carrying the heaviest environmental burden. He recently wrote an op-ed for the Baltimore Sun making the case that protecting Maryland's most vulnerable residents isn't just about equity, it's about making the whole state more resilient.

 

I want to make sure you know about a conference that Dr. Wilson is a part of hosting, the EJ 2076: Make America JUST Again, a 50-year plan to advance democracy, environmental justice, and health equity. It's happening September 14th through 16th virtually, and September 17th through 19th in person.

 

This is the annual EJ Symposium hosted by CEEJH, one of the largest environmental justice conferences in the country. It's been running since 2012, and it's where impacted residents, community leaders, researchers, and policymakers come together for keynotes, solidarity tours, cultural night, and more. A lot of the coalitions and legislative wins you hear about in this space trace back to conversations that started at this event.

 

Registration is open now: https://ceejh.org/symposium/

 

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