The entertainment industry has driven culture and consistently tops itself with spectacle and extravagance. That spectacle comes with environmental costs. Dr. Hunter Vaughan joins the podcast to talk about the nature and history of the harmful environmental impacts of the movie industry, the disproportionate distribution of those impacts in marginalized communities, the role of the consumer in the industry's environmental harms, and the rise of greenwashing. 

Check out Dr. Vaughan's recent book, Hollywood's Dirtiest Secret: The Hidden Environmental Costs of the Movies, and his other work here: https://www.huntervaughan.net 

Environmental injustice is rooted in structural racism, exploitation, and a disregard for the well-being of our climate. But one thing has fueled climate degradation and will continue to do so if we preserve the status quo: money.

Today, I speak with Justine Leigh-Bell, Executive Director of the Antrhopocene Fixed Income Institute, about the role of financial markets, specifically the bond market, in either promoting or inhibiting EJ. The global bond market is worth over $125 trillion, and that money is starting to be harnessed for EJ and climate change mitigation purposes. But who has access to that market? And how do government policies impact it?

Check out Justine's amazing work at AFII here: https://anthropocenefii.org/

Dean Dayna Bowen Matthew is the current dean of the best law school around, The George Washington University Law School. She has had an incredible career already, from her days in the Senate as an advisor to working on civil rights issues at the EPA to her groundbreaking research and writing on equity and public health. 

One of the starkest examples of environmental injustice comes in the form of health disparities. Frontline communities continue to suffer from higher levels of cancer, asthma, heart disease, obesity, and a host of other health impacts that shorten lifespans. There is a direct link between those outcomes and poor environmental quality from pollution and climate change.

Dean Matthew shares her insights into the link between pollution and health outcomes; the intersection of civil rights law, health, and the environment; the racially disparate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health; environmental racism; and how there is no such thing as health law.

Check out her latest book here: https://www.law.gwu.edu/just-health-treating-structural-racism-heal-america

Professor Cliff Villa joins the podcast to discuss environmental justice and the law. Professor Villa served for 22 years as legal counsel for the Environmental Protection Agency, and he now teaches environmental law and environmental justice at the University of New Mexico. 

Check out his Professor Villa's bio and accomplishments here: https://lawschool.unm.edu/faculty/villa/index.html

And read his amazing new article on EJ in modern legal practice here: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/892/