Plugged In

Mihskakwan James Harper, a proud citizen of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 8, Alberta, is passionate about energy storage and how this technology can support decarbonizing the grid and offer opportunities for meaningful engagement with Indigenous people and economic reconciliation for First Nations and Indigenous communities.

 “If we're going to reimagine our grid, if we're going to get to net zero and we need to make investments left, right and center to get to net zero, there's also an opportunity to be on the same pathway towards economic reconciliation if we do it properly.”

On this episode of Plugged In, James shares his vision for what an energy transition could look like if we get it right and how kinship and identify support his joy, motivation, and work in the sector. 

Currently the business development manager at NRSTOR Inc., James champions developing large scale energy storage and clean microgrid projects in a way that empowers communities and contributes to meaningful climate action. 

James is a part of the SevenGen council, an organization that develops and leads programs for Indigenous youth to lead in clean energy and climate action, he co-hosts the podcast Decolonizing Power, a series that aims to amplify voices worldwide on how clean energy enables authentic community empowerment and he is also on the Boards of the Pembina Institute and Indigenous Clean Energy.

Jinhwa offers workshops based on the Climate Action Venn diagram created by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson - a framework that helps us match our skills, passions and what brings us joy and delight with the climate solutions that we need. Drawing inspiration from Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, adrienne marie brown, Rebecca Solnit, and Deepa Iyer, Jinhwa’s discussion on Finding Joy in Climate Solutions ignites our imagination, encouraging an exploration of the diverse ways we can each engage in climate and justice solutions. While acknowledging that the urgency and crises we find ourselves in are hard on our nervous systems.

I tried something new with this episode. I moderated a panel session at the Association of Energy Services Professionals (AESP) Annual Conference in New Orleans earlier in 2023, and recorded it in front of a live audience.   

The topic of the session was "exploring our (climate) emotions as energy services professionals" and I shared the stage with three incredible women: Pamela Fann, Principle Owner of Impact Energy, Jhane Wilcox, Director of Marketing at PosiGen, and Larissa Crawford, Founder and Managing Director of Future Ancestors Services. 

The questions we explored about climate emotions took us deep into the work of climate justice and the impacts of systemic racism and colonization.  

Kim Nicholas’ book, Under the Sky We Make: How to be Human in a Warming World, was the book that had the most impact on me in 2022. 

It woke me up to the urgency of the climate crisis in a way that I hadn’t felt before.

Specifically, how laser focused we need to be on eliminating fossil fuel consumption and extraction for a livable planet for humans. Period. 

Dr. Kim Nicholas, a climate scientist at Lund University in Sweden, is ringing the alarm bell and connecting with the issue and the solutions in new ways - often through personal storytelling and even poetry. 

Calling on all of us to go beyond-net-zero to actual zero. 

She acknowledges the need to centre voices, perspectives and solutions that aren’t typically at the centre if we are going to solve this crisis.

It’s a hard topic. These are not easy truths to grapple with. But there are solutions.

Take a listen to this episode. Pick up her book. Get shook up. 

Then let’s get to work and stay well and resilient, so we can fix it. 

Jordyn Burnouf, an Indigenous leader in clean energy, climate and community divides her time between many impactful pursuits including advising the Vice President of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, Co-Charing Student Energy’s SevenGen Indigenous Youth Energy Summit, starting a new podcast with the David Suzuki Foundation, advising Efficiency Canada and getting out onto the land as a guide with her family’s land-based camp.

Being connected to the land is an important influence for Jorydn’s work and she shares in this episode about what’s at risk when we lose our connection to land and it’s teachings, using getting out onto the land as an example:

“You need to get out on a canoe and you need to struggle for hours, and there's lessons in that. You need to get outside and be rained on, you know, you need to get outside and experience the earth for all her beauty and all of that struggle, because that's, that's what it's really about.”

Jordyn shares why Indigenous perspectives, knowledge and leadership matter for a just, clean energy transition and what she thinks the biggest opportunity for non-Indigenous people is to learn from Indigenous teachings on the topic of climate.

Be sure to follow Jordyn on Instagram and Twitter and visit her website: https://jordynburnouf.com/

Inspired by what Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson are calling a renaissance in climate leadership that is “more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity and collaboration…open to people of any gender”, this episode explores the significance of feminine and feminist leadership in climate work in Canada – from the community to the global stage.

You will hear the voices of Britt Wray, Jordyn Burnouf, Kim Nicholas, Miranda Baksh, Shawna Henderson and Desiree Norweigan speak about how they are experiencing climate feminism in their climate work, including the importance of feeling our climate emotions, how empathy and emotional intelligence are critical when negotiating climate policy, how the feminine helps hold space for diverse voices and bodies in organizations and businesses resulting in unique and valuable collaborations and solutions, and finally what feminist approaches can teach us about emotional resilience during these challenging times.

The episode closes with Dr. Katharine Wilkinson explaining how the poem Natural Resources by the feminist poet Adrienne Rich helped unlock the title of the book All We Can Save, she shares beautifully that “Our hearts have to be broken by all we cannot save all that's already lost, all that will be lost. And, our hearts have to be moved by all that we still can save together”.

Talking about climate change and having conversations about how climate is impacting the things we love can be powerful.  

How confident are you about starting a conversation with family about climate change? How comfortable are you bringing up the topic of climate impacts when chatting with friends? Today’s episode is all about how to talk about climate and why it matters.

Katie Harper is a Senior Advisor at Project Neutral and is currently helping to design and facilitate Talk Climate To Me, a fun, free, unscary online climate education experience for women-identifying people in Canada.

Quinn Parker, CEO of Encolor, shares what sparked her to set out to make the energy sector more equitable, diverse, inclusive and socially just. Not a small undertaking. 

She is now six months into running this business and the response, the work, and how she and her family feel about it, well, it’s not quite what she imagined it would be. 

It’s a journey of learning, reflection and exploration for Quinn and for her clients. 

“A lot of people I'm talking to, although they are looking for process and method, they are also looking for a conversation. What is equity, inclusion, and belonging and anti-racism? What is it for me as well as for the organization I work for?” 

Not only is Quinn finding joy in this work, she has deep gratitude for all those who are supporting her.

And I am so grateful to Quinn for sharing her story. 

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This past spring I took a podcast storytelling workshop through the StoryCentre. This episode benefitted from the teachings, insight and reflection of my thoughtful instructors and supportive fellow students. Thank you.

Dr. Emily Eaton, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Regina, finds hope in the prospect of systemic changes like decarbonization, decolonization and democratization for a just, clean energy transition.

Stephanie has been working at Yukon Energy Corporation for over 8 years and shares her unique insights of what it's like to be a resource planning engineer working for a small, remote, isolated utility with a grid in a geography and climate that are really not for the faint of heart.