Rise Up

MREA Executive Director Nick Hylla hosts Kyle Whyte, a 2022 MREA Energy Fair keynote speaker. Kyle is a Potawatomi climate/environmental justice scholar and organizer and professor at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability. During this conversation, Kyle addresses the environmental justice issues we currently face and the work he’s done to combat them. He also explains the concepts of kinship and knowledge sovereignty and highlights the real impacts they have on our lives.

For the second part of today’s podcast, Nick speaks with MREA's Events Coordinator, Hailey Johnson. Hailey talks about the many volunteer opportunities before and during the Energy Fair along with the opportunities outside of the fair.

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Show notes:

(1:18) - What is environmental justice and how it’s being addressed?

(13:24) - Kyle explains the importance of “kinship time”

(20:37) - Kinship in indigenous traditions and how it’s been impacted by colonization

(26:26) - How a lack of kinship impacts our modern lives

(32:07) - Kyle explains the idea of knowledge sovereignty and its important to the Anishinaabe people

(47:42) - What Kyle is optimistic for in the future

(51:37) - Nick introduces Hailey Johnson, MREA Event Coordinator

(54:17) - Hailey talks about the volunteer opportunities at the MREA Energy Fair

(57:07) - How you can become an MREA member for free

(59:42) - What are the other volunteer opportunities with MREA?

(1:02:46) - The career and continuing education opportunities the Fair will offer

(1:04:02) - How to sign-up and get involved?

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Links:

The Energy Fair: https://www.theenergyfair.org/

MREA: https://www.midwestrenew.org/

Volunteer Opportunities at MREA: https://www.midwestrenew.org/volunteer/

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Justice40 Initiative: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2021/07/20/the-path-to-achieving-justice40/

The Dawn of Everything: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374157357/thedawnofeverything

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What happens when a strong coalition engages energy stakeholders and works tirelessly to chart an equitable renewable energy future in Illinois? We spoke with John Delurey, Senior Regional Director for Vote Solar, to find out.

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What can American's energy future look like with the country's 573 Tribal Nations taking a leadership role in renewable energy? We sat down with Robert Blake - a tribal citizen of the Red Lake Nation, owner of the Solar Bear solar installation company, executive director of the nonprofit Native Sun Community Power Development, and board member of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association - to find out.

What happens when a state task force spends the better part of a year developing policy recommendations focused on mitigating and adapting to climate change? We sat down with Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change, to find out.

What can a deeper appreciation of the earth’s physical structure and natural processes lend to our understanding of the problems we face currently? We asked Marcia Bjornerud, a professor of Geosciences at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin and author of Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World. 

Summary: 

How do we achieve a more equitable energy economy? If you ask Denise Abdul-Rahman with the NAACP, she’ll kindly tell you that we need a system that increases employment opportunities and decreases pollution externalities. We need a system that creates investment opportunities for those in need instead of long-term dependencies. We need a system that prioritizes raising people out of poverty above raising profits for the few. She’ll say it starts with dialogue – listening to the communities in need and valuing community knowledge. And then she’ll ask you to re-imagine how a new clean energy economy can work for all. 

View Full Episode Resources at: RiseUpMidwest.org/Energy-Equity

About This Episode: 

Have you heard of the Opportunity Atlas? We’ll forgive you if you haven’t, though you probably should check it out. It’s a tool built from following 20 million U.S. children, those born between 1978 and 1983, into their mid-thirties to identify how their childhood zip code impacted their success as adults. It is likely the most ambitious and definitive study on the concept of “The American Dream.” The results are both sobering and promising:

"In nearly every place in the country, children whose parents were low-income tended to have poorer-than-average outcomes as adults. But it’s also important to note that the factors that inhibit mobility are within society’s control to influence – schools, violence, incarceration, housing, job access, and quality health care are some of the reasons that zip codes and census tracts matter for life outcomes. And these factors can be improved with the appropriate investment and good policy."

With 7.8 million U.S. families falling into poverty since June alone, these conclusions hold a dire warning for the future of the U.S. economy. If we want our children and grandchildren to live in a country defined by widespread prosperity, promise, and opportunity, then we need to prioritize our investments to support communities in need. The research also makes clear that creating this future is up to us, as each of the barriers for mobility can be addressed with good public policy.

When it comes to energy policy, a focus on energy equity could underwrite a nationwide jobs and economic development resurgence. This “Just Energy Transition” is defined by the widespread deployment of energy efficiency and distributed energy resources with a priority focus on career training and re-training for underemployed individuals. This re-imagining of our energy economy will require dialogue, community conversations, stakeholder engagement, and informed policy.

Today’s guest, Denise Abdul-Rahman, helps us navigate some of these conversations. Her work as a regional field organizer with the NAACP has her focused on the just energy transition, tackling issues of energy equity in Midwest communities. Her diverse background and experience give her an informed understanding that includes human health and wellness, workforce training, social and climate policy, and advocacy. And, the budding NAACP ‘Power Up’ program is starting to show some results and help chart a path for clean energy jobs for all.