Panelists Include:
- Sarah Wochele, MSW, Oregon Citizens' Utility Board
- Kyla Smith, U-M PhD Student (School of Environment and Sustainability)
- Michelle Jones, Soulardarity
As the climate crisis accelerates, frontline communities face a polycrisis: skyrocketing utility bills, health burdens of environmental pollution, and water consumption and contamination due to an increasing demand for artificial intelligence (AI). Currently, many frontline communities are being left behind in the energy transition. Energy justice, the principle that all people should have access to affordable, clean energy and a say in their energy future, is fundamentally a social justice issue. Yet, the systemic intersection between energy systems and human well-being is rarely taught in traditional social work curricula. This panel brings together environmental advocates based in Oregon and Michigan to bridge this gap. Panelists will introduce what energy justice and energy democracy are, how they are impacting communities they work with, and how these issues connect to varied social justice issues.