Seeing the Dangers Ahead, Part III - Toward Equity and Resilience: Harnessing Climate Risk Information for Better Decisionmaking
- Tuesday, March 1, 2022
- Online Event
The State Energy & Environmental Impact Center, Woodwell Climate Research Center, and the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General hosted a three-part virtual event series that provided essential information and tools to help regulators and advocates understand the latest available public and private data about physical, financial, and transition climate risks, how regulators might address key data gaps, and how to harness climate risk data for government decision-making.
Leading experts reviewed best practices and opportunities for affected communities and state and local governments to utilize physical and financial climate risk data to promote resilience and environmental justice. They also discussed key data gaps and potential strategies to address them.
Introduction
Heather McTeer Toney
Vice President of Community Engagement, Environmental Defense Fund
Heather McTeer Toney served as the first African-American, first female and youngest mayor of Greenville, MS. In 2014, she was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Regional Administrator for Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Southeast Region, where she served until 2017. Known for her energetic and genuine commitment to people, her work has made her a national figure in public service, diversity and community engagement. Heather led the Moms Clean Air Force field team for two years and worked on local government policy initiatives and the Moms & Mayors program. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College in Atlanta and a law degree from the Tulane University School of Law. Heather is currently serving as an environmental justice liaison for Environmental Defense Fund.
Keynote Speaker
Joe Kennedy III
Board Member, Woodwell Climate Research Center
Joe Kennedy III is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts’s 4th congressional district from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented a district that extends from Boston’s western suburbs to the state’s South Coast. He worked as an assistant district attorney in the Cape and Islands and Middlesex County, Massachusetts, offices before his election to Congress. In January 2021, he became a CNN commentator. He also serves as a board member for Woodwell Climate Research Center. He graduated from Harvard Law School.
Panel Discussion
Robin Bronen
Executive Director, Alaska Institute for Justice
Robin Bronen works as a human rights attorney and has been researching and working with communities forced to relocate because of climate change since 2007. She has worked with the White House Council on Environmental Quality to implement President Obama’s Climate Change Task Force recommendation to address climate displacement as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Climate Change Office. She is a senior research scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and co-founded and works as the executive director of the Alaska Institute for Justice, a non-governmental organization that is the only immigration legal service provider in Alaska. She attended the University of California, Davis School of Law.
Joyce Coffee
Founder and President, Climate Resilience Consulting
Joyce Coffee, LEED AP, is founder and President of Climate Resilience Consulting, a social enterprise that works with clients to create practical and equitable strategies that enhance markets and communities through adaptation to climate change. Coffee has 25 years of leadership experience in government, private, nonprofit, philanthropic and academic sectors. She has worked with over 200 institutions to create and implement climate-related resilience initiatives. Specific areas of emphasis include resilience strategy, resilience finance, resilience measurement and social equity. She is an appointed director or chair of 25 nonprofit boards and initiatives. She received a B.S. in biology, environmental studies and Asian studies from Tufts University and a Masters in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Jennifer Jurado
Chief Resilience Officer, Broward County, FL
Dr. Jennifer Jurado is responsible for leading climate resilience and environmental planning initiatives for Broward County, FL with a focus on urban adaptation, sustainable resource management, and clean energy strategies. For nearly two decades she has guided the integration of science to inform resilient design standards and has led multi-jurisdictional initiatives involving public-private partnerships key to large-scale initiatives. Dr. Jurado is an original contributor to the four-county Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact and serves on the board with the American Society of Adaptation Professionals and the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Miami in Marine Biology and Fisheries.
Effie Turnbull-Sanders
Environmental Justice Commissioner, California Coastal Commission
Effie Turnbull-Sanders is vice president of Civic Engagement and Economic Partnerships at the University of Southern California. She is also a governor’s appointee and environmental justice commissioner for the California Coastal Commission. Prior to her role at the University of Southern California she was Executive Director of the South Los Angeles Transit Empowerment Zone (SLATE-Z), and worked in service of the children of Los Angeles as Assistant General Counsel to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Through her legal career, she has worked as counsel to public and private organizations such as the City of Los Angeles and Richards, Watson & Gershon. She is also member of Representative Karen Bass’ Congressional Council. Sanders was a Presidential Appointee for Vice Chair Cruz Reynoso with the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Sanders received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications from the University of California, Los Angeles, her Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law and is a graduate of the University of Southern California Ross Program in Real Estate.
Moderator
Dr. Heather Goldstone
Chief Communications Officer, Woodwell Climate Research Center
Dr. Heather Goldstone oversees Woodwell Climate Research Center’s communications activities, bringing the rich stories of Woodwell scientists to diverse public audiences. Dr. Goldstone has extensive experience as both a scientist and a journalist, and she is passionate about melding data and narrative in climate change stories that build awareness and inspire action. Dr. Goldstone came to Woodwell Climate from WGBH, where she founded and hosted a weekly science-focused radio show, Living Lab Radio. Previously, she wrote the Climatide blog about coastal communities facing climate change. In 2014, she was recognized for the breadth of her work with WGBH’s Margret and Hans Rey/Curious George Producer award. Heather holds a B.S. from James Cook University and a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Closing Remarks
Christophe Courchesne
Deputy Chief, Energy and Environment Bureau, Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General
Christophe Courchesne is Deputy Chief of the Energy and Environment Bureau at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, where he helps oversee the Office’s extensive energy and environmental litigation and advocacy, particularly focusing on climate, clean energy, environmental justice, and polluter accountability. Prior to this appointment, Courchesne was Chief of AG Healey’s Environmental Protection Division where he supervised attorneys and support staff on environmental litigation, including enforcement of federal and state environmental laws, multistate partnerships on federal regulatory and policy actions, civil investigations, and environmental and energy policy analysis and advocacy. Before joining the AG’s Office in 2015, Courchesne was a senior attorney at Conservation Law Foundation and previously was a senior associate at Goodwin Procter LLP in Boston. Courchesne also served as a law clerk for Justice Robert J. Cordy of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He is an alum of the Boston Bar Association’s Public Interest Leadership Program, has served as the chair of the Grafton Planning Board, and was a charity runner for Casa Myrna in the 2013 and
2014 Boston Marathons. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University
of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Megan Herzog
Special Assistant, Energy and Environment Bureau, Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General
Megan Herzog is Special Assistant Attorney General for Climate Change in the Energy & Environment Bureau of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. Since joining the bureau in 2018, she has participated in litigation and advocacy involving state and federal air, climate, energy, and natural resources laws. Prior to joining the bureau, Megan worked as a Staff Attorney at the Boston, MA office of the Conservation Law Foundation, in CLF’s Energy and Ocean Conservation Programs. Megan was previously the Emmett/Frankel Fellow at UCLA’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. Megan received a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where she was Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Stanford Journal of Law, Science & Policy. She received an M.S. in Environment and Resources from Stanford University, and a B.A., magna cum laude, from Mount Holyoke College.