Program
Communities
for a Better Environment (www.cbecal.org) Communities for a Better
Environment's vision is to protect the earth and human life for future
generations. CBE believes that humanity now faces an environmental crisis of
global proportions and the earth's very survival is at stake. This crisis
cannot be resolved without a fundamental transformation of our society from one
based on profits to one based on people's needs. Lasting environmental
solutions can only be achieved with the participation and leadership of the
residents and workers most directly affected by pollution. The struggle for environmental justice is
therefore a part of the movement for social justice in the U.S. and throughout
the world. We are opposed to all forms of oppression and want to build a
movement that is based on genuine equality and democratic participation. CBE
strives to transform our society into one where production is based on
environmental sustainability, and where everyone has the right to breathe clean
air and drink clean water in the environment where we live, work, go to school,
play, cross all borders and pray regardless of race, gender, sexual
orientation, age, culture, ability or income. Bill Gallegos, representing.
Labor/Community
Strategy Center (www.thestrategycenter.org) Founded in
1989, the Labor/Community Strategy Center focuses upon regional, national and
international movement building. The Center's campaigns, projects, and
publications are rooted in working class communities of color, and address the
totality of urban life with a particular focus on civil rights, environmental
justice, public health, global warming, and the criminal legal system. The Center seeks to build consciousness,
leadership, and organization among those who face discrimination and societal
attack--people of color, women, immigrants, workers, LGBT people, youth, all of
whom comprise our membership. Linking mass struggles to the need for radical,
structural change, we develop campaigns and demands that help build a
revitalized world united front that can stop the rising tides of war, racism
and imperialism, the ecological crisis and the growing police state. Tammy Luu,
representing.
Trust
South LA (www.trustsouthla.org) T.R.U.S.T.
South LA was established in 2005 as a permanent and democratic steward of land
in South Los Angeles. Since its inception the group has expanded its community
membership and has raised and dedicated millions in funds in its effort to
improve the way of life for thousands of local residents, businesses, and
stakeholders. As a community led effort, The Land Trust's membership forms the
heart of our organization, making sure this is an effort truly serves the needs
of the community. What does it mean for community residents to plan for the
future of their own neighborhoods? For T.R.U.S.T. South LA, it means that the
needs and interests of residents, especially those historically marginalized
from the planning process and from the practice of real estate development, are
brought to the forefront. It means capturing their vision and creativity about
the neighborhoods they live in, the sidewalks they stroll, the businesses they
patronize, and resources they need in order to live a quality way of life that
truly serves the needs of the community. Tafarai Bayne, representing.
On Thursday
evening at 7:30 in Hilton 100 The Sustainable City features a keynote
address by renowned environmental
justice activist and MacArthur Fellow Majora Carter.
Ms.
Carter, founder and director of Sustainable
South Bronx (SSB) (www.ssbx.org), is a
relentless and charismatic urban strategist who seeks to address the
disproportionate environmental and public health burdens experienced by
residents of the South Bronx. Working in partnership with local
government, businesses, and neighborhood organizations, she creates new
opportunities for transportation, fitness and recreation, nutrition, and
economic development. Making the connection between green space and health,
Ms. Carter added a community education focus to the work of the SSB around
fitness, food choices, and air quality. As part of this effort, she
established a community market and introduced green roof technology.
Today, Ms Carter is profoundly transforming the quality of life for South Bronx
residents.
Events continue on Friday morning April 15th at 9 am in Ahmanson Auditorium
(UH1000) with public presentations focusing on the issues of environmental
justice by noted scholars Lisa Schweitzer,
Ph.D. (University of Southern California), and Jenny Price, Ph.D. (Free lance writer and Princeton University,
Anschutz Distinguished Fellow, Fall 2011), Laura
Westra, Ph.D. (Professor Emerita, University of Windsor), and Robert Figueroa, Ph.D. (University of
North Texas), followed by a discussion with LMU students, faculty, and staff,
local environmental groups, community-based organizations, and other community
members.
Public Panel
Presentation Session 1 (9 - 11 am):
Moderator: Dorothea Herreiner,
Ph.D.
Lisa Schweitzer, Ph.D.: Associate
Professor at the School of Policy, Planning and Development at the University
of Southern California, Dr. Schweitzer specializes in urban studies, and, in
particular, analyses of social justice, environment and transport. Her work has
appeared in multiple popular and scholarly outlets. Dr. Schweitzer's research has been supported
by National Institute of Health and is currently the principal investigator on
a National Science Foundation grant entitled: "Sociodemographic Analysis of
Household Travel Behavior in No-Notice Evacuations." She maintains a blog entitled "Sustainable
Cities and Transportation" which focuses on sustainable urbanism at www.lisaschweitzer.com.
"Coddling Cars and Shortchanging Kids: The
Distributive Effects of Gasoline Taxes, Budget Shortfalls, and the Double
Dividend"
Abstract: Gas prices are again on the rise in the
United States, and soon enough, opportunistic politicians will race forward
with dumb proposals to lower US gas taxes anything that will help them score
points with the mindlessly tax averse. Instead, those rising gas prices a
result from glitches in world oil supply should prompt Americans and
their leaders to reflect on our energy vulnerability. As painful as the price
changes are, Americans can hardly claim surprise: we know we guzzle too much
gas, we know we guzzle too much from imported sources, and we have known
about both of these problems for a long time. But America's policies have not
helped drivers make better decisions. Instead, US policy has been to under tax
gasoline far out of step with the rest of the world with predictable
consequences for fuel consumption (US versus Europe), pollution (excessive),
drivers (who, when price shocks hit, find themselves going without so they
afford to fill-up to get to work) and fiscal crises for federal and state
governments. Part of the rationale for these low gas taxes come from the desire
to protect low-income drivers. In this manuscript, I will demonstrate how
marginally higher not lower gas taxes can help put both drivers and state
budgets back on the right track, demonstrating the changes to the gas tax can
be both progressive, environmentally sound, and progressive for both low-income
drivers and communities.
Jenny
Price, Ph.D. is a writer, Los
Angeles Urban Ranger, and Research Scholar at the UCLA Center for the
Study of Women, and gives frequent tours of the concrete L.A. River. Author of " Thirteen Ways of Seeing Nature in L.A." and Flight Maps: Adventures with Nature in Modern
America, she's written also for GOOD, Sunset, Believer, Audubon, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times, and writes
the Green Me Up, JJ not-quite advice column on LA Observed. She has a
Ph.D. in history from Yale University, has been a Guggenheim and two-time NEH
fellow, and will be the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University
in fall 2011. She lives on Venice Beach.
We
Are Not All In This Together: The Green Revolution's "We" Problem
Abstract: While "food justice' has achieved a prominent
place in the new, explosive Green Revolution, advocacy on climate change and
many other key environmental issues shows a continued, stubborn resistance to
recognizing the essential connections between justice and sustainability. This
paper roots this resistance in historically powerful cultural assumptions about
nature and environment, and traces these assumptions through prominent
contemporary Green trends, from policies such as carbon trading to the
greener-than-thou approach to individual action.
Public Panel
Presentation Session 2 (11 am - 12:30 pm): Moderator, Brian Treanor, Ph.D.
Laura
Westra, Ph.D.: Holder of
doctorates in philosophy and Dr. Westra the scholarly work focuses on
environmental ethics, policy and law, with special emphasis on human rights and
global justice. Dr. Westra has published more than 80 articles and chapters in
books, and 20 books/monographs and has taught in both Canada and the U.S. from
1983 to 2000, last serving as Endowed Chair of Environmental Studies at Sarah
Lawrence College (NY). Dr. Westra is a tireless servant both within and beyond
the academy with multiple credits including the editorial boards of
Environmental Ethics, Environmental Values, the Journal of Ecosystem Health and
Bioethices; offices with the International Society for Environmental Justice,
the science for Peace Group, Occupational Ethics Group, the York centre for
Applied Sustainability and co-chair the Specialist Indigenous People Group;
consultant and conference organizer for the IUCN Commission on Law and
Environment, the World Health Organization and legal consultant for Governance
Instruments and Child Health: Informing Canadian Policy (Health Canada Grant);
and founder of the Global Ecological Integrity Group (GEIG)
Robert
Figueroa, Ph.D.: Associate Professor, Graduate Program Adviser in the Philosophy and Religion Studies Department and graduate
affiliate in the Women's Studies Program at the University of North Texas, Dr. Figueroa
specializes his research in Environmental Justice Studies, Environmental
Philosophy, and the Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Society.
Inclusive of his research is work on Philosophy of Heritage, Environmental
Identity, Climate Refugees, Critical Race Theory, Feminist Philosophy, and
Philosophy for Children. In 1995, he
launched one of the first courses in the nation titled "Environmental
Justice" and has been a leader in environmental justice pedagogy since,
teaching environmental justice in academic programs, such as philosophy,
environmental studies/science, Africana and Latin American studies, peace and
conflict studies, women's studies, and liberal arts core curricula. Of
his many publications of particular note are Science and
Other Cultures: Issues in the Philosophies of Science and Technology (Routledge:
2003), which culminated a three-year partnership between the National
Science Foundation and the American Philosophical Society on diversity and the
philosophy of science and a special issue edition of the Journal of Environmental Philosophy edited by Dr.
Figueroa on Ecotourism and Environmental Justice is due out in the fall 2010
issue. He is also the Director of the Environmental Justice Project, a part of the
Center for Environmental Philosophy,
Public Screening and
Discussion
Friday
evening features the LMU's School of Film and Television's public screening of
the acclaimed documentary The Garden, including
a conversation with director, Scott Hamilton Kennedy. The
fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles
is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing
after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since
created a miracle in one of the country's most blighted neighborhoods - Growing their own food - Feeding their families - Creating community.
The Garden follows the plight of the
farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City
Hall. Mostly immigrants from Latin America, from countries where they feared
for their lives if they were to speak out, we watch them organize, fight back,
and demand answers to why in a closed door session of the LA City Council the
land was sold to a wealthy developer for millions less than fair-market value. The Garden
has the pulse of verité with the narrative pull of fiction, telling the story
of the country's largest urban farm, backroom deals, land developers, green
politics, money, poverty, power, and racial discord.
Public Workshop
Saturday April 16 concludes the Sustainable City Symposium with two activities
offering students a chance to further their discussion with the visiting
scholars, LMU faculty, and members of the community.
In a public activity (limited
space) on Saturday, an interdisciplinary team from LMU, San Diego State University,
Boston College and the Friends of Ballona will host a full-day workshop on
urban ecology, with a focus on citizen science and secondary school science
curriculum. Hosted with support from the LA County 2nd District, the workshop
is in direct support of the residents of that district, but is open to all -
especially students and faculty interested in community engagement through
participatory science. Topics include biodiversity, urban bioacoustics
and urban forestry. We encourage
you to contact Dr. Eric Strauss to find out more details and to RSVP if you
wish to attend the Urban Ecology Workshop. Lunch will be provided for
participants.
A second, invitation-only activity
will feature a faculty-student trip to the Ballona Wetlands to discuss and experience
Spirituality in an urban wetlands setting.
Dr. Jim Landry (Associate Dean in the Seaver College of Science and
Engineering), Dr. John Dorsey (Chair and Professor of Natural Science) and Lisa
Fimiani (Executive Director of the Friends of Ballona Wetlands) will discuss
the history of the Ballona Wetlands, current and planned restoration efforts,
educational activities, and reconnecting with nature in an urban wetlands
environment. This will be followed with
time for reflection in the setting.