A couple weekends ago, I attended the climate change speech by Rhiana Gunn-Wright. It was a very interesting talk and it made me think about a lot of things that I never would have without it. I found her story about her introduction to public policy and sustainability very interesting. She grew up in the Southside of Chicago in a neighborhood with lots of poverty and shootings. Despite this, she felt a very strong sense of community and family among her neighbors and people around her. At first she had no interest at all in public policy, but she always felt like she wanted to do something to help the people similar to those she grew up with. Even when she started getting involved in public policy, she had no interest in climate change at all until she finally realized how intertwined it was with all social issues. She found steel mills and incinerators near neighborhoods and play grounds that led to asthma rates three times the usual rate. This environmental injustice upset her and she realized how these larger environmental issues had a very large impact on communities like the one she grew up in. She even realized that her asthma and bronchitis was likely a product of the pollution near her neighborhood growing up. After feeling this anger and passion for these people, she finally joined the fight and got involved in sustainable public policy.
After she got involved, she worked very hard to create a change. She was part of the team that designed the green deal. One of her points that really stuck with me was the idea that we can not just deal with climate change. Everything is intertwined and changing one thing will cause change everywhere and in all areas. For example, if we change our main energy source, the shape of the world changes and the economy is at the center of these changes including racial injustice. Poverty will result in more mortality in places with more severe climate change. For this reason, we need climate policies that are equitable and inclusive. The system we have right now relies on people we can exploit for labor and poison without any consequences. Equity and climate change cannot be separated and must be solved together. This is why she feels we need community more than ever and young people need to join the fight.
To conclude her speech, she left everyone with a couple pieces of advice. Some of her best advice in my opinion was that you can be an activist and thought leader at the same time. We all deserve to be in the room and make these big decisions. We have a right to have a say in what will happen since we are the people who it will affect the most. Once again she talked about how we need to work in communities and that climate intersects with all issues. Her final and best advice was to be comfortable with getting your ass kicked. You can not win every fight and something you will need to take those losses, but keep creating pressure and fighting for what is right.