1 00:00:00,345 --> 00:00:03,178 (uplifting music) 2 00:00:09,500 --> 00:00:10,820 - And the School of Social Work 3 00:00:10,820 --> 00:00:14,370 is pleased to host this talk by Dr. Lisa Reyes Mason, 4 00:00:14,370 --> 00:00:17,060 as part of the 2022 Salem State University 5 00:00:17,060 --> 00:00:18,870 Earth Day Celebration, 6 00:00:18,870 --> 00:00:21,690 for which the theme is Climate Crises: 7 00:00:21,690 --> 00:00:24,713 Actions for a Just and Livable World. 8 00:00:26,500 --> 00:00:30,780 Associate Professor Lisa Reyes Mason is a social worker, 9 00:00:30,780 --> 00:00:33,840 scholar, and advocate for climate justice. 10 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:38,260 She finds purpose and passion in engaging social work, 11 00:00:38,260 --> 00:00:40,730 a profession in pursuit of health, equity, 12 00:00:40,730 --> 00:00:42,450 and social justice, 13 00:00:42,450 --> 00:00:45,570 in confronting the climate crisis to create a thriving 14 00:00:45,570 --> 00:00:48,130 and regenerative world for all. 15 00:00:48,130 --> 00:00:51,940 Biracial and bicultural. Dr. Mason draws inspiration 16 00:00:51,940 --> 00:00:54,780 from her maternal roots in urban Philippines, 17 00:00:54,780 --> 00:00:58,010 and paternal roots in rural California. 18 00:00:58,010 --> 00:01:00,040 On faculty at the University of Denver's 19 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:01,800 Graduate School of Social Work, 20 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,490 Dr. Mason co-created a master's in social work 21 00:01:04,490 --> 00:01:07,800 concentration in ecological justice, 22 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,580 the first of its kind in the US. 23 00:01:10,580 --> 00:01:14,440 She also co-edited the book "People and Climate Change: 24 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,920 Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Social Justice", 25 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,010 a collection of lived experiences 26 00:01:20,010 --> 00:01:22,190 and case studies of climate injustice 27 00:01:22,190 --> 00:01:24,660 from the global south and north, 28 00:01:24,660 --> 00:01:26,950 and serves the city and county of Denver 29 00:01:26,950 --> 00:01:30,083 as a member of its Sustainability Advisory Council. 30 00:01:30,930 --> 00:01:33,590 Dr. Mason received her MSW and PhD 31 00:01:33,590 --> 00:01:35,890 from Washington University in St. Louis, 32 00:01:35,890 --> 00:01:37,550 where she was a Chancellor's Fellow 33 00:01:37,550 --> 00:01:40,740 for advancing diversity in the professorate, 34 00:01:40,740 --> 00:01:43,320 and Olin Fellow for exceptional women 35 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:45,780 to become leaders in society. 36 00:01:45,780 --> 00:01:49,110 Dr. Mason's BA is from the University of Pennsylvania, 37 00:01:49,110 --> 00:01:52,030 where she majored in folklore and folk life, 38 00:01:52,030 --> 00:01:54,350 or the everyday knowledge of people, 39 00:01:54,350 --> 00:01:56,250 and how wisdom and ways of living 40 00:01:56,250 --> 00:01:59,840 are past from one generation to the next. 41 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:01,280 After Dr. Mason's talk, 42 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:03,970 we will have some time for Q & A, and at this time, 43 00:02:03,970 --> 00:02:07,353 it's my pleasure to introduce Dr. Lisa Reyes Mason. 44 00:02:08,842 --> 00:02:09,675 - Thank you so much, 45 00:02:09,675 --> 00:02:13,100 Dean Johnson for the welcome and introduction. 46 00:02:13,100 --> 00:02:15,690 It's really a pleasure to join you 47 00:02:15,690 --> 00:02:17,890 and your community for these Earth Days. 48 00:02:17,890 --> 00:02:20,960 I've been looking at the Earth Day site 49 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,260 for all the things that are being offered. 50 00:02:23,260 --> 00:02:26,260 And I love that it's not just one day or one event, 51 00:02:26,260 --> 00:02:29,210 but this month-long and maybe longer series 52 00:02:29,210 --> 00:02:32,050 of different ways to engage in learning 53 00:02:32,050 --> 00:02:34,550 and action at this nexus of environmental 54 00:02:34,550 --> 00:02:36,960 and climate and social justice. 55 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,130 So it's my pleasure to be a part of it and to be with you. 56 00:02:40,130 --> 00:02:42,803 I am going to share my screen. 57 00:02:46,330 --> 00:02:48,963 And then get my view set up here. 58 00:02:51,850 --> 00:02:52,763 Okay, great. 59 00:02:54,690 --> 00:02:56,093 One more adjustment. 60 00:02:57,390 --> 00:03:00,230 Okay, so Dean Johnson already shared 61 00:03:00,230 --> 00:03:03,430 the title of my talk today. 62 00:03:03,430 --> 00:03:07,210 And like the spark that's in this image, 63 00:03:07,210 --> 00:03:09,930 our world, unfortunately, is on fire, 64 00:03:09,930 --> 00:03:12,610 quite literally, as drought and wind 65 00:03:12,610 --> 00:03:17,610 and human activity provide fuel for quite devastating fires, 66 00:03:17,810 --> 00:03:19,690 such as in the mountainous West, 67 00:03:19,690 --> 00:03:23,860 where I'm calling in from today, and figuratively, 68 00:03:23,860 --> 00:03:26,610 as we have global average temperatures rising, 69 00:03:26,610 --> 00:03:30,100 deforestation continuing, and weather extremes 70 00:03:30,100 --> 00:03:32,650 that are becoming more frequent and severe, 71 00:03:32,650 --> 00:03:34,980 which we were just sharing experiences of 72 00:03:34,980 --> 00:03:39,980 and stories of before others joined in for the talk. 73 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,780 So we humans, we are just one 74 00:03:44,780 --> 00:03:48,240 of over 8 million species on Earth, 75 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:50,840 and it really is us who've lit this fire. 76 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,480 We've changed this planet, its ecosystems, 77 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,150 its health through these fires that we've lit 78 00:03:58,150 --> 00:04:02,880 of extraction, of consumption, of colonization. 79 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:04,560 And so, in my talk today, 80 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:08,200 I'm gonna begin with some specifics about climate change 81 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,950 and about the crisis that's unfolding in our midst, 82 00:04:11,950 --> 00:04:13,600 but I won't stop there. 83 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,070 I'll also aim to give examples of how social work 84 00:04:17,070 --> 00:04:19,010 is already engaged in climate justice, 85 00:04:19,010 --> 00:04:20,620 and starting actually further back 86 00:04:20,620 --> 00:04:23,700 with how social work has engaged in environmental justice 87 00:04:23,700 --> 00:04:26,210 more broadly for some time now, 88 00:04:26,210 --> 00:04:28,330 and then I'll turn to solutions and hope, 89 00:04:28,330 --> 00:04:31,440 ideas, examples, inspiration for how each of us 90 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:33,450 can be these sparks for change. 91 00:04:33,450 --> 00:04:36,310 So taking this fire metaphor of this image 92 00:04:36,310 --> 00:04:39,310 in a different direction as sparks, maybe, 93 00:04:39,310 --> 00:04:41,980 in a movement that actually really believes 94 00:04:41,980 --> 00:04:45,080 that we can indeed achieve climate justice, 95 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:49,700 and that we can repair and restore ourselves, 96 00:04:49,700 --> 00:04:51,910 really, and this world. 97 00:04:51,910 --> 00:04:53,093 So let's begin. 98 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,233 So the most recent IPCC assessment report, 99 00:05:02,290 --> 00:05:05,390 which has been released in a couple of phases now, 100 00:05:05,390 --> 00:05:07,500 and I'm sure you've been hearing about it on the news, 101 00:05:07,500 --> 00:05:08,830 or maybe have been diving into 102 00:05:08,830 --> 00:05:10,910 some of the headlines of it yourself 103 00:05:10,910 --> 00:05:13,410 was unequivocal in attributing 104 00:05:13,410 --> 00:05:15,970 climate change to human activity. 105 00:05:15,970 --> 00:05:18,000 Hopefully to those of us on this call, 106 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,080 that wasn't a debate to begin with. 107 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,550 But nonetheless, the report in its most recent version 108 00:05:22,550 --> 00:05:24,290 was unequivocal in attributing 109 00:05:24,290 --> 00:05:26,550 climate change to human activity. 110 00:05:26,550 --> 00:05:29,300 And greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere 111 00:05:29,300 --> 00:05:30,760 are at unprecedented levels. 112 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:32,970 So carbon dioxide, in particular, 113 00:05:32,970 --> 00:05:37,130 is at about 419 parts per million today. 114 00:05:37,130 --> 00:05:38,850 And according to NOAA, 115 00:05:38,850 --> 00:05:42,060 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 116 00:05:42,060 --> 00:05:46,373 this is about 25% higher than it was 50 years ago, 117 00:05:48,272 --> 00:05:52,640 and 40% higher than the start of the Industrial Revolution. 118 00:05:53,650 --> 00:05:57,070 Also, unfortunately, globally greenhouse gas emissions 119 00:05:57,070 --> 00:05:58,840 have not yet peaked. 120 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:03,220 So in 2019, we actually saw 12%, 121 00:06:03,220 --> 00:06:05,470 or we produced, maybe, better way to put it. 122 00:06:05,470 --> 00:06:06,490 We didn't just observe these. 123 00:06:06,490 --> 00:06:10,940 We humans produced 12% more carbon dioxide emissions 124 00:06:10,940 --> 00:06:13,550 than we did in 2010, 125 00:06:13,550 --> 00:06:17,710 and 54% more than we had produced in 1990. 126 00:06:17,710 --> 00:06:20,320 So global greenhouse gas emissions 127 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:21,660 are still trending upward. 128 00:06:21,660 --> 00:06:22,910 They have not yet peaked. 129 00:06:25,150 --> 00:06:27,590 And so, we know that climate change is here. 130 00:06:27,590 --> 00:06:31,130 Our planet overall has already warmed 131 00:06:31,130 --> 00:06:34,590 on average by about 1.2 degrees Celsius, 132 00:06:34,590 --> 00:06:36,980 or about two degrees Fahrenheit. 133 00:06:36,980 --> 00:06:41,980 And we are currently irrevocably on track for more warming. 134 00:06:42,780 --> 00:06:45,940 With climate change, we have more weather extremes. 135 00:06:45,940 --> 00:06:48,440 We have prolonged drought in some places, 136 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,800 like where I am now, and then more intense rainfall 137 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:53,970 and catastrophic flooding in others, 138 00:06:53,970 --> 00:06:56,370 like the Southeast where I used to live, 139 00:06:56,370 --> 00:06:57,560 parts of the East Coast. 140 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,253 Speaking only about the United States for the moment. 141 00:07:01,420 --> 00:07:04,160 We know that heat waves, wildfires, coastal sea rise 142 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,210 are all on the rise and increasingly more severe. 143 00:07:07,210 --> 00:07:11,010 And all of these are the dire 144 00:07:11,010 --> 00:07:13,330 environmental consequences of climate change 145 00:07:13,330 --> 00:07:15,363 that we experience every day. 146 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:20,570 We as people on this planet, we as social workers, 147 00:07:20,570 --> 00:07:22,860 we as members of humanity, and again, 148 00:07:22,860 --> 00:07:25,460 we as one of the 8 million species 149 00:07:25,460 --> 00:07:27,140 who are affected by climate change. 150 00:07:27,140 --> 00:07:30,030 So it's not just us that's affected by climate change. 151 00:07:30,030 --> 00:07:31,760 It's these millions of other species 152 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:34,673 that are part of our world as well, that are affected. 153 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,060 So for social work, 154 00:07:39,060 --> 00:07:42,070 and also for several of our allied professions, 155 00:07:42,070 --> 00:07:44,260 including public health, psychology, 156 00:07:44,260 --> 00:07:47,200 community development and others, 157 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,590 we know that the consequences of the climate crisis 158 00:07:49,590 --> 00:07:52,730 are vast, unequal, unjust, 159 00:07:52,730 --> 00:07:55,340 and so clearly connected to myriad other 160 00:07:55,340 --> 00:07:57,630 social justice issues that we work on. 161 00:07:57,630 --> 00:08:02,630 So basic access to food and water, food security, 162 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:05,440 physical health, mental health, 163 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:09,370 disparities there are exacerbated by climate change, 164 00:08:09,370 --> 00:08:11,480 social connection, financial security 165 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,000 can all be disrupted by climate change, 166 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,349 and in inequitable ways. 167 00:08:16,349 --> 00:08:21,170 Inequitably in terms of who has contributed the least to 168 00:08:21,170 --> 00:08:24,270 the actual consumption and production 169 00:08:24,270 --> 00:08:27,280 of greenhouse gas emissions 170 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:29,470 being often the most impacted 171 00:08:29,470 --> 00:08:32,200 or the most quote unquote, socially vulnerable 172 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:35,143 to experiencing the impacts of climate change. 173 00:08:37,550 --> 00:08:39,130 So as some examples of this 174 00:08:39,130 --> 00:08:43,270 during the 1995 heat wave in Chicago, Illinois, for example. 175 00:08:43,270 --> 00:08:46,310 There were many older adults who were on lower incomes 176 00:08:46,310 --> 00:08:49,510 who felt unsafe going outdoors to keep cool. 177 00:08:49,510 --> 00:08:51,400 And instead perished, 178 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,603 died inside their own apartments alone. 179 00:08:55,890 --> 00:08:57,720 Last summer, there was the heat wave 180 00:08:57,720 --> 00:08:59,850 that hit the Pacific Northwest, 181 00:08:59,850 --> 00:09:03,770 which had temperatures 30 degrees higher than average, 182 00:09:03,770 --> 00:09:06,693 and hundreds of people lost their lives. 183 00:09:09,330 --> 00:09:12,140 In coastal Louisiana, for example, 184 00:09:12,140 --> 00:09:15,730 the United Houma Nation is losing their ancestral land 185 00:09:15,730 --> 00:09:18,380 to climate change and sea level rise. 186 00:09:18,380 --> 00:09:22,030 And this has impacts to wellness, to identity, 187 00:09:22,030 --> 00:09:25,150 to sense of place, ties to place. 188 00:09:25,150 --> 00:09:27,790 And we have, at Arizona State, 189 00:09:27,790 --> 00:09:31,000 there's a social work scholar, Dr. Shannon Dorabiliad, 190 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,250 who works with this community and studies this problem, 191 00:09:34,250 --> 00:09:37,880 because she herself is a member of the United Houma Nation 192 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,683 who's affected by this loss of ancestral land. 193 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,870 In the Philippines where my own maternal roots are, 194 00:09:46,870 --> 00:09:50,770 Typhoon Haiyan resulted in 6,000 deaths 195 00:09:50,770 --> 00:09:53,100 with millions of Filipinos, 196 00:09:53,100 --> 00:09:55,710 many of whom were already impoverished, 197 00:09:55,710 --> 00:09:59,200 left without homes, water, food, or sanitation. 198 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:00,500 So all of these are examples 199 00:10:00,500 --> 00:10:03,520 of how climate change is a threat multiplier. 200 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:04,560 Sometimes you'll hear that. 201 00:10:04,560 --> 00:10:06,290 It's a threat multiplier. 202 00:10:06,290 --> 00:10:10,370 It takes already existing injustices and inequities, 203 00:10:10,370 --> 00:10:12,553 and then worsens them. 204 00:10:15,380 --> 00:10:18,400 Also climate anxiety, PTSD, 205 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,610 suicidal ideation have all been identified 206 00:10:21,610 --> 00:10:24,060 as mental health impacts of weather extremes 207 00:10:24,060 --> 00:10:25,683 that are climate-change related. 208 00:10:26,530 --> 00:10:29,980 ecoAmerica has its 2021 report out 209 00:10:29,980 --> 00:10:32,880 on mental health and a changing climate, 210 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,640 which is available for download online. 211 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:37,610 It goes into much more depth 212 00:10:37,610 --> 00:10:39,950 about the mental health impacts of climate change 213 00:10:39,950 --> 00:10:41,530 and what we can do about it. 214 00:10:41,530 --> 00:10:45,270 And we have social work's own Dr. Leah Persha, 215 00:10:45,270 --> 00:10:48,220 who is an editor and contributor on that ecoAmerica report. 216 00:10:50,750 --> 00:10:54,160 In my own prior research from Knoxville, Tennessee, 217 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,090 we did a study with participants 218 00:10:57,090 --> 00:10:59,300 from lower and middle income census tracts 219 00:10:59,300 --> 00:11:00,720 within the city limits. 220 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,130 And over 75% of participants in our study 221 00:11:05,010 --> 00:11:07,090 said that their physical health was affected 222 00:11:07,090 --> 00:11:09,560 by weather extremes, 75%, 223 00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:13,303 and over 50% expressed mental health impacts. 224 00:11:14,750 --> 00:11:17,760 And then another example in Denver, 225 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,050 where I am now, and in so many other cities, 226 00:11:21,050 --> 00:11:25,420 racist redlining policies that were codified 100 years ago 227 00:11:25,420 --> 00:11:29,520 are so clearly connected to climate injustice today. 228 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:32,440 So red line neighborhoods have experienced 229 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:35,810 this intentional disinvestment over decades, 230 00:11:35,810 --> 00:11:39,870 and now tend to have less green space, less tree cover. 231 00:11:39,870 --> 00:11:42,740 They tend to be hotspots of urban heat islands, 232 00:11:42,740 --> 00:11:46,120 or they tend to be in higher-risk flood zones 233 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:47,923 than non-redlined areas. 234 00:11:48,890 --> 00:11:51,740 If you just Google this, Groundwork USA, 235 00:11:51,740 --> 00:11:54,624 their climate safe neighborhoods program, 236 00:11:54,624 --> 00:11:56,800 it's only for 9 or 10 cities. 237 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:58,416 So it's not for everywhere, 238 00:11:58,416 --> 00:12:02,166 but they have created story maps using ArcGIS 239 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:05,376 for these 9 or 10 cities 240 00:12:05,376 --> 00:12:09,280 that just paint so clearly the picture 241 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,410 of historic redlining, 242 00:12:12,410 --> 00:12:15,920 and how those red line neighborhoods map so clearly 243 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:18,710 onto less tree cover, 244 00:12:18,710 --> 00:12:22,120 higher flood risk, higher heat exposure. 245 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,203 So the effects of that persist today. 246 00:12:30,790 --> 00:12:35,400 So, so far I have focused on the problem with examples, 247 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:39,370 statistics painting the picture of the climate crisis 248 00:12:39,370 --> 00:12:43,710 and how it connects to social issues, social justice, 249 00:12:43,710 --> 00:12:46,620 inequities that we care about as social workers. 250 00:12:46,620 --> 00:12:49,393 It's possible that some on this call, 251 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:51,980 including myself at this moment, 252 00:12:51,980 --> 00:12:56,220 start to feel overwhelmed or discouraged 253 00:12:56,220 --> 00:12:58,720 that the problem feels too big. 254 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:03,360 What can I, as one person, do about climate change? 255 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:07,200 Or it's possible that maybe some of you are thinking, 256 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,333 I've connected the dots. 257 00:13:09,333 --> 00:13:12,380 I see how this is related to social justice, 258 00:13:12,380 --> 00:13:14,390 but is social work even at the table? 259 00:13:14,390 --> 00:13:16,050 What are we doing about it? 260 00:13:16,050 --> 00:13:18,070 And I've provided a few examples of that 261 00:13:18,070 --> 00:13:19,790 just with mentioning different folks 262 00:13:19,790 --> 00:13:21,450 who are engaged in this work. 263 00:13:21,450 --> 00:13:22,950 But the answer to that question of, 264 00:13:22,950 --> 00:13:25,110 is social work at the table is, yes, 265 00:13:25,110 --> 00:13:28,010 our profession is engaged in climate justice, 266 00:13:28,010 --> 00:13:31,210 and going further back in environmental justice. 267 00:13:31,210 --> 00:13:35,040 And any time somebody asks me about that connection, 268 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:36,900 about why is social work engaged in this? 269 00:13:36,900 --> 00:13:39,215 Or is this a social work issue? 270 00:13:39,215 --> 00:13:40,780 To me, I've always been 271 00:13:40,780 --> 00:13:43,110 more on the macro side of social work anyway. 272 00:13:43,110 --> 00:13:44,680 So the connections are so obvious, 273 00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:46,960 but I think of these as issues 274 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,710 that are really so inextricable from so many other social 275 00:13:50,710 --> 00:13:52,590 and structural problems that we confront. 276 00:13:52,590 --> 00:13:55,363 So how could we not be engaged in climate change? 277 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:58,913 So a little bit more on that. 278 00:14:00,850 --> 00:14:02,970 So it's already 10 years old, 279 00:14:02,970 --> 00:14:04,640 but it's such a helpful review. 280 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:06,410 I like to still talk about it. 281 00:14:06,410 --> 00:14:10,550 In their 2012 review, John Coates and Mel Gray 282 00:14:10,550 --> 00:14:15,100 summarized kind of this overview of the environment 283 00:14:15,100 --> 00:14:17,470 and social work was the name of their article. 284 00:14:17,470 --> 00:14:22,030 And they kinda trace, now, 50 years' worth of history, 285 00:14:22,030 --> 00:14:23,170 although at the time, 286 00:14:23,170 --> 00:14:25,240 it was about 40 years' worth of history 287 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:27,900 of social work engagement with environmental issues, 288 00:14:27,900 --> 00:14:29,270 environmental crises. 289 00:14:29,270 --> 00:14:30,800 So contemporary engagement. 290 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:32,900 So starting in the 1970s, 291 00:14:32,900 --> 00:14:34,540 when there was some initial writing 292 00:14:34,540 --> 00:14:38,350 by social work academics about this connection 293 00:14:38,350 --> 00:14:41,010 between environmental and social issues. 294 00:14:41,010 --> 00:14:44,020 And then in the late 80s and 90s, 295 00:14:44,020 --> 00:14:45,630 kind of a renewed interest in it, 296 00:14:45,630 --> 00:14:48,810 some broad calls for social work to get involved. 297 00:14:48,810 --> 00:14:51,710 And then in the early 2000s, again, 298 00:14:51,710 --> 00:14:53,210 more calls for new understanding, 299 00:14:53,210 --> 00:14:56,330 but then going a little bit beyond just, let's get involved, 300 00:14:56,330 --> 00:14:58,640 let's do something, actually turning then 301 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:01,010 to more concrete practice implications. 302 00:15:01,010 --> 00:15:03,300 And since this review 10 years ago, 303 00:15:03,300 --> 00:15:06,000 we've only seen growth in social work scholarship 304 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:11,000 and teaching and practice in this area, which is exciting. 305 00:15:12,020 --> 00:15:14,070 When I was a PhD student, 306 00:15:14,070 --> 00:15:17,780 I started my PhD in 2008 and graduated in 2013. 307 00:15:17,780 --> 00:15:21,200 And it was hard to find advisors, 308 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:23,720 mentors who were working in this space. 309 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:24,710 I still remember it. 310 00:15:24,710 --> 00:15:26,580 I won't name the school, but I still remember 311 00:15:26,580 --> 00:15:31,580 at one of my interviews on the job market that year, 2012, 312 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,220 being asked the question kind of skeptically, 313 00:15:34,220 --> 00:15:36,000 how is the social work? 314 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:37,590 And I hope that our students, 315 00:15:37,590 --> 00:15:39,360 PhD students who go on the market now 316 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,285 aren't facing that at all, or at least as much. 317 00:15:43,285 --> 00:15:48,003 So some of the examples of this, 318 00:15:49,100 --> 00:15:52,436 which also then therefore provide resources as well 319 00:15:52,436 --> 00:15:55,350 that you may want to look up 320 00:15:55,350 --> 00:15:57,580 if you're not already familiar with some of these, 321 00:15:57,580 --> 00:15:59,747 is that CSWE, hopefully we all know, 322 00:15:59,747 --> 00:16:02,780 has competencies now for environmental justice. 323 00:16:02,780 --> 00:16:04,740 Sometimes I notice that we still talk about this 324 00:16:04,740 --> 00:16:08,140 as if it's new, but it's really, since 2015, 325 00:16:08,140 --> 00:16:10,590 that the environmental justice was added 326 00:16:10,590 --> 00:16:13,187 as a competency by CSWE. 327 00:16:13,187 --> 00:16:15,320 In my experience, I know that schools 328 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,430 are still trying to figure this out, 329 00:16:17,430 --> 00:16:19,313 even though it's seven years later. 330 00:16:21,042 --> 00:16:23,900 CSWE did produce a curricular guide 331 00:16:23,900 --> 00:16:25,460 for environmental justice 332 00:16:25,460 --> 00:16:28,457 that's available for purchase, I believe. 333 00:16:28,457 --> 00:16:30,840 $15, something like that on their website, 334 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:35,823 which ties each competency to readings, 335 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,340 to classroom activities, pedagogical activities 336 00:16:41,340 --> 00:16:46,200 that schools of social work can use to try to address 337 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,323 the environmental justice competencies in their programs. 338 00:16:50,660 --> 00:16:52,230 We really do see coursework, 339 00:16:52,230 --> 00:16:55,140 faculty field placements on the rise. 340 00:16:55,140 --> 00:16:58,130 At DU, we now have this ecological justice 341 00:16:58,130 --> 00:17:01,980 concentration in the MSW program, which is really exciting. 342 00:17:01,980 --> 00:17:03,510 A lot of schools now have 343 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,930 like an elective course in environmental justice. 344 00:17:07,930 --> 00:17:09,490 And there's a lot of open 345 00:17:09,490 --> 00:17:13,010 syllabus sharing that happens. 346 00:17:13,010 --> 00:17:15,810 I've found that faculty have tended to be pretty generous 347 00:17:15,810 --> 00:17:17,440 in this space with sharing. 348 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:19,090 In fact, there was somebody who created 349 00:17:19,090 --> 00:17:23,390 a repository for this for folks to access. 350 00:17:23,390 --> 00:17:25,140 And I can try to find out where that was. 351 00:17:25,140 --> 00:17:27,130 I saw Dean Johnson, your eyes light up with that. 352 00:17:27,130 --> 00:17:29,950 So (laughs), yeah. 353 00:17:29,950 --> 00:17:31,670 There's also, if you're not familiar with these, 354 00:17:31,670 --> 00:17:34,210 the International Federation of Social Workers 355 00:17:34,210 --> 00:17:35,940 has three edited volumes 356 00:17:35,940 --> 00:17:38,900 of their sustainability workbooks edited by Dr., 357 00:17:38,900 --> 00:17:41,560 I believe it's Michaela Rinkel and Dr. Meredith Powers. 358 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:43,440 And these are free, open-access, 359 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:46,400 downloadable from IFSW website. 360 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,490 And they are full of case studies, examples, 361 00:17:50,490 --> 00:17:53,730 learning activities from around the world, 362 00:17:53,730 --> 00:17:55,970 not just US at all, but from around the world. 363 00:17:55,970 --> 00:17:58,370 And they're open resource. 364 00:17:58,370 --> 00:18:01,770 Dr. Powers at UNC Greensboro is the one who runs 365 00:18:01,770 --> 00:18:04,310 this EcoSocialWork listserv. 366 00:18:04,310 --> 00:18:06,900 I feel like any time I give a talk, I always mention this. 367 00:18:06,900 --> 00:18:08,480 And then I'm always wondering like, 368 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:10,950 Dr. Powers must get emails right after. 369 00:18:10,950 --> 00:18:12,010 She's like, what's going on? 370 00:18:12,010 --> 00:18:13,090 Why is it so episodic? 371 00:18:13,090 --> 00:18:15,110 I'll get like 20 emails. 372 00:18:15,110 --> 00:18:17,360 So there's hundreds of subscribers. 373 00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:19,950 Maybe some of you are already on this listserv, 374 00:18:19,950 --> 00:18:22,610 but this is where the call for the syllabi went out, 375 00:18:22,610 --> 00:18:26,378 for example, and folks started sharing together. 376 00:18:26,378 --> 00:18:28,440 And it's not a listserv that's like, 377 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:30,700 in my experience, overly active. 378 00:18:30,700 --> 00:18:32,390 So if you join, 379 00:18:32,390 --> 00:18:34,553 you won't get too, too many new emails, 380 00:18:36,790 --> 00:18:41,790 but you will periodically get some new things there. 381 00:18:41,870 --> 00:18:43,910 And then we have, of course, 382 00:18:43,910 --> 00:18:46,560 one of the 13 Grand Challenges for social work 383 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:48,060 is in the environmental space. 384 00:18:48,060 --> 00:18:51,580 It's create social responses to a changing environment. 385 00:18:51,580 --> 00:18:54,130 And I co-led this grand challenge for five years, 386 00:18:54,130 --> 00:18:55,190 I recently stepped away 387 00:18:55,190 --> 00:18:58,990 because of some upcoming administrative changes. 388 00:18:58,990 --> 00:19:01,670 I'm gonna serve as associate dean for academic affairs here 389 00:19:01,670 --> 00:19:04,660 starting this summer, so I needed to make some choices, 390 00:19:04,660 --> 00:19:07,140 but during the time that I was a co-lead, 391 00:19:07,140 --> 00:19:09,060 we really worked on attracting 392 00:19:09,060 --> 00:19:12,840 and supporting more social work scholars 393 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:15,500 and educators in this space, 394 00:19:15,500 --> 00:19:18,220 providing mentoring opportunities for students. 395 00:19:18,220 --> 00:19:20,490 We organized a three-part environmental 396 00:19:20,490 --> 00:19:22,410 and racial justice webinar series, 397 00:19:22,410 --> 00:19:27,410 which has had over 7,000 views across the three videos. 398 00:19:27,830 --> 00:19:31,540 And we have responded to calls from NASW and others 399 00:19:31,540 --> 00:19:35,163 to weigh in on policy proposals and advocacy opportunities, 400 00:19:36,050 --> 00:19:38,330 'cause NASW has also been, 401 00:19:38,330 --> 00:19:41,290 especially at the nexus of mental health on climate, 402 00:19:41,290 --> 00:19:44,263 been working on advocacy at the federal level. 403 00:19:48,410 --> 00:19:51,493 So social work practice at this nexus. 404 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,240 I know that we love 405 00:19:55,240 --> 00:20:00,240 and say that we don't love the micro to macro spectrum, 406 00:20:00,610 --> 00:20:02,040 'cause there's so much overlap. 407 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:04,120 Any of us who practice social work know 408 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:07,150 that you really are integrating skills all the time, 409 00:20:07,150 --> 00:20:09,860 but maybe we think of this as the majority of your work, 410 00:20:09,860 --> 00:20:13,233 but so, in direct clinical practice, not my forte, 411 00:20:14,208 --> 00:20:18,213 but we see this showing up in therapy, for example, 412 00:20:19,470 --> 00:20:22,500 where people may have eco grief, 413 00:20:22,500 --> 00:20:24,960 they may have climate anxiety. 414 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:27,220 There's an MSW student who reached out 415 00:20:27,220 --> 00:20:30,780 because somebody was presenting with, 416 00:20:30,780 --> 00:20:35,780 was hoarding in relation to fear about climate change. 417 00:20:36,230 --> 00:20:37,240 And then of course, 418 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:39,600 which this social work has a long history of intervening, 419 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,080 and there's disaster related mental health, 420 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,460 both acute trauma post-disaster, 421 00:20:44,460 --> 00:20:49,343 and long-term mental health and PTSD from disaster. 422 00:20:50,270 --> 00:20:54,210 There's also social workers engaged at that mezzo level 423 00:20:54,210 --> 00:20:57,320 with program development and community organizing, 424 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:01,860 working on local food systems, food sovereignty, 425 00:21:01,860 --> 00:21:04,740 which actually serves as both mitigation 426 00:21:04,740 --> 00:21:07,910 and adaptation to climate change. 427 00:21:07,910 --> 00:21:10,350 So both reducing those greenhouse gas emissions, 428 00:21:10,350 --> 00:21:13,603 mitigation, and adapting, coping, 429 00:21:14,450 --> 00:21:18,590 preparing by supporting local food systems. 430 00:21:18,590 --> 00:21:23,310 There's folks working at the nexus of heat and homelessness, 431 00:21:23,310 --> 00:21:28,240 because people experiencing homelessness in our community, 432 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:31,960 in many communities, when heat waves are on the rise, 433 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,710 it's just another, again, kind of threat multiplier 434 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:38,650 for health and wellbeing 435 00:21:38,650 --> 00:21:42,880 for people who are literally exposed to the elements 436 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,563 and exposed to heat every day. 437 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:50,370 We have social workers working on energy poverty, 438 00:21:50,370 --> 00:21:53,150 working on weatherization of homes, 439 00:21:53,150 --> 00:21:54,600 which is, again, another one 440 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:56,883 that's both mitigation and adaptation. 441 00:21:58,120 --> 00:22:00,173 And then in the realm of policy practice, 442 00:22:00,173 --> 00:22:03,993 I'll give my example that Dean Johnson mentioned of, 443 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,860 well, the Sustainability Advisory Council that I sit on, 444 00:22:07,860 --> 00:22:10,320 it's for the CASR office here, 445 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:12,830 which is the new office in Denver 446 00:22:12,830 --> 00:22:14,080 at the city and county level 447 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:18,170 for climate adaptation, sustainability, and resilience. 448 00:22:18,170 --> 00:22:22,800 And CASR, we have here in Denver just as of two years ago, 449 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,370 it's one of only a couple in the country, I believe, 450 00:22:25,370 --> 00:22:28,873 a tax-payer-funded climate protection fund. 451 00:22:29,740 --> 00:22:34,740 And this fund generates about $40 million a year. 452 00:22:34,990 --> 00:22:38,830 And the funds are earmarked for one of six allowable uses 453 00:22:38,830 --> 00:22:40,760 for related to climate change. 454 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,230 So job creation, renewable energy, 455 00:22:44,230 --> 00:22:46,750 neighborhood environmental justice, 456 00:22:46,750 --> 00:22:48,480 adaptation, and resiliency, 457 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,460 transportation and energy efficiency. 458 00:22:51,460 --> 00:22:56,460 And the local policy that was passed had, I forget, 459 00:22:58,540 --> 00:23:01,980 I wanna say it was maybe 2/3 of support in Denver, 460 00:23:01,980 --> 00:23:03,220 but I need to look up how many, 461 00:23:03,220 --> 00:23:05,130 the percentage that voted yes for this, 462 00:23:05,130 --> 00:23:06,360 but it had strong language 463 00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:11,350 and a strong emphasis on, was said at least 50%, 464 00:23:11,350 --> 00:23:14,420 I believe, of the funding was supposed to be directed 465 00:23:14,420 --> 00:23:18,180 specifically towards equity and racial and social justice. 466 00:23:18,180 --> 00:23:20,120 So investments in that. 467 00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:21,690 So I offer that as an example, 468 00:23:21,690 --> 00:23:25,100 if it's something that cities, 469 00:23:25,100 --> 00:23:28,260 communities that you're in may want to look up 470 00:23:28,260 --> 00:23:31,580 and learn about that policy process 471 00:23:31,580 --> 00:23:34,163 of getting it passed and what that office is doing. 472 00:23:35,510 --> 00:23:37,090 And then another one, 473 00:23:37,090 --> 00:23:39,610 more at the federal policy practice level. 474 00:23:39,610 --> 00:23:41,840 We have another social worker, Thomas Bain, 475 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,310 who works with Health and Human Service's 476 00:23:45,310 --> 00:23:48,600 new Office of Climate Change and Health Equity. 477 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,850 And Thomas' work is in support 478 00:23:51,850 --> 00:23:54,620 of decarbonizing the healthcare sector, 479 00:23:54,620 --> 00:23:56,040 building its resiliency, 480 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,660 and supporting community outreach on climate equity. 481 00:23:59,660 --> 00:24:01,030 And then COP26. 482 00:24:01,030 --> 00:24:03,560 We've had social workers in attendance 483 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:04,860 and advocating and engaged 484 00:24:04,860 --> 00:24:07,550 in policy discussions at the COP meetings. 485 00:24:07,550 --> 00:24:10,910 Dr. Lena Dominelli, Dr. Praveen Kumar are two of, 486 00:24:10,910 --> 00:24:14,070 I'm sure, others who I know have attended 487 00:24:14,070 --> 00:24:15,870 and engaged at that level. 488 00:24:15,870 --> 00:24:17,985 So lots of examples, I think. 489 00:24:17,985 --> 00:24:21,190 Sometimes it feels small because social workers, 490 00:24:21,190 --> 00:24:24,330 we try to work on so, so many different things, 491 00:24:24,330 --> 00:24:27,060 but when I love look back and think about the growth 492 00:24:27,060 --> 00:24:29,330 in this area of climate change 493 00:24:29,330 --> 00:24:31,053 and climate-related social work, 494 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:35,193 there's just been a lot of growth and it's so needed. 495 00:24:37,470 --> 00:24:39,180 So a lot of that has been, 496 00:24:39,180 --> 00:24:41,910 what have we been doing or what are we doing now? 497 00:24:41,910 --> 00:24:46,290 And what I'd like to offer are some thoughts on, 498 00:24:46,290 --> 00:24:48,250 what can we do going forward? 499 00:24:48,250 --> 00:24:49,810 What can each of us do, 500 00:24:49,810 --> 00:24:52,620 whether it's kind of in our more personal time 501 00:24:52,620 --> 00:24:57,483 or in professional roles or settings that we are engaged in? 502 00:24:59,300 --> 00:25:01,373 So I'll offer four. 503 00:25:02,300 --> 00:25:05,160 Find hope, connect the dots, 504 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:08,093 talk about it, and take action. 505 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:12,550 So first, finding hope. 506 00:25:12,550 --> 00:25:14,810 I start with this because I do really 507 00:25:15,790 --> 00:25:17,253 think it's so important. 508 00:25:18,410 --> 00:25:20,793 The climate crisis can feel so daunting. 509 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,500 Many of us experience grief or loss 510 00:25:27,500 --> 00:25:30,450 or anxiety about the larger issue, 511 00:25:30,450 --> 00:25:32,100 or maybe because we ourselves 512 00:25:32,100 --> 00:25:35,240 or our communities are personally impacted 513 00:25:36,890 --> 00:25:38,750 by the climate crisis. 514 00:25:38,750 --> 00:25:42,420 And so, I start with find hope 515 00:25:42,420 --> 00:25:46,920 because I think it's important that we have those feelings. 516 00:25:48,550 --> 00:25:50,640 We're not about denying them, 517 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:55,193 but how do we also not stay stuck, but keep moving forward? 518 00:25:56,473 --> 00:25:58,980 And so, for me, so I offer for you, I guess, 519 00:25:58,980 --> 00:26:02,000 two of the touchstones for me for finding hope, 520 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:06,910 which are these two books, "The Future We Choose", 521 00:26:06,910 --> 00:26:10,420 which is by Christiano Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, 522 00:26:10,420 --> 00:26:14,050 who are two of the architects of the 2015 Paris Agreement. 523 00:26:14,050 --> 00:26:18,300 And "We Do This 'Til We Free Us", by Mariame Kaba. 524 00:26:18,300 --> 00:26:23,013 And so, I pose, I guess, 525 00:26:24,927 --> 00:26:27,040 which is one of the things that Figueres 526 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:29,210 and Rivett-Carnac write about in their book, 527 00:26:29,210 --> 00:26:33,510 can we intentionally cultivate mindsets 528 00:26:33,510 --> 00:26:35,880 of what they call stubborn optimism 529 00:26:37,090 --> 00:26:41,993 and radical regeneration to carry us forward with this work? 530 00:26:43,660 --> 00:26:45,400 There's a third mindset they talk about, 531 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:47,960 but those are the two that I put here in my notes, 532 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:51,853 stubborn optimism and radical regeneration. 533 00:26:53,220 --> 00:26:56,350 Or drawing from Mariame Kaba's work, 534 00:26:56,350 --> 00:26:58,400 which is specific to abolition, 535 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,883 but oh so relevant to this work as well. 536 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:04,140 Mariame Kaba writes, 537 00:27:04,140 --> 00:27:07,430 changing everything might sound daunting, 538 00:27:07,430 --> 00:27:11,300 but it also means there are many places to start, 539 00:27:11,300 --> 00:27:14,620 infinite opportunities to collaborate, 540 00:27:14,620 --> 00:27:18,230 and endless imaginative interventions 541 00:27:18,230 --> 00:27:20,930 and experiments to create. 542 00:27:20,930 --> 00:27:23,853 So this idea of, yes, 543 00:27:24,740 --> 00:27:27,710 there's so much to do to build the world 544 00:27:27,710 --> 00:27:30,320 that we want to radically imagine. 545 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:31,690 So let's start building it 546 00:27:32,750 --> 00:27:37,750 one sustainable brick at a time 547 00:27:37,770 --> 00:27:38,920 is what I take from it. 548 00:27:40,850 --> 00:27:43,410 Another quote, another touchstone 549 00:27:43,410 --> 00:27:46,340 that might speak to some folks is from a youth activist 550 00:27:46,340 --> 00:27:49,893 from East Michigan, Aqelah Amani Amatullah Miyzaan. 551 00:27:50,890 --> 00:27:53,660 Everybody knows the system's jacked up, 552 00:27:53,660 --> 00:27:56,710 but if we don't fight to change it, what's going to happen? 553 00:27:56,710 --> 00:27:58,650 It's going to stay the same? 554 00:27:58,650 --> 00:28:01,230 So I feel like as long as we're fighting, 555 00:28:01,230 --> 00:28:02,513 we're already winning. 556 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,460 So again, this idea of, here we are, 557 00:28:07,460 --> 00:28:09,460 what's one thing to do? 558 00:28:09,460 --> 00:28:10,510 One thing you can do? 559 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:16,880 Connecting the dots. 560 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,850 Hopefully, I guess, looking back with the examples 561 00:28:19,850 --> 00:28:23,720 I've used, hopefully the dots are connected, 562 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:25,040 but sometimes I do find 563 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,810 that we do still have to connect these dots for folks, 564 00:28:27,810 --> 00:28:29,560 for other social workers, 565 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,100 for other disciplines, other professions. 566 00:28:32,100 --> 00:28:33,580 I don't know if this happens to any of you, 567 00:28:33,580 --> 00:28:34,750 but it still happens to me, 568 00:28:34,750 --> 00:28:36,650 that my bio's right there. 569 00:28:36,650 --> 00:28:37,900 I've just introduced myself, 570 00:28:37,900 --> 00:28:40,900 and then somebody will still say I'm a sociologist. 571 00:28:40,900 --> 00:28:44,190 And none of my degrees are in sociology. 572 00:28:44,190 --> 00:28:47,640 So I'm forever an advocate 573 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:49,610 for speaking about the social work profession 574 00:28:49,610 --> 00:28:50,803 and what we bring. 575 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:54,250 And then also, within our profession, connecting the dots. 576 00:28:54,250 --> 00:28:56,910 So here, what I have for you is the 13 Grand Challenges, 577 00:28:56,910 --> 00:29:00,610 just as one example, the one that climate change 578 00:29:00,610 --> 00:29:02,860 you could say falls most squarely under 579 00:29:02,860 --> 00:29:05,600 is this create social responses. 580 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:07,020 But hopefully each of you, 581 00:29:07,020 --> 00:29:08,760 if we were to open this up, 582 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:12,810 would identify already ways that these intersect, 583 00:29:12,810 --> 00:29:14,080 and not just two at a time, 584 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,250 but three or four at a time where this nexus is. 585 00:29:17,250 --> 00:29:19,640 And so, I also think that, 586 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,500 while I'm very excited that we have more social workers 587 00:29:22,500 --> 00:29:24,700 who want to, we don't have a name for it yet. 588 00:29:24,700 --> 00:29:26,460 And then people are starting to debate 589 00:29:26,460 --> 00:29:27,293 what the name should be. 590 00:29:27,293 --> 00:29:28,700 Is it green social worker, 591 00:29:28,700 --> 00:29:30,730 environmental social worker, climate social worker? 592 00:29:30,730 --> 00:29:33,250 I get less caught up in the names and am more about, 593 00:29:33,250 --> 00:29:34,400 let's just do the work. 594 00:29:35,660 --> 00:29:38,740 So while I'm excited that we have more folks 595 00:29:38,740 --> 00:29:40,410 who want to specialize in this, 596 00:29:40,410 --> 00:29:43,660 I'm equally excited about just the connecting of the dots, 597 00:29:43,660 --> 00:29:46,770 and that I don't want social workers to feel like, 598 00:29:46,770 --> 00:29:48,160 well, I'm not a climate expert. 599 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:49,250 I don't know the science. 600 00:29:49,250 --> 00:29:50,530 That wasn't my training. 601 00:29:50,530 --> 00:29:51,930 And so, I can't engage in this, 602 00:29:51,930 --> 00:29:54,033 because there's so much overlap. 603 00:29:55,731 --> 00:29:58,137 So looking at this list, just to pick one, 604 00:29:59,620 --> 00:30:03,400 advancing long and productive lives and climate change. 605 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,270 So many connections here in terms of aging 606 00:30:06,270 --> 00:30:09,800 and physical vulnerability, perhaps, 607 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:14,800 with heat, with cold, with impacts, 608 00:30:14,900 --> 00:30:17,360 and there's wildfires and air pollution, 609 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:19,940 and that impacts respiratory health impacts. 610 00:30:19,940 --> 00:30:22,060 But then also, on more of the assets, 611 00:30:22,060 --> 00:30:23,610 the strengths, the resilience side, 612 00:30:23,610 --> 00:30:27,040 there are some communities that are doing 613 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:29,960 climate adaptation, like neighborhood-based 614 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:31,440 climate adaptation planning, 615 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,400 and kind of like in the disaster preparation area, 616 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:36,730 and are tapping into older adults 617 00:30:36,730 --> 00:30:40,370 and their wisdom about weathering disasters 618 00:30:40,370 --> 00:30:42,360 all these years and weathering change. 619 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:44,780 And also, if they are ones who are connected 620 00:30:44,780 --> 00:30:48,120 in their communities and know everybody else, 621 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,310 there's somebody in my neighborhood who plays this role, 622 00:30:50,310 --> 00:30:52,500 who's like in the know about everything. 623 00:30:52,500 --> 00:30:55,620 And so, who are these connectors 624 00:30:55,620 --> 00:30:57,900 for when there is disaster crisis in a neighborhood, 625 00:30:57,900 --> 00:30:59,100 how to get the message out, 626 00:30:59,100 --> 00:31:02,033 how to let people know what resources are available. 627 00:31:03,116 --> 00:31:05,340 So just one example there of connecting these dots 628 00:31:05,340 --> 00:31:07,980 across these Grand Challenges. 629 00:31:07,980 --> 00:31:09,770 Another way to think about it, of course, too, 630 00:31:09,770 --> 00:31:13,320 is in terms of NASW's specialty practice sections. 631 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,890 And there isn't one on climate or environment. 632 00:31:16,890 --> 00:31:18,860 And there have been times when I've thought, 633 00:31:18,860 --> 00:31:20,260 should I make that part of my job 634 00:31:20,260 --> 00:31:21,840 to advocate to NASW 635 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,680 that we should have as specialty practice area? 636 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:28,850 Or is the work, again, kind of about, 637 00:31:28,850 --> 00:31:33,833 pick alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs? 638 00:31:35,453 --> 00:31:36,480 How could we think about 639 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,780 how that might be connected to climate change? 640 00:31:40,530 --> 00:31:42,120 It's outside of my area, so I don't know. 641 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:44,466 I would welcome conversation with than of you 642 00:31:44,466 --> 00:31:47,030 who might be experts on this in the call. 643 00:31:47,030 --> 00:31:49,860 And we could talk together about what is the interface here, 644 00:31:49,860 --> 00:31:54,350 and how might we bring climate change or weather, 645 00:31:54,350 --> 00:31:55,280 a way to think about it too, 646 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:57,650 is weather extreme related knowledge, 647 00:31:57,650 --> 00:31:59,240 and how that might connect 648 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,200 to this area of social work practice. 649 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:03,770 So always thinking about connecting the dots. 650 00:32:03,770 --> 00:32:06,100 And then I have to try to keep my poker face. 651 00:32:06,100 --> 00:32:07,750 Sometimes I'm better about it than others 652 00:32:07,750 --> 00:32:09,440 when people ask the inevitable question of, 653 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:10,940 how is this social work again? 654 00:32:10,940 --> 00:32:13,190 I think it depends on my mood in that moment, 655 00:32:14,074 --> 00:32:15,623 how I handle that question. 656 00:32:18,700 --> 00:32:19,610 Talk about it. 657 00:32:19,610 --> 00:32:20,980 That's my third one. 658 00:32:20,980 --> 00:32:25,080 And I really borrow this inspiration from Katharine Hayhoe. 659 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,130 Not sure if folks are familiar with her work. 660 00:32:27,130 --> 00:32:30,540 So Dr. Hayhoe is a climate scientist out of Texas. 661 00:32:30,540 --> 00:32:32,400 She's also an evangelical Christian, 662 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:35,380 and she has made it her mission to get people, 663 00:32:35,380 --> 00:32:36,950 one of her missions to get people 664 00:32:36,950 --> 00:32:41,950 talking about climate change as a way to make a difference, 665 00:32:43,370 --> 00:32:45,323 because the more people talk about it, 666 00:32:46,650 --> 00:32:49,410 the more chance that they might find common ground, 667 00:32:49,410 --> 00:32:53,047 shared values, public support for the changes, 668 00:32:53,047 --> 00:32:55,600 the policy changes that we need. 669 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,530 So Katharine Hayhoe has a great TED Talk that's, 670 00:32:58,530 --> 00:32:59,740 I forget how many years old now, 671 00:32:59,740 --> 00:33:03,167 about this, but it's called, I think it's called, 672 00:33:03,167 --> 00:33:07,140 "The One Thing We Can All Do About Climate Change". 673 00:33:07,140 --> 00:33:10,410 And then the Yale Program on Climate Communication 674 00:33:10,410 --> 00:33:11,840 does a lot of great research 675 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:14,790 about how to talk about climate change. 676 00:33:14,790 --> 00:33:19,040 These are just some interesting stats to sit with. 677 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:20,140 In some of their research, 678 00:33:20,140 --> 00:33:23,820 they find that one in three people 679 00:33:23,820 --> 00:33:27,100 are very worried about global warming, 680 00:33:27,100 --> 00:33:29,770 and 7 in 10 say it's extremely, 681 00:33:29,770 --> 00:33:32,470 very, or somewhat important to them, 682 00:33:32,470 --> 00:33:36,750 but then 6 in 10, rarely or never talk about it 683 00:33:36,750 --> 00:33:38,610 with family or friends. 684 00:33:38,610 --> 00:33:39,960 In ecoAmerica's report, 685 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,760 they also cite some statistics about this disconnect, 686 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:45,850 where people, more people are concerned 687 00:33:45,850 --> 00:33:50,110 about climate change than I think the news media 688 00:33:50,110 --> 00:33:51,410 tends to paint the picture, 689 00:33:51,410 --> 00:33:54,150 that it's this extremely bipartisan issue, 690 00:33:54,150 --> 00:33:56,670 but that more people are concerned about it, 691 00:33:56,670 --> 00:33:59,570 but yet think that other people aren't as concerned about. 692 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:02,300 So there's a disconnect there. 693 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:08,600 So there's opportunities to, even after this talk, 694 00:34:08,820 --> 00:34:11,560 how do each of us keep up the conversation 695 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:13,230 about climate change? 696 00:34:13,230 --> 00:34:16,750 And as we do that, everybody has their advice 697 00:34:16,750 --> 00:34:19,820 about how to approach these conversations, 698 00:34:19,820 --> 00:34:24,030 kind of gathering from the Figueres' book, 699 00:34:24,030 --> 00:34:27,380 Frameworks Institute, which I like their work a lot, 700 00:34:27,380 --> 00:34:30,780 and Katharine Hayhoe's work. 701 00:34:30,780 --> 00:34:32,480 For some people, the facts and statistics 702 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:33,733 just aren't gonna work. 703 00:34:34,720 --> 00:34:37,630 But what could work is the sincere, 704 00:34:37,630 --> 00:34:39,100 a lot of this should speak to social workers, 705 00:34:39,100 --> 00:34:42,620 the sincere listening, asking questions, 706 00:34:42,620 --> 00:34:45,040 being curious, trying to understand 707 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:48,670 where somebody else is coming from, finding shared values, 708 00:34:48,670 --> 00:34:53,430 finding one piece of common ground in conversation. 709 00:34:53,430 --> 00:34:55,440 And knowing that that one conversation, 710 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:57,640 let's say, you're talking with somebody who, 711 00:34:59,660 --> 00:35:01,090 I guess an easy one to pick is like, 712 00:35:01,090 --> 00:35:02,583 who is a climate skeptic? 713 00:35:04,140 --> 00:35:05,690 Maybe your goal in that conversation 714 00:35:05,690 --> 00:35:09,010 isn't to convince them about the science of climate change, 715 00:35:09,010 --> 00:35:11,710 but to plant that seed, to have a conversation, 716 00:35:11,710 --> 00:35:14,590 maybe it leads to another conversation down the road. 717 00:35:14,590 --> 00:35:18,050 And then the importance of experimenting with frames. 718 00:35:18,050 --> 00:35:21,190 So the Yale Program has some interesting 719 00:35:21,190 --> 00:35:23,763 research about this around, 720 00:35:24,930 --> 00:35:28,650 one of their examples is methane or natural gas. 721 00:35:28,650 --> 00:35:33,010 So natural gas is composed of 70 to 90% methane. 722 00:35:34,230 --> 00:35:36,130 Yet when you ask the American public 723 00:35:36,130 --> 00:35:39,010 about how do they feel about natural gas, 724 00:35:39,010 --> 00:35:43,260 76% of the American public is favorable to natural gas. 725 00:35:43,260 --> 00:35:45,070 Whereas when you ask the public about coal, 726 00:35:45,070 --> 00:35:47,950 for example, only 39% is favorable. 727 00:35:47,950 --> 00:35:51,270 And then the public tends to associate with natural gas 728 00:35:51,270 --> 00:35:54,610 words like energy and clean and cooking, 729 00:35:54,610 --> 00:35:57,330 but then they tend to associate with methane 730 00:35:57,330 --> 00:36:00,900 words like greenhouse, global warming, and climate change, 731 00:36:00,900 --> 00:36:05,900 and yet natural gas, methane, practically the same thing. 732 00:36:06,500 --> 00:36:11,500 So the importance of words and frames and they matter. 733 00:36:11,900 --> 00:36:14,900 And also just like crisis or solution framing. 734 00:36:14,900 --> 00:36:17,840 So with this talk, at the beginning of the talk, 735 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:21,050 more focused on the problem, there's more crisis framing, 736 00:36:21,050 --> 00:36:23,410 which can often, I think, 737 00:36:23,410 --> 00:36:26,690 lead to these feelings of being discouraged or daunted. 738 00:36:26,690 --> 00:36:28,100 But at this point in the talk, 739 00:36:28,100 --> 00:36:30,620 we're on to the solution framing part, 740 00:36:30,620 --> 00:36:33,640 which hopefully feels more inspiring and actionable. 741 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:35,730 And the Frameworks Institute has some research 742 00:36:35,730 --> 00:36:38,440 on this difference between crisis framing 743 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:39,930 and solution framing, 744 00:36:39,930 --> 00:36:43,130 and how solutions framing is more effective 745 00:36:43,130 --> 00:36:44,753 in moving people towards action. 746 00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:49,723 So, taking action. 747 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:53,440 So we've talked about finding hope, 748 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:57,560 connecting the dots, talking about it. 749 00:36:57,560 --> 00:36:59,293 And so now, taking action. 750 00:37:00,220 --> 00:37:02,130 In your own organization, 751 00:37:02,130 --> 00:37:04,810 what kinds of actions can you take or have you taken? 752 00:37:04,810 --> 00:37:07,063 And this could be your university, 753 00:37:08,150 --> 00:37:10,980 your school within the university, your field site, 754 00:37:10,980 --> 00:37:14,433 your employer, or a community group that you're a part of. 755 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:21,020 Maybe you can first just, if it's not already happening, 756 00:37:21,020 --> 00:37:23,307 be the one who brings the climate crisis 757 00:37:23,307 --> 00:37:24,890 and climate justice knowledge 758 00:37:24,890 --> 00:37:27,450 or concerns into your organization, 759 00:37:27,450 --> 00:37:30,000 because again, where social workers are practicing, 760 00:37:32,380 --> 00:37:35,190 there's this role for social workers to go on 761 00:37:35,190 --> 00:37:38,250 and work in climate and environmental-focused organizations. 762 00:37:38,250 --> 00:37:40,350 And I think there's a huge opportunity 763 00:37:40,350 --> 00:37:42,380 for social social workers who are in practice, 764 00:37:42,380 --> 00:37:44,580 and for students who are in field placements 765 00:37:45,460 --> 00:37:48,130 that aren't climate or environmental organizations 766 00:37:48,130 --> 00:37:51,700 to bring these connections to these other organizations. 767 00:37:51,700 --> 00:37:54,970 And to then, for example, identify possible overlaps 768 00:37:54,970 --> 00:37:58,140 with the organization's existing mission and vision, 769 00:37:58,140 --> 00:37:59,080 thinking of all those ways 770 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:01,050 that we connected the dots earlier, 771 00:38:01,050 --> 00:38:02,670 and then generating ideas, 772 00:38:02,670 --> 00:38:06,681 one idea for what the organization might do at this nexus. 773 00:38:06,681 --> 00:38:09,270 At the bottom of these next few slides in blue, 774 00:38:09,270 --> 00:38:12,450 what's there are just a few of the social work skills 775 00:38:12,450 --> 00:38:15,320 that I think just go so well 776 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:18,300 with each of these areas of intervention. 777 00:38:18,300 --> 00:38:21,040 So with organizational change, 778 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,480 we're looking at social work skills of assessment, 779 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:26,713 of planning, of doing trainings and workshops, 780 00:38:26,713 --> 00:38:28,820 of being creative, 781 00:38:28,820 --> 00:38:30,480 which is one thing I love about my job, 782 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,100 being creative and being a program developer. 783 00:38:33,100 --> 00:38:35,290 I think I'm like a perennial program developer, 784 00:38:35,290 --> 00:38:36,623 even as an academic. 785 00:38:38,330 --> 00:38:40,130 So there's that. 786 00:38:40,130 --> 00:38:41,650 In your local community. 787 00:38:41,650 --> 00:38:43,990 And again, whether this is in a formal role, 788 00:38:43,990 --> 00:38:46,330 like employment or field role that you have, 789 00:38:46,330 --> 00:38:48,010 or it's as a volunteer, 790 00:38:48,010 --> 00:38:51,340 or somebody who shows up to public meetings 791 00:38:51,340 --> 00:38:55,093 of your city council or whatever it might be. 792 00:38:55,950 --> 00:39:00,950 Most cities and counties, many now have climate adaptation, 793 00:39:01,390 --> 00:39:04,320 or at least they have emergency management plans, 794 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:06,220 because having an emergency management plan 795 00:39:06,220 --> 00:39:10,510 is required for later FEMA eligibility in times of disaster, 796 00:39:10,510 --> 00:39:13,330 but many have now developed climate adaptation plans. 797 00:39:13,330 --> 00:39:14,163 And one thing though, 798 00:39:14,163 --> 00:39:16,380 this social worker really can bring to this 799 00:39:16,380 --> 00:39:19,550 is a deeper assessment of equity. 800 00:39:19,550 --> 00:39:21,330 And then the speaking up part, 801 00:39:21,330 --> 00:39:23,870 if you find that attention to equity is lacking, 802 00:39:23,870 --> 00:39:26,650 because I think many of us find now 803 00:39:26,650 --> 00:39:28,970 that equity has become such a buzzword 804 00:39:28,970 --> 00:39:32,070 that people just say that they've attended to it. 805 00:39:32,070 --> 00:39:33,600 But what does that really mean? 806 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:38,450 And so, not being hesitant to, I really think this is not, 807 00:39:38,450 --> 00:39:40,270 can't be overstated enough, 808 00:39:40,270 --> 00:39:43,110 the role that social workers can have, 809 00:39:43,110 --> 00:39:47,010 and always being that voice around racial 810 00:39:47,010 --> 00:39:52,010 and social justice in planning efforts 811 00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:54,030 like the city council meetings, 812 00:39:54,030 --> 00:39:56,283 commissioner meetings, things like that. 813 00:39:57,810 --> 00:40:00,633 So other ways to engage in your local community. 814 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:03,430 The possibilities are endless. 815 00:40:03,430 --> 00:40:08,300 So my message is like, pick one, pick one. 816 00:40:08,300 --> 00:40:10,710 Maybe it's working for equitable access 817 00:40:10,710 --> 00:40:14,950 to urban green space, or to clean an affordable transit, 818 00:40:14,950 --> 00:40:18,070 or to the development of those local food systems. 819 00:40:18,070 --> 00:40:21,510 Maybe you are a medical social worker, 820 00:40:21,510 --> 00:40:23,110 you work in health social work, 821 00:40:23,110 --> 00:40:26,350 or you work in mental health. 822 00:40:26,350 --> 00:40:30,220 Expanding access to physical and mental health care 823 00:40:30,220 --> 00:40:32,430 is climate adaptation. 824 00:40:32,430 --> 00:40:34,480 Whether you frame it that way or not, 825 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:37,240 it's needed for climate adaptation, 826 00:40:37,240 --> 00:40:40,080 and it's needed before crisis or disaster occurs. 827 00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:41,950 So anything that can be done 828 00:40:41,950 --> 00:40:46,740 around improving access to insurance, to care, 829 00:40:46,740 --> 00:40:50,163 those are all also forms of climate adaptation. 830 00:40:51,050 --> 00:40:53,760 And then maybe you're a social worker 831 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:56,180 who works with a particular population. 832 00:40:56,180 --> 00:40:59,190 So thinking about maybe it's be people who are homeless, 833 00:40:59,190 --> 00:41:00,640 people with lower incomes, 834 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:03,270 people who work outside or are employed seasonally, 835 00:41:03,270 --> 00:41:06,083 thinking about extreme weather and their unique needs, 836 00:41:07,419 --> 00:41:09,810 and identifying what could be improved there. 837 00:41:09,810 --> 00:41:11,380 So some of our skills here we bring 838 00:41:11,380 --> 00:41:14,140 are around community engagement, collaboration, 839 00:41:14,140 --> 00:41:17,383 and that local-level advocacy and local lobbying. 840 00:41:23,260 --> 00:41:26,283 So almost to the end here. 841 00:41:27,210 --> 00:41:31,650 Taking action at the state or federal level for policy, 842 00:41:31,650 --> 00:41:34,680 I mentioned NASW has been doing some advocacy work 843 00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:36,360 around mental health and climate change, 844 00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:39,010 and I'm hoping that that will continue 845 00:41:39,010 --> 00:41:41,463 with other connections to climate change as well. 846 00:41:42,700 --> 00:41:44,140 CRISP, the Congressional Research 847 00:41:44,140 --> 00:41:45,630 Institute for Social Policy, 848 00:41:45,630 --> 00:41:49,280 I'd love to see more partnering there on climate justice. 849 00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:53,080 The NAACP has an Environmental and Climate Justice Program 850 00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:56,310 for a long time, actually, which just as an aside, 851 00:41:56,310 --> 00:41:58,770 I moderated a panel earlier this morning, 852 00:41:58,770 --> 00:42:03,010 and one of the panelists was Jackie Patterson. 853 00:42:03,010 --> 00:42:05,470 Not sure folks here are familiar with Jackie's work, 854 00:42:05,470 --> 00:42:09,480 but Jackie recently founded the Chisholm Legacy Project. 855 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:13,740 But prior to that, Jackie was the head of NAACP's 856 00:42:13,740 --> 00:42:17,010 Environmental and Climate Justice Program for 10 years. 857 00:42:17,010 --> 00:42:19,320 And Jackie, I'd learned in preparing for the panel, 858 00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:22,090 has an MSW from University of Maryland. 859 00:42:22,090 --> 00:42:24,860 And I was so excited to learn that. 860 00:42:24,860 --> 00:42:26,530 I followed Jackie's work for a long time, 861 00:42:26,530 --> 00:42:28,480 but hadn't found out that she actually 862 00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:29,830 had a social work background. 863 00:42:29,830 --> 00:42:30,943 So that was exciting. 864 00:42:32,592 --> 00:42:33,425 So, okay. 865 00:42:33,425 --> 00:42:34,690 So got a little distracted there, 866 00:42:34,690 --> 00:42:38,290 but so, advocating at the state or federal level, 867 00:42:38,290 --> 00:42:39,440 I put this in parentheses. 868 00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:41,390 So advocating for socially just 869 00:42:41,390 --> 00:42:45,690 and equitable environmental or climate policies. 870 00:42:45,690 --> 00:42:47,020 And I put them in quotes because, 871 00:42:47,020 --> 00:42:50,410 again, hopefully the way the dots are connected 872 00:42:51,450 --> 00:42:53,330 was before, or is now obvious. 873 00:42:53,330 --> 00:42:58,039 So if you're advocating around, boy in Colorado, 874 00:42:58,039 --> 00:43:00,270 we have terrible air pollution problems 875 00:43:00,270 --> 00:43:01,993 in Denver and in Colorado. 876 00:43:03,330 --> 00:43:04,740 It's partially geographic, 877 00:43:04,740 --> 00:43:07,420 but it's also partially very much transit, 878 00:43:07,420 --> 00:43:10,120 transportation, other things. 879 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:13,460 But so, if you're advocating around air pollution policies, 880 00:43:13,460 --> 00:43:16,060 and we think of that as an environmental policy, 881 00:43:16,060 --> 00:43:19,313 it is very much social justice advocacy as well. 882 00:43:21,100 --> 00:43:22,980 So that brings me to this third point, 883 00:43:22,980 --> 00:43:24,790 which is looking for these overlaps. 884 00:43:24,790 --> 00:43:28,370 Again, if you're advocating for policies on paid leave, 885 00:43:28,370 --> 00:43:30,910 for example, that relates to climate change. 886 00:43:30,910 --> 00:43:32,580 It relates to climate adaptation, 887 00:43:32,580 --> 00:43:34,470 because what's an example? 888 00:43:34,470 --> 00:43:37,250 My daughter's school closed 889 00:43:37,250 --> 00:43:39,510 for a day or two in the fall 890 00:43:39,510 --> 00:43:41,490 because of extreme heat, 891 00:43:41,490 --> 00:43:44,660 and the school doesn't have air conditioning, right? 892 00:43:44,660 --> 00:43:49,230 I'm in a job where I have a lot of autonomy, flexibility. 893 00:43:49,230 --> 00:43:50,120 Also, she's 14. 894 00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:51,480 She didn't need me to be home, 895 00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:52,720 but if she had been younger 896 00:43:52,720 --> 00:43:54,510 and I had been in a different kind of job 897 00:43:54,510 --> 00:43:57,110 where I couldn't, I'm at risk of lose my job 898 00:43:57,110 --> 00:43:58,640 because my kiddo's now home. 899 00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:01,720 And I don't show up to a paid leave policy 900 00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:04,730 matters for climate change, 901 00:44:04,730 --> 00:44:06,450 because kids may not be in school 902 00:44:06,450 --> 00:44:07,730 because of weather extremes. 903 00:44:07,730 --> 00:44:09,510 So again, these intersections 904 00:44:09,510 --> 00:44:12,170 where we are advocating for policies 905 00:44:13,565 --> 00:44:15,520 that are meeting both climate justice needs 906 00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:17,340 and other issues that social workers 907 00:44:17,340 --> 00:44:18,740 would already be working on. 908 00:44:20,020 --> 00:44:22,520 And then, joining. 909 00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:26,360 I know it's more work, but being a voice for equity, 910 00:44:26,360 --> 00:44:29,160 for racial and social justice around climate change 911 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:31,830 on these commissions or committees 912 00:44:31,830 --> 00:44:34,263 at the state or federal level is needed. 913 00:44:35,490 --> 00:44:37,650 We have this very recent article 914 00:44:37,650 --> 00:44:40,030 in the Journal of Policy Practice and Research 915 00:44:40,030 --> 00:44:42,590 that just came out where we did a policy mapping 916 00:44:42,590 --> 00:44:46,220 at the federal level of congressional proposals 917 00:44:46,220 --> 00:44:49,540 at the nexus of climate change and social justice. 918 00:44:49,540 --> 00:44:50,783 And these are proposals. 919 00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:53,830 They haven't necessarily been passed. 920 00:44:53,830 --> 00:44:55,350 So one of the things we found is that 921 00:44:55,350 --> 00:44:58,840 very few indeed have been passed, no surprise, 922 00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:01,380 but the number of proposals at the federal level 923 00:45:01,380 --> 00:45:06,080 at this nexus really did jump from the 115th 924 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:10,370 to the 116th Congress, which we expected 925 00:45:10,370 --> 00:45:14,820 because we saw greater growth in the diversity of Congress, 926 00:45:14,820 --> 00:45:17,500 especially by race and gender. 927 00:45:17,500 --> 00:45:19,700 But one of the things we also talked about in the paper, 928 00:45:19,700 --> 00:45:23,653 and I hope it's not too naive, but I do believe it is, 929 00:45:24,810 --> 00:45:26,240 is that bipartisan support 930 00:45:26,240 --> 00:45:29,150 actually is still possible on this. 931 00:45:29,150 --> 00:45:32,810 An example is that there is now 932 00:45:32,810 --> 00:45:35,070 a Conservative Climate Caucus 933 00:45:35,070 --> 00:45:37,223 that formed in the US Congress. 934 00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:40,353 I think in the paper, 935 00:45:40,353 --> 00:45:42,210 I link to the New York Times article 936 00:45:42,210 --> 00:45:44,610 that described some of the history of this caucus. 937 00:45:44,610 --> 00:45:47,470 It formed last summer, summer of 2021, 938 00:45:47,470 --> 00:45:49,530 the Conservative Climate Caucus, 939 00:45:49,530 --> 00:45:53,090 and the organizer of the caucus 940 00:45:53,090 --> 00:45:57,460 first was organizing it as clandestine meeting. 941 00:45:57,460 --> 00:45:59,480 So like a meeting in secret, 942 00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:03,090 because conservative members talking about climate change, 943 00:46:03,090 --> 00:46:04,990 a little bit concerned about that. 944 00:46:04,990 --> 00:46:07,920 But then there was so much interest 945 00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:09,690 from conservative members of Congress 946 00:46:09,690 --> 00:46:12,240 that then it got hosted in the ballroom of a hotel 947 00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:13,280 or something like that. 948 00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:17,780 So my point being that I don't want folks 949 00:46:17,780 --> 00:46:22,640 to give up hope anyway, that action at the federal level 950 00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:24,830 and bipartisan action isn't at all possible. 951 00:46:24,830 --> 00:46:27,343 And so, we shouldn't be doing any work there at all. 952 00:46:28,240 --> 00:46:29,690 When I teach policy practice, 953 00:46:29,690 --> 00:46:33,920 I'm always talking about how we need people at all, 954 00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:37,450 kind of at all points of policy change and policy practice, 955 00:46:37,450 --> 00:46:40,860 from social workers who are in the think tanks 956 00:46:40,860 --> 00:46:43,230 and doing the policy analysis, 957 00:46:43,230 --> 00:46:45,880 and writing the papers around it, 958 00:46:45,880 --> 00:46:47,850 to the grassroots organizing folks, 959 00:46:47,850 --> 00:46:49,253 getting people out to vote, 960 00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:53,870 to the more radical and critical social workers 961 00:46:53,870 --> 00:46:55,770 who are on the front lines, 962 00:46:55,770 --> 00:46:59,440 really pursuing more radically imaginative worlds, 963 00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:01,870 and to the folks who are working 964 00:47:01,870 --> 00:47:03,840 at the federal level on Capitol Hill 965 00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:07,320 or in state legislatures, trying to get policy passed. 966 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:09,220 And of course, I'm a huge advocate 967 00:47:09,220 --> 00:47:11,753 for social workers running for office themselves. 968 00:47:15,468 --> 00:47:17,940 So on that note, my final slide, 969 00:47:17,940 --> 00:47:22,360 we come back to this image, which now is, 970 00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:23,950 kind of, I said it at the beginning too, 971 00:47:23,950 --> 00:47:27,010 but somebody lighting this spark for change. 972 00:47:27,010 --> 00:47:30,310 And so, my hope is that all of us will become 973 00:47:30,310 --> 00:47:32,450 or continue to be these sparks for change 974 00:47:32,450 --> 00:47:35,560 for climate justice, whether that's just in our home 975 00:47:35,560 --> 00:47:38,050 as a starting point as our personal lives 976 00:47:38,050 --> 00:47:40,770 or in our communities with our neighbors, 977 00:47:40,770 --> 00:47:42,910 in our universities, our field placements, 978 00:47:42,910 --> 00:47:45,900 our places of work, society at large. 979 00:47:45,900 --> 00:47:48,660 And please remember, I really do mean this, 980 00:47:48,660 --> 00:47:50,160 that you don't need to do it all. 981 00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:51,130 In fact, you can't. 982 00:47:51,130 --> 00:47:53,480 No one of us will ever solve the climate crisis 983 00:47:53,480 --> 00:47:55,000 in one fell swoop. 984 00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:56,230 We need to mitigate it. 985 00:47:56,230 --> 00:47:59,360 We need to urgently draw down greenhouse gas emissions. 986 00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:00,850 And we need to adapt. 987 00:48:00,850 --> 00:48:02,740 We need to help people prepare for 988 00:48:02,740 --> 00:48:04,640 and cope with these disproportionate 989 00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:07,703 and unfair impacts that are already happening. 990 00:48:08,640 --> 00:48:11,580 And this work takes many, many people, 991 00:48:11,580 --> 00:48:14,350 many players pursuing action. 992 00:48:14,350 --> 00:48:17,270 There's another touchstone of mine that I like to share, 993 00:48:17,270 --> 00:48:19,990 which is a Jewish teaching that I always come back to, 994 00:48:19,990 --> 00:48:22,570 which is that, though you may not finish 995 00:48:22,570 --> 00:48:26,390 the work of perfecting the world in this lifetime, 996 00:48:26,390 --> 00:48:28,783 neither are you free to desist from it. 997 00:48:29,750 --> 00:48:32,630 So onward together, connecting the dots, 998 00:48:32,630 --> 00:48:36,493 taking action for climate justice and social change. 999 00:48:37,990 --> 00:48:38,823 Thank you.