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Speaker Series

Yale Energy Justice Speaker Series

Series of images demonstrating energy justice

In the Spring of 2022, the Yale Center for Environmental Justice (YCEJ) and the Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY) joined forces in an effort to raise awareness on energy justice and bring the voices of experts in the field to the public!

This public speaker series explores the multifaceted and exciting role of justice in the clean energy transition.

The Yale School of the Environment hosted its inaugural Energy Justice course in the Spring of 2022, co-led by Yale energy economics professor, Ken Gillingham, and by Yale law and environmental justice professor, Gerald Torres. The course will feature experts from industry, government, and non-profits. Through a collaborative approach, YCEJ and CBEY are making some course lectures and all guest speaker components of the course available outside of Yale as part of this speaker series. All are welcome to attend.  

Energy justice refers to the goal of achieving equity in the social and economic participation in the energy system, while also remedying social, economic, and health impacts on those disproportionately harmed by the way we produce and consume energy. This series will draw from multiple disciplines, including but not limited to law, sociology, anthropology, and economics, and will cover broad topics on policy and regulation, community advocacy, housing, transportation, labor, utilities, and more. Details will be added here as speakers and dates are confirmed.  

Photo credits: Unseen Histories "Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C." Photographer unknown, colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd. U.S. Information Agency; Gonz DDL; Tim Mossholder; NASA

Lectures

Dates and registration links will be made available on this page as we go through the semester. You can see the current schedule below.

Register for all or part of the series here

 

  • February 7 – Energy Justice and Historical Inequities of Indigenous Land Dispossession Affecting Today – Justin Farrell, Yale University
  • February 14 – Energy Justice and Renewable Energy Development – Zaid Ashai, CEO of Nexamp
  • February 21 – Community Advocacy and Organizing – Denise Abdul-Rahman, NAACP Environmental Climate Justice Team
  • February 28 – Energy Justice and Health Outcomes – Kenneth Gillingham, Yale University
  • March 7 – Intersection of Energy Justice and Labor/Workforce Issues – Vincent Alvarez, President of the New York City Central Labor Council
  • March 14 – Energy Insecurity and Energy Justice: Two sides of a Coin – Diana Hernandez, Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University
  • March 28 – Housing and Energy Justice – Donnel Baird, CEO of Bloc Power
  • April 4 – Energy Justice in Philanthropy – Danielle Deane, Director of Equitable Climate Solutions, Bezos Earth Fund
  • April 11 – Energy Justice and Public Health – Surili Patel, Vice President, Metropolitan Group
  • April 18 – Energy Poverty and Global Justice Issues – Narasimha Rao, Yale

Watch the recorded lectures

Miss a lecture? Want to see one of them again? Many of them can be found on our YouTube channel:

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This program is a collaboration between:

Previous Events

People & Partners

Gerald Torres

Professor of Environmental Justice at Yale School of the Environment
Professor of Law at Yale Law School

Kenneth Gillingham

Professor of Environmental & Energy Economics at Yale School of the Environment

Stuart DeCew

Executive Director at Yale Center for Business and the Environment
MBA 2011
Master of Environmental Management 2011