EE Global 2013 is an opportunity for energy efficiency’s influencers to convene from around the world for the robust debate, partnership-building, and idea-sharing needed to drive the next generation of energy efficiency. Join us in Washington, D.C. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center May 20-21 as we integrate effective policies and business practices to create actionable plans for the next generation of energy efficiency.

From broad-vision plenary to intensive learning sessions, EE Global offers over 25 platforms for answering the timely questions facing our environment, economy and future, including:

• What is the role of energy efficiency as we adapt to a future of climate uncertainties?
• How do you unleash investment in EE technology development?
• Is net-zero energy a “right” and achievable goal?
• How do you make emerging markets in the developing world a profitable option for companies, big and small?
• What are the best examples of standard harmonization for nations to emulate and at what point is one needed?

Space has been added for an additional 100 attendees, REGISTER NOW to join the conversation with the world’s leading energy efficiency Thought Leaders.

Make your EE Global experience even more productive – review and choose the Executive Dialogue sessions you want to attend, and be sure to download the conference app for your phone or tablet to view the agenda on the go and connect with other conference attendees!
 

Infrastructure investments will have an outsized impact on job creation among Latinos and African Americans, according to a new issue brief from EPI Director of Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy Algernon Austin.

In Infrastructure Investments and Latino and African American Job Creation, Austin outlines how infrastructure investments can help create jobs among people of color, who were disproportionally hard hit by the recession.

“While the government should be focusing on a return to full employment, we must also look at ways to close the unemployment gap between white workers and people of color,” said Austin. “We know that the right infrastructure investments can help reduce these gaps, and I strongly encourage President Obama and members of Congress to take this into account when looking at how to create jobs.”

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“In addition to the positive impact that infrastructure projects have on minority employment, this analysis shows the particular value of creating green jobs, not only in terms of economic progress but also in addressing long-term public health concerns in communities of color,” said Ralph B. Everett, President and CEO of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Read more at the Economic Policy Institute.

While African Americans are underrepresented in the public debates on climate change and environmental issues generally, they are as aware of these issues as other groups in American society, and committed to action--both personal and governmental--to deal with the problems associated with climate change.

A majority of African Americans believe climate change (and global warming) is a major problem, and they believe that global warming will have significant negative effects on public health and economic instability through severe weather events. A majority believe these problems will be worse for future generations.

This is a report on the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' National Survey of African Americans on Climate Change and Conservation. The findings are from a random digit dialing telephone survey of 750 African American adults conducted between July 20, 2009 and July 30, 2009.

Ralph B. Everett, President and CEO of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, released the following statement on Administrator Lisa Jackson’s departure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

Under Administrator Lisa Jackson’s historic tenure at EPA, America has moved decisively forward in fulfilling its mandate to protect public health and the environment.  Thanks in no small measure to her leadership, we now have federal standards for power plant emissions of mercury and air toxics.  We have aggressive new fuel economy standards that will save families more than $1.7 trillion at the gas pumps, and our government has moved significantly forward on addressing the public health threats from climate change.

Importantly, Administrator Jackson has set EPA on a course to reduce environmental justice burdens on our communities and, in fact, make the entire conversation on environmentalism more inclusive.  She recognized that expanding citizen input is as critical as gathering analytical data when it comes to shaping smart policies that will protect public health and spur sustainable economic development.  In doing this, she helped put to rest the false assumption that communities of color do not want to be engaged on environmental issues.

Download the entire press release by clicking the icon below.

Watching Ken Burns’s film on the Dust Bowl recently, I wondered whether we could learn anything from the government’s response to that earlier environmental disaster. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was counseled by some advisers to abandon much of the Dust Bowl region; they argued that it was never meant to be farmed or settled. Ultimately some areas were restored to their natural grassland state. But Roosevelt also envisioned families staying on the land, and he moved quickly and decisively to confront the causes of the topsoil erosion: he sent crews to plant millions of trees as windbreaks and began coaxing reluctant farmers toward fundamental changes in the ways they worked their fields.

Hurricane Sandy has presented us with an opportunity to take stock of what kind of communities are viable and sustainable along a fragile stretch of coast. And the best route may very well be to rebuild in some communities while restoring other land to its natural state in order to create a shield against future catastrophes.

Read more at The New York Times.

The University of Maryland School of Public Health will be hosting its First Annual Symposium on Environmental Justice and Health Disparities in Maryland and DC on December 1st from 9:00am-4:00pm at the Student Union. Topics include: Environmental Justice in the Chesapeake Bay Food Injustice and Health Disparities Traffic, Air Pollution, and Respiratory Health Disparities Maryland Health Disparities Reduction Act Community Capacity-Building and Empowerment. For more information, please contact Dr. Sacoby  Wilson at swilson2@umd.edu.

The Alliance to Save Energy will hold a lunchtime session on Congregations and Energy Efficiency on Wednesday, November 7, from noon to 1 PM at the Alliance to Save Energy headquarters in Washington, DC. A panel of experts will discuss the Energy Star Small Business and Congregations Program, which helps religious organizations retrofit their buildings to be more energy and cost efficient, and the role of congregations can play in raising awareness about energy efficiency.

Joint Center Energy and Environment Program Director Danielle Deane will participate in this event.

For more information and to register, please click the REGISTER button to your right.

Danielle Deane, Director of the Joint Center's Energy and Environment Program, and Faith Taylor, Director of Sustainability for Wyndham Group Worldwide, discuss climate change, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability at a panel held by the American Sustainable Business Council. The panel was part of a larger event, "Summit for a Sustainable Economy," held by ASBC at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, September 6, 2012.

Moving toward energy independence and improving minorities vantage point in the energy industry were some of the issues discussed during the “Solving the Energy Equation: Demand, Supply, Infrastructure and how it Impacts our Communities” panel at the 2012 Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference last Friday.

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Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association and board member of the Joint Center for Political and  Economic Policies Health Policy Institute’s Advisory Committee agreed that striving for energy independence “…is an opportunity for a win-win” considering how climate change disproportionately affects minority and low income communities.

Read more at Politic365.

Expanding climate change mitigation approaches beyond greenhouse gases to also target related pollutants would have enormous public health benefits in the nation's most disadvantaged communities, according to a report released today by E3 Network and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

The report, Cooling the Planet, Clearing the Air: Climate Policy, Carbon Pricing, and Co-Benefits, found that the same industrial facilities that emit carbon tend to generate other harmful pollutants that actually pose a more immediate and direct threat to the health of nearby residents.  Adding these harmful 'co-pollutants' to a climate change mitigation strategy would have an almost immediate positive health impact on the health of millions of poor and minority Americans.  The research showed that the benefits would be comparable in economic value to the benefits of the carbon reduction by itself.

Read more at Environmental Expert.