1. Environmental Impact and Immigration: A Conversation with Magybet Mendez
  2. Philadelphia Must Rethink Its Impact on Chester
  3. New Documentary Explores Philadelphia’s Struggle for Land Sovereignty and a Greener Future
  4. Capturing Hope: Power Circle Mentors Inspiring Youth Through Nature and Photography
  5. Roishetta Sibley Ozane and The Vessel Project: A Beacon of Hope in Sulphur, Louisiana
  6. ecoFEST 2023: A Celebration of Environmental Justice
  7. A is for asbestos: The environmental challenges facing Philly schools
  8. The Age of Preparedness: Securing Your Finances in the Face of the Climate Crisis
  9. A Former Sugar Plantation Up in Flames: The Lahaina Wildfires
  10. From Heatwaves to Hydration: Philadelphia’s Water Landscape Explored
  11. A Sizzling Summer: Philly Faces Extreme Temperatures
  12. Get to Know The New Host of ecoWURD: Tamara P.O.C. Russell
  13. Funding the Fight for Climate Justice: Local and Federal Grants Propel Environmental Initiatives
  14. Where There is Fire, There Will Be Smoke
  15. Lessons at Sea: Capitalism, Climate Change and a Path Forward
  16. Investing in Women, Investing in the Future: The Wise Fund’s Vision for a Greener World
  17. HOW DID “NIMBY” SUDDENLY BECOME THE NEW “N-WORD?”
  18. The Gentrification Problem: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  19. The Roots Run Deep: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  20. There Is No Cost to Live: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  21. Fixing Up Philly’s Homes: Charles Ellison for WHYY
  22. Punishment Past Prison Walls: Environmental injustice in the Carceral State
  23. RACISM IN THE WATER
  24. THE “INFLATION REDUCTION ACT” IS NOW LAW. SO, HOW DOES IT HELP BLACK PHILLY?
  25. PHILADELPHIA HAS AN AIR TOXIN PROBLEM. WHAT IS THE CITY GOVERNMENT GOING TO DO TO FIX IT?
  26. Want to end gun violence now? Let’s save Philly block by block
  27. Here are steps Philly could take to cool urban heat islands
  28. The gas prices conversation we should be having
  29. Reclaiming Black land is challenging but not impossible
  30. Black clergy: Churches can sway views on climate crisis
  31. Can old Philadelphia refineries be cleaned up and restored?
  32. Here’s how Black Philadelphia can help in the environmental justice battle
  33. City Launches Environmental Justice Advisory Commission
  34. FIXING THE STRUGGLE SPACE
  35. SOLAR POLICIES ARE FALLING BEHIND – SO, HOW DO WE CATCH UP?
  36. IS PHILLY’S “TAP” WATER PROGRAM WORKING?
  37. Ian Harris
  38. Melissa Ostroff
  39. THE WATER BILLS ARE WAY TOO HIGH
  40. THE KEY TO APPROACHING FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES ON ALL THINGS GREEN
  41. ICYMI: Watch highlights, panels at ecoWURD’s 2021 Environmental Justice Summit
  42. BLACK MOTHERS NEED CLEANER & SAFER ENVIRONMENTS – IT’S A PUBLIC HEALTH IMPERATIVE
  43. USING DANCE TO SAVE A RIVER
  44. TRACKING PHILADELPHIA’S AIR QUALITY
  45. GETTING RELIGIOUS ON CLIMATE CRISIS
  46. WE NEED MORE BLACK PEOPLE IN AGRICULTURE
  47. WHEN THERE’S NO CLEAN ENVIRONMENT, WE HAVE NOTHING
  48. A PREMATURE END TO EVICTION MORATORIUMS
  49. THE LACK OF BELIEF IN CLIMATE CRISIS IS JUST AS MUCH A THREAT
  50. YOU CAN’T HAVE RACIAL JUSTICE WITHOUT FAIR HOUSING
  51. RUN OVER THE SYSTEMS: THE FUTURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM
  52. PENNSYLVANIA IS “WAY BEHIND” ON SOLAR. HOW DOES IT CATCH UP?
  53. Pandemic Relief For Black Farmers Still Is Not Enough
  54. A BLUEPRINT FOR THE NEXT URBANISM
  55. THAT ELECTRONIC & CLOTHING WASTE PILES UP. SO WHERE TO PUT IT?
  56. THE WOMB IS THE FIRST ENVIRONMENT
  57. WILL THERE BE ANY MASS TRANSIT LEFT AFTER PANDEMIC?
  58. A FRIDGE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S HUNGRY
  59. OLD SCHOOL FOSSIL FUEL ECONOMY VS. NEW SCHOOL CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY
  60. ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE IS THE TOP SOCIAL JUSTICE PRIORITY
  61. IN 2020, DID “BIG GREEN” BECOME LESS WHITE?
  62. CLIMATE ACTION CAN POWER OUR RECOVERY
  63. IN PANDEMIC, AN HBCU DOES IT BETTER
  64. A DANGEROUS LACK OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE PROTECTIONS
  65. HOW FAST CAN A BIDEN PRESIDENCY MOVE ON CLIMATE ISSUES?
  66. CRAFTING A BLACK-DRIVEN CORONAVIRUS AND CLIMATE “STIMULUS” AGENDA
  67. Penn to donate $100 million to Philadelphia school district to help public school children
  68. BLACK ECOLOGIES IN TIDEWATER VIRGINIA
  69. WHAT IS “FROM THE SOURCE REPORTING?”
  70. LEADERSHIP IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
  71. THE ECOWURD SUMMIT LAUNCH
  72. National Geographic Virtual Photo Camp: Earth Stories Aimed to Elevate Indigenous Youth Voices
  73. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2020
  74. THE PLAN FOR A 100 PERCENT CLEAN FUTURE IS SAVING NATURE
  75. WHAT SHOULD A PRESIDENT’S ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AGENDA LOOK LIKE?
  76. THE NEED FOR ABOLITIONIST TEACHING
  77. PUBLIC LANDS & SAVING NATURE
  78. TOO MANY NATURAL GAS SPILLS
  79. GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK
  80. BLACK VOTERS ARE THE ECO-VOTERS CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARE LOOKING FOR
  81. CANNABIS PROFIT & BLACK ECONOMY
  82. THE NATURE GAP
  83. BLACK PEOPLE NEED NATURE
  84. WHAT IS TREEPHILLY?
  85. IS AN OBSCURE ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE IN HARRISBURG DOING ENOUGH?
  86. AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTALISM’S RACIST ROOTS
  87. “THERE’S REALLY A LOT OF QUIET SUFFERING OUT THERE
  88. “WE NEED TO GET INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN”
  89. “AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW THAT GIVES YOU A VOICE”
  90. URBAN PLANNING AS A TOOL FOR WHITE SUPREMACY
  91. HEAT WAVES REMIND US CLIMATE CHANGE IS STILL HERE
  92. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land
  93. IN PANDEMIC, MAKING SURE PEOPLE EAT & HOW HBCUs HELP
  94. WE’RE NOT DONE, YET – MORE ACCOUNTABILITY IS NEEDED AT THE PES REFINERY SITE
  95. COVID-19 IS LAYING WASTE TO RECYCLING PROGRAMS
  96. THE PHILADELPHIA HEALTH EQUITY GAPS THAT COVID-19 EXPOSED
  97. THE POWER OF NEW HERBALISM
  98. THERE’S NO RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
  99. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit
  100. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit 2020 Press Release
  101. Too Much Food At Farms, Too Little Food At Stores
  102. THE LINK BETWEEN AIR POLLUTION & COVID-19
  103. CORONAVIRUS REVEALS WHY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IS STILL THE CRITICAL ISSUE OF OUR TIME
  104. FROM KATRINA TO CORONAVIRUS, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
  105. COVID-19 SHOWS A BIGGER IMPACT WHERE BLACK PEOPLE LIVE
  106. THE CORONAVIRUS CONVERSATION HAS GOT TO GET A LOT MORE INCLUSIVE THAN THIS
  107. MEDIA’S CLIMATE CHANGE COVERAGE KEEPS BLACK PEOPLE OUT OF IT
  108. “WE DON’T HAVE A CULTURE OF PREPAREDNESS”
  109. PHILADELPHIA HAS A FOOD ECONOMY
  110. HOW URBAN AGRICULTURE CAN IMPROVE FOOD SECURITY IN U.S. CITIES
  111. MAPPING THE LINK BETWEEN INCARCERATION & FOOD INSECURITY
  112. PHILLY’S JAILS ARE, LITERALLY, MAKING PEOPLE SICK
  113. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2019
  114. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit
  115. “We Can’t Breathe: Zulene Mayfield’s Lifelong War with Waste ‘Managers’”
  116. “Is The Black Press Reporting on Environmental Issues?” by David Love
  117. “The Dangerous Connection Between Climate Change & Food” an interview with Jacqueline Patterson and Adrienne Hollis
  118. “An Oil Refinery Explosion That Was Never Isolated” by Charles Ellison
  119. “Philly Should Be Going ‘Community Solar'” an interview w/ PA Rep. Donna Bullock
  120. “Is The Litter Index Enough?” an interview w/ Nic Esposito
  121. “How Sugarcane Fires in Florida Are Making Black People Sick” an interview w/ Frank Biden
  122. Philly Farm Social – Video and Pictures
  123. #PHILLYFARMSOCIAL GETS REAL IN THE FIELD
  124. THE LACK OF DIVERSE LEADERS IN THE GREEN SPACE Environmental Advocacy Organizations – especially the “Big Green” – Really Need More Black & Brown People in Senior Positions
  125. PLASTIC BAG BANS CAN BACKFIRE … WHEN YOU HAVE OTHER PLASTICS TO CHOOSE FROM
  126. WE REALLY NEED POLITICAL STRATEGISTS LEADING ON CLIMATE CHANGE – NOT ACADEMICS
  127. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS IN A MUCH MORE CLIMATIC WORLD
  128. A SMALL GERMANTOWN NON-PROFIT “TRADES FOR A DIFFERENCE”
  129. IS PHILLY BLAMING ITS TRASH & RECYCLING CRISIS ON BLACK PEOPLE?
  130. BUT WHAT DOES THE GREEN NEW DEAL MEAN FOR BLACK PEOPLE?
  131. HOW GREEN IS PHILLY’S “GREENWORKS” PLAN?
  132. The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy event recap #ecoWURD #phillyisgreen
  133. Bike-friendly cities should be designed for everyone, not just for wealthy white cyclists
  134. RENAMING “GENTRIFICATION”
  135. FOUR GOVERNORS, ONE URBAN WATERSHED IN NEED OF ACTION
  136. JUST HOW BAD IS THE AIR HURTING PHILLY’S BLACK FAMILIES?
  137. EcoWURD Presents:The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy
  138. IF YOU ARE LOW-INCOME OR HOMELESS, THE POLAR VORTEX IS LIKE A FORM OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
  139. NOT JUST FLINT: THE WATER CRISIS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY
  140. DO THE TRAINS STOP RUNNING? THE SHUTDOWN’S IMPACT ON MASS TRANSIT
  141. BLACK WOMEN & THE TROUBLE WITH BABY POWDER
  142. A WHITE COLLAR CRIME VICTIMIZING NICETOWN
  143. IN NORTH CAROLINA, CLIMATE CHANGE & VOTER SUPPRESSION WORKED HAND-IN-HAND
  144. LOW-INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS WOULD GAIN THE MOST FROM GREEN ROOFS
  145. YOUR OWN HOOD: CLOSING THE GENERATIONAL GREEN DIVIDE IN BLACK PHILADELPHIA
  146. THE PRICE OF WATER: LITERAL & FIGURATIVE THIRST AT WORK
  147. THAT CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT TRUMP DIDN’T WANT YOU TO SEE? YEAH, WELL, IT’S THE LAW
  148. RACIAL & ETHNIC MINORITIES ARE MORE VULNERABLE TO WILDFIRES
  149. NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTTS Philly Has a Cigarette Butt Problem
  150. HOW SUSTAINABLE CAN PHILLY GET?
  151. USING AFROFUTURISM TO BUILD THE KIND OF WORLD YOU WANT
  152. UNCOVERING PHILLY’S HIDDEN TOXIC DANGERS …
  153. WILL THE ENVIRONMENT DRIVE VOTERS TO THE POLLS? (PART I)
  154. ARE PHILLY SCHOOLS READY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE?
  155. 🎧 SEPTA CREATES A GAS PROBLEM IN NORTH PHILLY
  156. 🎧 BREAKING THE GREEN RETAIL CEILING
  157. That’s Nasty: The Cost of Trash in Philly
  158. 🎧 How Can You Solarize Philly?
  159. 🎧 “The Environment Should Be an Active, Living Experience”
  160. Philly’s Lead Crisis Is Larger Than Flint’s
  161. Despite What You Heard, Black Millennials Do Care About the Environment
  162. Hurricanes Always Hurt Black Folks the Most
  163. Are You Going to Drink That?
  164. The Origins of ecoWURD
  165. We Seriously Need More Black Climate Disaster Films
  166. 🎧 Why Should Philly Care About a Pipeline?
  167. 🎧 Not Just Hotter Days Ahead… Costly Ones Too
  168. Philly’s Big and Dangerous Hot Mess
Monday, October 14, 2024
  1. Environmental Impact and Immigration: A Conversation with Magybet Mendez
  2. Philadelphia Must Rethink Its Impact on Chester
  3. New Documentary Explores Philadelphia’s Struggle for Land Sovereignty and a Greener Future
  4. Capturing Hope: Power Circle Mentors Inspiring Youth Through Nature and Photography
  5. Roishetta Sibley Ozane and The Vessel Project: A Beacon of Hope in Sulphur, Louisiana
  6. ecoFEST 2023: A Celebration of Environmental Justice
  7. A is for asbestos: The environmental challenges facing Philly schools
  8. The Age of Preparedness: Securing Your Finances in the Face of the Climate Crisis
  9. A Former Sugar Plantation Up in Flames: The Lahaina Wildfires
  10. From Heatwaves to Hydration: Philadelphia’s Water Landscape Explored
  11. A Sizzling Summer: Philly Faces Extreme Temperatures
  12. Get to Know The New Host of ecoWURD: Tamara P.O.C. Russell
  13. Funding the Fight for Climate Justice: Local and Federal Grants Propel Environmental Initiatives
  14. Where There is Fire, There Will Be Smoke
  15. Lessons at Sea: Capitalism, Climate Change and a Path Forward
  16. Investing in Women, Investing in the Future: The Wise Fund’s Vision for a Greener World
  17. HOW DID “NIMBY” SUDDENLY BECOME THE NEW “N-WORD?”
  18. The Gentrification Problem: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  19. The Roots Run Deep: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  20. There Is No Cost to Live: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  21. Fixing Up Philly’s Homes: Charles Ellison for WHYY
  22. Punishment Past Prison Walls: Environmental injustice in the Carceral State
  23. RACISM IN THE WATER
  24. THE “INFLATION REDUCTION ACT” IS NOW LAW. SO, HOW DOES IT HELP BLACK PHILLY?
  25. PHILADELPHIA HAS AN AIR TOXIN PROBLEM. WHAT IS THE CITY GOVERNMENT GOING TO DO TO FIX IT?
  26. Want to end gun violence now? Let’s save Philly block by block
  27. Here are steps Philly could take to cool urban heat islands
  28. The gas prices conversation we should be having
  29. Reclaiming Black land is challenging but not impossible
  30. Black clergy: Churches can sway views on climate crisis
  31. Can old Philadelphia refineries be cleaned up and restored?
  32. Here’s how Black Philadelphia can help in the environmental justice battle
  33. City Launches Environmental Justice Advisory Commission
  34. FIXING THE STRUGGLE SPACE
  35. SOLAR POLICIES ARE FALLING BEHIND – SO, HOW DO WE CATCH UP?
  36. IS PHILLY’S “TAP” WATER PROGRAM WORKING?
  37. Ian Harris
  38. Melissa Ostroff
  39. THE WATER BILLS ARE WAY TOO HIGH
  40. THE KEY TO APPROACHING FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES ON ALL THINGS GREEN
  41. ICYMI: Watch highlights, panels at ecoWURD’s 2021 Environmental Justice Summit
  42. BLACK MOTHERS NEED CLEANER & SAFER ENVIRONMENTS – IT’S A PUBLIC HEALTH IMPERATIVE
  43. USING DANCE TO SAVE A RIVER
  44. TRACKING PHILADELPHIA’S AIR QUALITY
  45. GETTING RELIGIOUS ON CLIMATE CRISIS
  46. WE NEED MORE BLACK PEOPLE IN AGRICULTURE
  47. WHEN THERE’S NO CLEAN ENVIRONMENT, WE HAVE NOTHING
  48. A PREMATURE END TO EVICTION MORATORIUMS
  49. THE LACK OF BELIEF IN CLIMATE CRISIS IS JUST AS MUCH A THREAT
  50. YOU CAN’T HAVE RACIAL JUSTICE WITHOUT FAIR HOUSING
  51. RUN OVER THE SYSTEMS: THE FUTURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM
  52. PENNSYLVANIA IS “WAY BEHIND” ON SOLAR. HOW DOES IT CATCH UP?
  53. Pandemic Relief For Black Farmers Still Is Not Enough
  54. A BLUEPRINT FOR THE NEXT URBANISM
  55. THAT ELECTRONIC & CLOTHING WASTE PILES UP. SO WHERE TO PUT IT?
  56. THE WOMB IS THE FIRST ENVIRONMENT
  57. WILL THERE BE ANY MASS TRANSIT LEFT AFTER PANDEMIC?
  58. A FRIDGE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S HUNGRY
  59. OLD SCHOOL FOSSIL FUEL ECONOMY VS. NEW SCHOOL CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY
  60. ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE IS THE TOP SOCIAL JUSTICE PRIORITY
  61. IN 2020, DID “BIG GREEN” BECOME LESS WHITE?
  62. CLIMATE ACTION CAN POWER OUR RECOVERY
  63. IN PANDEMIC, AN HBCU DOES IT BETTER
  64. A DANGEROUS LACK OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE PROTECTIONS
  65. HOW FAST CAN A BIDEN PRESIDENCY MOVE ON CLIMATE ISSUES?
  66. CRAFTING A BLACK-DRIVEN CORONAVIRUS AND CLIMATE “STIMULUS” AGENDA
  67. Penn to donate $100 million to Philadelphia school district to help public school children
  68. BLACK ECOLOGIES IN TIDEWATER VIRGINIA
  69. WHAT IS “FROM THE SOURCE REPORTING?”
  70. LEADERSHIP IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
  71. THE ECOWURD SUMMIT LAUNCH
  72. National Geographic Virtual Photo Camp: Earth Stories Aimed to Elevate Indigenous Youth Voices
  73. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2020
  74. THE PLAN FOR A 100 PERCENT CLEAN FUTURE IS SAVING NATURE
  75. WHAT SHOULD A PRESIDENT’S ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AGENDA LOOK LIKE?
  76. THE NEED FOR ABOLITIONIST TEACHING
  77. PUBLIC LANDS & SAVING NATURE
  78. TOO MANY NATURAL GAS SPILLS
  79. GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK
  80. BLACK VOTERS ARE THE ECO-VOTERS CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARE LOOKING FOR
  81. CANNABIS PROFIT & BLACK ECONOMY
  82. THE NATURE GAP
  83. BLACK PEOPLE NEED NATURE
  84. WHAT IS TREEPHILLY?
  85. IS AN OBSCURE ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE IN HARRISBURG DOING ENOUGH?
  86. AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTALISM’S RACIST ROOTS
  87. “THERE’S REALLY A LOT OF QUIET SUFFERING OUT THERE
  88. “WE NEED TO GET INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN”
  89. “AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW THAT GIVES YOU A VOICE”
  90. URBAN PLANNING AS A TOOL FOR WHITE SUPREMACY
  91. HEAT WAVES REMIND US CLIMATE CHANGE IS STILL HERE
  92. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land
  93. IN PANDEMIC, MAKING SURE PEOPLE EAT & HOW HBCUs HELP
  94. WE’RE NOT DONE, YET – MORE ACCOUNTABILITY IS NEEDED AT THE PES REFINERY SITE
  95. COVID-19 IS LAYING WASTE TO RECYCLING PROGRAMS
  96. THE PHILADELPHIA HEALTH EQUITY GAPS THAT COVID-19 EXPOSED
  97. THE POWER OF NEW HERBALISM
  98. THERE’S NO RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
  99. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit
  100. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit 2020 Press Release
  101. Too Much Food At Farms, Too Little Food At Stores
  102. THE LINK BETWEEN AIR POLLUTION & COVID-19
  103. CORONAVIRUS REVEALS WHY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IS STILL THE CRITICAL ISSUE OF OUR TIME
  104. FROM KATRINA TO CORONAVIRUS, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
  105. COVID-19 SHOWS A BIGGER IMPACT WHERE BLACK PEOPLE LIVE
  106. THE CORONAVIRUS CONVERSATION HAS GOT TO GET A LOT MORE INCLUSIVE THAN THIS
  107. MEDIA’S CLIMATE CHANGE COVERAGE KEEPS BLACK PEOPLE OUT OF IT
  108. “WE DON’T HAVE A CULTURE OF PREPAREDNESS”
  109. PHILADELPHIA HAS A FOOD ECONOMY
  110. HOW URBAN AGRICULTURE CAN IMPROVE FOOD SECURITY IN U.S. CITIES
  111. MAPPING THE LINK BETWEEN INCARCERATION & FOOD INSECURITY
  112. PHILLY’S JAILS ARE, LITERALLY, MAKING PEOPLE SICK
  113. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2019
  114. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit
  115. “We Can’t Breathe: Zulene Mayfield’s Lifelong War with Waste ‘Managers’”
  116. “Is The Black Press Reporting on Environmental Issues?” by David Love
  117. “The Dangerous Connection Between Climate Change & Food” an interview with Jacqueline Patterson and Adrienne Hollis
  118. “An Oil Refinery Explosion That Was Never Isolated” by Charles Ellison
  119. “Philly Should Be Going ‘Community Solar'” an interview w/ PA Rep. Donna Bullock
  120. “Is The Litter Index Enough?” an interview w/ Nic Esposito
  121. “How Sugarcane Fires in Florida Are Making Black People Sick” an interview w/ Frank Biden
  122. Philly Farm Social – Video and Pictures
  123. #PHILLYFARMSOCIAL GETS REAL IN THE FIELD
  124. THE LACK OF DIVERSE LEADERS IN THE GREEN SPACE Environmental Advocacy Organizations – especially the “Big Green” – Really Need More Black & Brown People in Senior Positions
  125. PLASTIC BAG BANS CAN BACKFIRE … WHEN YOU HAVE OTHER PLASTICS TO CHOOSE FROM
  126. WE REALLY NEED POLITICAL STRATEGISTS LEADING ON CLIMATE CHANGE – NOT ACADEMICS
  127. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS IN A MUCH MORE CLIMATIC WORLD
  128. A SMALL GERMANTOWN NON-PROFIT “TRADES FOR A DIFFERENCE”
  129. IS PHILLY BLAMING ITS TRASH & RECYCLING CRISIS ON BLACK PEOPLE?
  130. BUT WHAT DOES THE GREEN NEW DEAL MEAN FOR BLACK PEOPLE?
  131. HOW GREEN IS PHILLY’S “GREENWORKS” PLAN?
  132. The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy event recap #ecoWURD #phillyisgreen
  133. Bike-friendly cities should be designed for everyone, not just for wealthy white cyclists
  134. RENAMING “GENTRIFICATION”
  135. FOUR GOVERNORS, ONE URBAN WATERSHED IN NEED OF ACTION
  136. JUST HOW BAD IS THE AIR HURTING PHILLY’S BLACK FAMILIES?
  137. EcoWURD Presents:The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy
  138. IF YOU ARE LOW-INCOME OR HOMELESS, THE POLAR VORTEX IS LIKE A FORM OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
  139. NOT JUST FLINT: THE WATER CRISIS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY
  140. DO THE TRAINS STOP RUNNING? THE SHUTDOWN’S IMPACT ON MASS TRANSIT
  141. BLACK WOMEN & THE TROUBLE WITH BABY POWDER
  142. A WHITE COLLAR CRIME VICTIMIZING NICETOWN
  143. IN NORTH CAROLINA, CLIMATE CHANGE & VOTER SUPPRESSION WORKED HAND-IN-HAND
  144. LOW-INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS WOULD GAIN THE MOST FROM GREEN ROOFS
  145. YOUR OWN HOOD: CLOSING THE GENERATIONAL GREEN DIVIDE IN BLACK PHILADELPHIA
  146. THE PRICE OF WATER: LITERAL & FIGURATIVE THIRST AT WORK
  147. THAT CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT TRUMP DIDN’T WANT YOU TO SEE? YEAH, WELL, IT’S THE LAW
  148. RACIAL & ETHNIC MINORITIES ARE MORE VULNERABLE TO WILDFIRES
  149. NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTTS Philly Has a Cigarette Butt Problem
  150. HOW SUSTAINABLE CAN PHILLY GET?
  151. USING AFROFUTURISM TO BUILD THE KIND OF WORLD YOU WANT
  152. UNCOVERING PHILLY’S HIDDEN TOXIC DANGERS …
  153. WILL THE ENVIRONMENT DRIVE VOTERS TO THE POLLS? (PART I)
  154. ARE PHILLY SCHOOLS READY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE?
  155. 🎧 SEPTA CREATES A GAS PROBLEM IN NORTH PHILLY
  156. 🎧 BREAKING THE GREEN RETAIL CEILING
  157. That’s Nasty: The Cost of Trash in Philly
  158. 🎧 How Can You Solarize Philly?
  159. 🎧 “The Environment Should Be an Active, Living Experience”
  160. Philly’s Lead Crisis Is Larger Than Flint’s
  161. Despite What You Heard, Black Millennials Do Care About the Environment
  162. Hurricanes Always Hurt Black Folks the Most
  163. Are You Going to Drink That?
  164. The Origins of ecoWURD
  165. We Seriously Need More Black Climate Disaster Films
  166. 🎧 Why Should Philly Care About a Pipeline?
  167. 🎧 Not Just Hotter Days Ahead… Costly Ones Too
  168. Philly’s Big and Dangerous Hot Mess

A Conversation with Christine Knapp

ecoWURD Correspondent D.L. Chandler talks with Christine Knapp, the Director of Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability.

D.L. Chandler: So, what exactly is the Office of Sustainability?

Christine Knapp: Sure! So we’re the office that coordinates the implementation of Greenworks, which is  the city’s sustainability plan. I like to say we are a coordination area because we’re not necessarily leading all these different initiatives. We’re a place where all this work can get coordinated. There’s a few areas, in particular, of the work that we do lead, but the vast majority of it, really, is done in partnership with other city departments.

DL: What’s the big picture overview that the office hopes to achieve?

CK: To set common goals, work on policies, collect data, do engagement and outreach collectively. The whole city, we’re all going in the same direction, because it is a big task and so we do need everybody sort of working collaboratively to get to these goals.

DL:  How long has this office been in place and, additionally, how long has the Greenworks program been in effect?

CK: Mayor Nutter committed to creating the office when he became Mayor in 2008, so the office was created that year.  The first Sustainability director spent about a whole year writing the first Greenworks plan. So Greenworks itself, as a plan, was launched in 2009. And it was really that first plan which was really supposed to end in 2015 to sort of be the Nutter Administration’s sustainability plan. When Mayor Jim Kenney came in and I came into this office, we set about updating Greenworks, which we did in 2016.

DL: And how long is the new implementation of that initiative set to go on for?

CK: Similarly, we think of this as the Kenney Administration’s as long as that … (laughter)

DL: As long as that reign lasts (laughter). And we know the primaries are coming up next year…

CK: But we did take a slightly different approach. We didn’t set goals around 4 years or 7 years, or anything like that. We set annual initiative goals, because you have a to-do list for seven years. And you’ve either done everything on those lists, and you’re just taking credit year after year, or you haven’t done them and maybe there’s a good reason why and maybe that thing doesn’t belong on that list anymore and that needs to change…

DL: Exactly …

CK: So we felt like an annual refresh on what the initiatives and activities are that we’re undertaking made sense. The structure of Greenworks, the big picture goals and visions we have are for this administration. But the to-do list is refreshed every year.

DL:  Why should Philadelphians know about Greenworks?

CK: Greenworks is our vision for a truly sustainable Philadelphia for all. We use the term vision because we think that it’s a helpful way for people to understand what this is about. It’s about picturing a Philadelphia in the future where every Philadelphian has access to natural resources; Is able to breathe clean air, is able to affordably use energy that’s clean and powers their home. That they are able to get around on transportation that is accessible, and safe for them to do so.

So, where you can picture that Philadelphia, right?  Easier than if I told you we want to reduce energy use by 30%, that doesn’t really give you a vision, right? So we set visions around eight key vision areas. Then we set certain objectives year to year, of what we are going to do as a city to move toward achieving those visions, including some metrics and you know some data we can collect to show how we are doing in those regards. But, more importantly, what I think we did in this version of Greenworks that’s a little different, we also told other people what they can do to help us meet that vision. City government alone is not going to achieve these visions. So we heard from people, when we were updating Greenworks, that they wanted to know what they could help us with. So we made that very a explicit part of our update; this is what an individual, a business owner, an institution in the city can do to help us meet these goals.

DL: So, one of the things I’ve run into as a reporter, just looking at and examining environmental sustainability in the city and other larger cities across the nation, what we have discovered is that impoverished communities, especially Black communities, are the most affected. The same issues that plague White or more affluent communities no doubt affect those on the inverse. What, if anything, is Greenworks doing to address the concerns of those communities that are most affected?

CK: What I would just add to your point is not only are those communities most vulnerable to things like climate change, they are actually contributing the least to those problems. So, it’s even more sort of inequitable regarding environmental impact, right? When we were updating Greenworks, we did some community engagement and outreach, we heard from community organizations, from stakeholders, to see what they wanted to see.  In the new version, and one of the things we heard repeatedly, was that the city had made significant progress in sustainability over the course of the eight years of the other administration, but not all neighborhoods were experiencing those benefits equally. And that they wanted to see us have is an explicit focus on how we could address those inequalities.

DL: Has there been a larger bridge built between the office and those communities and the stakeholders?  Who are those stakeholders? Are they community leaders or organizations or are they just people who just happen to be there in the middle of it?

CK: So, yeah, the project you’re going get a deep dive into today is about North Philly’s heat map.  This is a great example where we had this map done during our climate adaptation study that we did for the city, and using satellite data we were able to see how hot certain areas, well, how hot the whole city is. It’s over the course of 7 different days throughout two different summers to kind of average it all out, to make sure it wasn’t just a weird day. What you can see when we map it by census block is that there are red areas of the city that can be as much as 22 degrees hotter than these blue areas of the city. And when we lay this over with demographic information, these neighborhoods that are all red are all either African American, or Latino-majority neighborhoods. You can also lay it over with other demographic information and find higher poverty areas, you know there’s a lot of correlations. So, what we did was work with the health department to also look at data and demographic information that would tell us who was most vulnerable to heat. It’s kinda OK if you live in a hot neighborhood with an air conditioner in the house and you jump in your air conditioned car.

DL: … and you’re fine …

CK: Right, if you’re not vulnerable to it, but if you have say … obesity, asthma, heart, cardiovascular disease, if you’re elderly or any of those things … even young children, pregnant women, all those people are more vulnerable to heat. So, we then had an additional mapping exercise on top this to see where people live that are the most vulnerable. We then created a city heat team, so different departments – Health, Emergency Management, Streets, Water Department – who might have relationships in the communities and decided to work with Hunting Park because that was just an area the city felt we had good enough relationships, we knew who some of the actors were. We really decided to figure out who was already working on the ground in this neighborhood. Let’s not start from scratch.

CK: Hunting Park, it’s kind of interesting. We didn’t know this when we selected it but half of the neighborhood, sort of the west side of the neighborhood is predominately African American, the eastern side of the neighborhood is predominantly Spanish-speaking, Latino. We worked with Esperanza, which is a organization on the eastern side and the Lenfest Center which is on the west side of the neighborhood. And those are two anchor organizations in the community with deep engagement and roots and trust with the community. So, we’re working with them in addition to Hunting Park.

CK: We’ve collected over 530 or so surveys over the course of the summer to understand how people currently experience heat, what they would like to see to cope better with heat, and what they would like to see in their community in the long run to actually bring the neighborhood temperatures down. Because we know this is now, climate change is only going to make things worse.

CK: So we want to get in and start figuring out strategies to cool neighborhoods, but we don’t want to go in and say “Here’s a whole bunch of trees that you don’t want”, because they won’t work and they will all die and they won’t provide shade.  Do you want trees? Where do you want trees? What kind of trees? So, that’s the sort of example of our new strategy of how to address not just broad-based sustainability issues like heat, but how to do it with an equity lens on it.

DL: Yeah the effort, I think that’s what I appreciate about what you just told me. When we speak to people in city government, they only focus on the data. Data, data, data. You know let’s get the facts down, and then we get a team together, then we go out there. We hire a team from within our already established city government agency. Then we go out there and fix the problem, but it doesn’t. Not to use a pun here, but it’s not sustainable.

CK: Right, it doesn’t last…

DL: It doesn’t work that way, you have to go into these communities and identity not only the people in those communities, but,the people who really care about it.

CK: We went to a community event where a woman, who was an elder said, ‘Well the city came back here, you know, in the 60’s or something asking the same questions and I never heard back from them.”  And so, you know, 50 years later and she still remembered that the city hadn’t followed through with her.

DL: Is this the largest project the office is taking on right now?

CK: This is certainly the biggest example of community engagement . I also  just want to address some of the changes and approaches that we’ve taken. As I mentioned, when we updated Greenworks, we heard heard from folks that they wanted more information on how they could be apart of it. I  can say that the first years of this office were about really getting the city of Philadelphia to be a more sustainable body. You want to lead by example, you want to sort of showcase your own leadership before you go tell other people how to do the work. So I think in the last couple of years we’ve been trying to be more externally focused. Not that we’re perfect, but that it’s now time for us to also share and encourage others to be apart of it.

CK: So one of the things we’ve produced is Greenworks on the ground, and so it aligns with the eight visions. There’s eight parts on these sheets, one for each of the visions, that gives individuals our perspective. We have a version for community groups and we have a version for institutions. It shows – a step-by step list of actions you can take in your life to help us achieve our common goals. And you can see that each of them is connected to a phone number or a website or some contact where you can get more information. So that’s a small example of that. The other is that we used to do an annual report every year that was very government, very…

DL: Wonky?

CK: Exactly, So we decided to take a different approach with our annual report last year and we created what we call our Greenworks review, which is sort of a magazine style approach. So that’s where we have this interview with Charles Ellison in there. We have stories from kids. A resource guide, there’s a coloring book in the back. We have one of the Philadelphia Eagles players saying how he bikes to training. It’s featuring real Philadelphians, real stories about communities that are doing work on soil safety and how to garden in your community. But this is also a representation of how we can use some of this key information, and then turn it into something that is understandable, readable, and actionable by the average 40-hour week worker.

DL: Speaking of strategies. Let’s say, I don’t know, a year from now, and you’re hearing from on the ground that the Greenworks initiative is starting to take hold. Is there a way that you want to continue to engage young people? It appears that if we set the habits in young people early, it becomes their lifestyle versus an order.

CK: Yes. The school district has a sustainability plan that was modeled on Greenworks called Green Futures. It not only has more of that internal operational stuff, but it also has some educational guidance, so that kids are actually learning about sustainability and the environment as they are going through school, as well. And I think to your point, I think a lot of sustainable behavior, it becomes practiced because it becomes habit. So the more we teach kids as a habit when they are kids, they just do that for the rest of their lives and also they are really good at annoying their parents.

DL: (Laughs) I heard that ….

CK: We’re doing another magazine this coming January. One of the features we want to do is showcase all the student environmental clubs that are doing some really amazing things that we’ve been helping with over the course of the last year.  There are a couple of schools that participated in what’s called the Aspen Challenge. One school did a big waste project, trying to reduce bottled water, reducing use amongst their peers. The other did energy efficiency projects where they swapped out all their light bulbs.  They’re both great demonstrations. We want to create learning materials for schools, so we can hand these to students and say, you know here are the things you could be doing, in your own classroom, in your own building. So that’s hopefully something we’re going to produce at the same time when we release the new review this January.

DL:  It’s been said that community leaders and faith leaders are the best stewards for talking about the environment to their constituencies or their congregation. But who else? Is there someone else we need to be talking to when it comes to these issues, beyond individuals and families. So is it just the faith leaders? Do we get the police involved? Do we get the Fire Department involved? Is there any wider strategy to have everybody that has a stock or stake in the community to work with Greenworks and work with the office?

CK: Yeah, that is a great question. When we were writing the magazine, we were trying to figure out who our audience was. The audience we kept in mind were like … they are people who play community leadership roles of a variety. They could be a small business owner, they could be a faith leader, they could be a block captain. They know a lot about where they live, they know a lot about places to get resources. And people go to them for information because they know a lot about a lot of different things. If we can get this information into these peoples hands then they can help us spread it and communicate it further and translate it, right? Because again, we use the best information to make it more accessible.

DL: But could they do better?

CK: They could probably do better, right? So we wrote this with those sort of community level, civic leaders in mind. Which takes a lot of different strides, you know, in terms of positions they could be in. So yes, I think we identified a few of them. Block captains, in particular, I always find fantastic as an example.

DL: What other things are coming up in the office?

CK: We are launching a couple of different projects this fall around energy efficiency. We want to help residents understand energy use for a building or living space before they rent it or buy it. Sometimes we hear a renter finds a house, they rent it out and then the weather hits and suddenly a 400 hundred dollar bill in the winter. A bill that they didn’t expect. We don’t want people to get into those situations unexpectedly. So we want to try to figure out how to get information about the efficiency of an apartment or house or building before they get into it.

We think that’s something that will help drive landlords to also make that rental unit more efficient. Or make the homeseller make some improvements. And at the same time we want to make it easier for people just living in there to make their apartments and homes more efficient, as well. So we will try to figure out how to provide a simple phone number or place to go to get that information about utility rebates, incentives that exist, finance, however we can help.

How can we help you make it as simple as possible to get from A to Z and make their home more efficient? Because we think, we know for sure, that in the city, with the poverty rate that we have, that for low income folks, their energy bill is usually their second highest bill after rent or mortgage. So that’s what we call high energy burdens. We know there’s a lot of folks that are trying to choose between paying their PECO bill or buying food or other things. We want to cut that down so people don’t have to make those choices and can spend that money on other needs.