Electricity and the Coronavirus Pandemic
The NYU Environmental Law Journal cordially invites you to a series of lunchtime webinars exploring the coronavirus pandemic and environmental justice. Each webinar will feature a panel of science, policy, legal, and community experts to discuss the relationship between humans, our physical surroundings, and Covid-19.
Descriptions of each panel are included below. Please RSVP using this form. You will receive a reminder and Google Meetings link, via email. If today is the day of the event, please feel free to join us at meet.google.com/ems-akgs-dye without registering.
Covid-19 and Air Quality
Tuesday, September 15th from 12:30-2pm
Professor Richard Revesz will moderate this panel exploring the ways in which dirty air contributes to illness and death from Covid-19, and also the ways in which the pandemic - an enormous shock to our economic and regulatory systems - has impacted air quality around the US. The panel will focus particularly on environmental racism, as manifested by the race and wealth disparities in both air quality and illness.
Covid-19 and the Future of Cities
Tuesday, September 22 from 12:30-1:30pm
Professor Danielle Spiegel-Feld will moderate this panel exploring the future of NYC, and cities in general, during and after the pandemic. We will discuss the transit system, the public health system, rent, homelessness, and increasingly pronounced class divides, where privileged populations are able to work remotely and vacate cities, while the working class must work in person at risk to their health.
Covid-19 and the Electricity Sector
Tuesday, September 29 from 12:30-1:30pm
meet.google.com/ems-akgs-dye
This webinar will explore opportunities and challenges for moving toward 100% clean electricity during a pandemic. We will discuss the economic downturn and its impact on the markets for fossil fuels and renewables; the abundance of unemployed workers who could be employed building wind and solar plants; and changes in energy demand due to new patterns of working and living.
Featuring:
-Amol Phadke, author of the 2035 Report (2035report.com) on reaching a 90% clean electricity sector
-Karl Rábago, electricity expert and former commissioner of the Texas Public Utilities Commission