I love June! Mainly because we’ve made it out of the Legislative Session and Maycember – and we host the Environmental Justice and Climate Protection Conference. For five years now, we’ve gathered together people from all over Georgia, from many different walks of life, to discuss how protecting people protects the environment, and vice versa. It’s that simple: “your place of birth should not determine your cause of death.”
Every year I am awed and amazed by what I learn and the spirit of togetherness that we exhibit. This year was no exception. Over 150 people packed onto Georgia Tech’s campus, plus 60 more online. Together we really leaned into the fact that “no one is coming to save us” so we must join together, build community, and “if they don’t give you seat at the table, bring a folding chair” (- Shirley Chisholm).
In the coming months, we will provide ways for people to engage, year-round, in the community the EJ&CP has created. We must keep the energy up!
Side note – I am also grateful to our sponsors, our organizing hosts, and to Patrick, who logged over 20000 steps on the first day. As many of you know, I am leaving Sci4Ga shortly, I am super sad to be leaving so many things, but I look forward to attending the EJ&CP next summer (in Columbus!).
What else happened in June?
Well – we had our monthly Sips of Science, Community Meeting, Water Testing, Climate Survival Training, AND our interns gave an excellent talk on the many sides of solar! We seriously threw our interns under the bus, gave them less than ten days to prepare, and they knocked it out of the park! Also, pretty sure I spoke at a few data center information sessions…
And – Georgia called a special session – but did not end up redrawing voting districts. They didn’t take our advice to make them fairer – but they didn’t make them worse.
What do we have in July?
- July 2 – Sips of Science
- July 9 – Monthly Community Meeting
- July 19 – River Testing
- July 21 – GSJ: Okefenokee Wildlife Photography
- July 26 – Climate Survival Training
I hope everyone has a delightful July! It’s our 250th anniversary as a country. A lot feels weird right now – but I am encouraged – because everyone I meet is still trying to make this world a better place. Together, that is real change.