In this episode, Jasmine Graham, the executive director of Mid-Hudson Energy Transition, shares their perspective on energy justice, energy democracy, and just transition. We talked about the historical role of policy on energy systems and the importance of equitable energy solutions. Jasmine shared experiences and insights from their career journey working on clean energy in New York State and what brings them inspiration, hope, and joy.
In this episode, Jasmine Graham, the executive director of Mid-Hudson Energy Transition, shares their perspective on energy justice, energy democracy, and just transition. We talked about the historical role of policy on energy systems and the importance of equitable energy solutions. Jasmine shared experiences and insights from their career journey working on clean energy in New York State and what brings them inspiration, hope, and joy.
Connect with Jasmine :
Resources mentioned in the episode:
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Revolutionary Power by Shalanda Baker
Credits
Hosted and produced by Kiana Michaan
Edited and co-produced by Lucy Little
Jasmine: [00:00:00] I'm envisioning an energy grid that is renewable, that is decentralized, and that is community or publicly owned. I envision cooperative systems and models where folks are working together instead of in competition with each other. And I envision a radical shift in understanding for the working class that this energy transition has the ability to level out structural inequalities.
And that we, together, have the people power to achieve our collective vision of prosperity and liberation.
Kiana: Hello, and welcome to Climate with Kiana, a podcast that explores topics of climate, energy, and sustainability through a framework of joy and justice. I'm your host, Kiana Michaan, a climate justice and clean energy advocate.
This show brings you conversations with passionate people working in climate, and together we explore the many exciting and intersectional solutions to one of the greatest challenges of [00:01:00] our time. So if you've ever felt overwhelmed by the climate crisis, these conversations are for you. Whether you're already a climate nerd or just climate curious, join me each week in an exploration of climate justice solutions.
Let's cultivate hope and joy and vision new possibilities together.
In today's episode, we are going to talk about energy justice. This topic is meaningful to me because transforming our energy systems in more equitable and sustainable ways is some of the most crucial work of our time. How does energy production impact local communities? How are the local and global impacts related?
What is the historical role of energy policy? What does just transition mean? And how do we ensure equitable energy outcomes? To explore these questions, I spoke with the wonderful Jasmine Graham, an incredible energy justice leader based in New York state.
Jasmine: My name is Jasmine [00:02:00] Graham. I use she, her, or they, them pronouns, and I'm currently the Executive Director of Mid Hudson Energy Transition.
We are a community based, not for profit organization based in Kingston, New York, in the Hudson Valley, and our mission is to empower communities to own and share renewable energy, create healthier buildings, and join in community wealth building to strengthen the resilience of the Hudson Valley in the face of climate change.
Kiana: Before this, Jasmine served as the Senior Equity and Affordability Advisor at the Building Decarbonization Coalition and before that they were the Energy Justice Policy Manager at WEACT for Environmental Justice, where she strengthened and advanced the organization's energy policies. They also worked for Sustainable Westchester, where they manage the first and largest community choice aggregation program in all of New York State.
Jasmine serves on several New York City advisory boards, including the Climate Mobilization and Sustainability Advisory Board, where [00:03:00] she is responsible for helping with implementation recommendations for the city's landmark building decarbonization law and long term sustainability plans. I asked Jasmine to explain the concepts of energy justice and energy democracy.
Jasmine: So energy justice at its most simple is the equitable distribution of both the benefits and the burdens related to energy systems and policies. So Energy Justice recognizes that access to affordable, clean, and reliable energy is essential for human well being and quality of life. It considers holistically the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of energy with a real focus on addressing the disparities and inequalities that exist, particularly in energy access, affordability, and decision making.
Energy justice issues were very personal to me. I grew up [00:04:00] energy insecure and financially insecure. And I know what it's like to have a high energy burden. I actually lived in an apartment in Harlem while working at WE ACT for Environmental Justice where I didn't have methane cooking gas for over five months.
for our stove. Wow. I was literally working on energy justice policy and I didn't even have avenues of redress for my own landlord's negligence. I grew up one of the absolute brokest people in an extremely affluent town. And I got to see how the other half lives. I know what it looks like to have all of your basic needs met.
And I know what it looks like to have almost none of them met. And it's not fair in any respect. And it's all interrelated and dependent on racialized capitalism that underpins. All of the inequities in the energy system. And so those leaders, those people [00:05:00] in my life who I look up to show me how to build systems outside of that, right.
How to give the local community control over their energy decisions and to enable communities of color and low income folks to own their own energy and reap all of the benefits of that. Energy democracy is the idea that individuals and communities should have the right to participate in the decision making processes related to energy systems that affect them.
It emphasizes decentralizing energy generation and distribution. Increasing local ownership and control over energy resources and energy democracy is all about shifting away from these centralized top down energy systems, allowing communities to shape their own energy future, prioritizing renewable sources, and benefiting from the economic opportunities associated with clean energy.
Kiana: It's [00:06:00] poignant to hear the ways that We are personally impacted by these issues being in this space so many of us are called to this work and hearing your story now because of these really personal experiences and that brings It's an extra fire to wanting to impact change. So, 100%. For those interested in digging deeper into this, Jasmine recommends that folks check out the book Energy Democracy by Denise Fairchild and Al Weintraub.
So with the ideas of energy justice and energy democracy in mind, let's explore what's happening with the energy systems that exist in our world right now, particularly as we continue to implement a just transition for our energy systems.
Jasmine: Just transition refers to the equitable and fair shift from an unsustainable and fossil fuel based economy.
To a more sustainable, low carbon economy. So it really recognizes that [00:07:00] transitioning to clean energy can have significant implications socially, economically, particularly for workers and communities that are dependent on fossil fuel industries and adjust transition is. Seeking to make sure that those communities are not disproportionately affected by the transition, that they can have new employment opportunities, job training programs, and social protections that allow them to participate in the new clean energy economy.
And it also importantly includes addressing environmental justice concerns and ensuring that marginalized communities are not continuously burdened by the negative impacts of the transition. Energy equity and energy democracy. Are both essential aspects of achieving a just transition.
Kiana: In order to actualize a just transition to a clean energy economy, we need strong energy policy, but what are the policies and practices that have created the unjust grid of the present?
I asked Jasmine to [00:08:00] talk a bit about some of the historical policies that have led us to our present energy systems. What communities are receiving more of the burden of pollution of our current energy systems, namely the burning of fossil fuels, and how do those systems play out both on local and global scales?
Jasmine: So, the historical role of policy in creating and perpetuating energy injustices is very significant. commodification.
Most people don't think about this, or know this, or have been exposed to this idea, but the very first form of energy to be commodified was the unpaid physical labor of enslaved people. So let's be clear, from the jump, our energy system has been racist and unjust. Next came the Industrial Revolution, which was entirely dependent on fossil fuels, and was the catalyst that allowed [00:09:00] that same ruling class to continue their exploitation of people and the planet.
Nowadays, it's fossil fuel subsidies, right? Governments around the world have provided subsidies and tax incentives to support the extraction and production and consumption of fossil fuels. And because of this, these policies have really perpetuated the dominance of fossil fuels in the energy mix, right?
It makes it significantly harder for clean and renewable energy sources to compete economically. Is worsened by the reality of regulatory capture, energy policies and regulations are greatly influenced by the industries that are actually committing the harm, right? This is known as regulatory capture, and it results in status quo policies that continue to perpetuate the same injustices that existed from the very beginning, and it diminishes the power of communities [00:10:00] to advocate for themselves.
And so, many of these inequitable policies have resulted in the disproportionate siting of dirty and polluting energy infrastructure, like power plants, hazardous waste facilities, in low income and communities of color. This has become known as environmental racism, and Many of our policies are steeped in it.
This leads to cumulative environmental injustices where marginalized communities are bearing a higher burden of pollution and it's associated health risks, right? They're cited in these communities where folks might have a bus transfer station. a waste treatment plant, a power plant, all within a three block radius.
And this cumulative burden is what is, in many times, exacerbating the harm. And so environmental racism itself can be traced [00:11:00] back to Racist development policies like redlining, redlining systematically denied services and resources to black and brown communities. And it resulted in a high concentration of environmental hazards in these areas.
Additionally, it. You know, led to limited access to quality housing, including energy efficient, you know, homes in these communities. And while these communities were bearing the brunt of all of these negative externalities of the energy system, simultaneously, wealthier communities were targeted for energy improvements.
It's
Kiana: important to add that the environmental justice movement began as a response to environmental racism. This terminology was first used in the U. S. in the 1980s, deeply tied to the civil rights movement and a long history of the indigenous environmental movement. Globally, the environmental justice movement seeks to address and remedy issues of human [00:12:00] rights, land rights, resource extraction, environmental health, and more.
Jasmine: So the gap between the communities of color and the affluent white communities got bigger. And this just continued to further perpetuate the unequal access to reliable and affordable energy sources in those communities. And it's created enduring disparities that we still see today, one of which is energy burden.
The amount that a household spends of its income on energy, a moderate income household spends about 3 percent of their household income on energy. Whereas low income communities can spend up to 25 percent and higher. The average is about 8%, but in New York city, where we both have been located at one in four low income households has an energy burden in excess of 17%.
Meaning that they are spending 17 percent of their household income just to [00:13:00] heat and cool and power their home. In addition to the redlining, the commodification of enslaved people's labor, of the fossil fueled industrial revolution, you know, you also have the absolute neglect of rural areas. In many cases, rural communities are impoverished.
They've been excluded from grid electricity. They have had very unreliable and expensive energy services. And all of this further exacerbates their social and economic inequalities that were already underpinning the energy poverty that they're experiencing. But most significantly in the realm of these Historic reasons for inequitable policy is the absolute lack of agency that frontline communities, these communities that are overburdened, have in energy decision making.
By design, [00:14:00] energy decision making processes have almost always excluded meaningful participation from affected communities, and policies have been developed and implemented without any kind of adequate consultation or Or consideration of the perspectives and the needs of these frontline communities.
So this lack of participation has underpinned all of these other issues, right?
Kiana: The impacts of this are just really deep and far reaching. The history of redlining is particularly vicious in terms of the impacts it's had on the geographies of our cities, states, and nationally. Those communities, which we refer to as frontline communities or sacrifice zones, that as a direct result of these racist policies have had the disproportionate burden of pollution, these end up being compounding health impacts, economic impacts, quality of life impacts.
that really affect people's lives and the lives of families for generations. [00:15:00] And you touched on, you know, in your, your work with building decarbonization, the idea that people are opening their gas stoves, right. And then breathing in more of those toxic fumes only to then step outside and also have a disproportionate.
level of pollution because of peaker plants, power plants located nearby, so many issues within this area that stack on top of each other and create deep health impacts for individuals, for communities. And of course, who, who are in these communities, it's black and brown folks, it's immigrants. This burden hits women harder as well.
It's LGBTQ plus community, just all the, the intersecting injustices. Absolutely.
Jasmine: The intersection of multiple oppressions makes people more vulnerable to these energy injustices, and I really appreciate you noting that.
Kiana: You mentioned New York City, where we're both based and we've both worked on [00:16:00] energy justice here, where you can see, on a micro level, these patterns of pollution from neighborhood to neighborhood, looking at where the power plants that are polluting are located.
And then you see these patterns repeat on a larger state level from, say, County to county, nationally, from state to state, and globally, I think is an important point to touch on as well, uh, from country to country, when we're looking at capitalism and colonialism, and what countries are holding the power and the wealth, who's producing the most energy, and then where is that burden falling, what countries are producing the fossil fuels, where is it being consumed, um, so between all of the countries that are feeling the impacts of climate change the hardest, and, um, But have contributed the least emission wise, that you see these energy injustices in terms of who's facing the pollution, who's paying the cost, and whose day to day life also generationally is being impacted can be seen on your block, but [00:17:00] also over the entire globe, which I think makes this a really interesting discussion.
Deep issue. Where are you seeing those higher levels of environmental burden?
Jasmine: Absolutely. Yeah. You mentioned one of the most significant pieces that people are aware of, which is the global North is the most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. Yet it is the global South that is already experiencing the most negative effects of climate change first and worst.
And I'm glad that you mention colonialism and extraction and imperialism because the global South is not poor. It's actually incredibly resource rich and it has been external powers that have gone into these countries and into these communities and extracted the reserves of fossil fuels and other natural resources for their own wealth and gain and [00:18:00] exploitation.
While limiting the economic benefits to those populations on the ground, you know, one of the big issues is that this has created a cycle of dependency on resource extraction on exports, and it prevents the global south from diversifying their economies from having self determination in their own decision making the flows of capital.
are incredibly problematic. Energy poverty is really about the lack of access to modern energy services, such as electricity or clean cooking appliances. And while many people recognize that this is a significant issue in the global South, it is absolutely affecting low income communities in the global North as well.
So energy poverty. Oftentimes leads to reliance on unsafe and inefficient energy sources, like heating your home with your gas powered oven, which [00:19:00] negatively impacts people's health. So achieving energy equity involves addressing energy poverty and ensuring that everyone has access to these basic energy services.
While the Global North is continuously exploiting these countries, you know, in terms of the extraction of the resources, they're also exploiting them financially with high interest loans for the development that is needed, and furthering the dependency on Systems that are oppressive in nature. There's no way to look at energy justice locally without acknowledging the historical context of global exploitation.
You know, for me, even when You're working hyper locally, like I am in Kingston, New York right now, I must always be advocating for energy sovereignty and self determination [00:20:00] for countries in the global South to decide their own economy. Thank you. Clean renewable energy resources to make sure that there are fair trade practices and that communities are guiding their own decision making processes and not being told what is best for them.
As you mentioned, we look at New York City as a microcosm of what is happening globally, and I think we have to look at the systems that exist. at the most macro level to guide how we are going to dismantle oppressive systems on the micro level.
Kiana: What excites me about the opportunity to really dismantle a lot of these old problematic energy systems and Build new ones is the shifts in values we need from thinking about value just as capital and profit of really just [00:21:00] moving to valuing lives, valuing health, valuing culture, and not in just a monetary sense.
Since policy is what has gotten us into a lot of this mess, we need solutions on all levels, and one of those levels is policy. Please speak to how your work has intersected with some of those solutions.
Jasmine: So, first and foremost, In order to redress the harms of the past, we need to be prioritizing communities of color and low income communities.
We have all of the data that shows that these are the communities that have been harmed the most, and so we have absolutely no excuse for not starting there. It is incredibly important that we get folks to a baseline where they can begin to have their basic needs met and therefore able to participate [00:22:00] more in energy decision making.
The fact is, as it currently stands, these folks do not have a say in much of our energy policy. And so, oftentimes, I say that is the first place to start. It is not up to me to tell this community what they need. In fact, the communities that are being harmed, these frontline communities. know exactly what is wrong in their communities.
They can tell you about the mold in their home and about the drafty windows and their high energy bills. They can tell you that they don't have any shady trees and so it is incredibly hot. And they'll tell you that even though they have an air conditioner, they won't run it because they're afraid of how it will raise their energy bill.
And they also know what works best for them. They know how to reach their neighbors and their family members, and they have [00:23:00] networks and communities. And when you have been forced to be so resilient time and time again, you actually create new systems and avenues for living. And so I appreciate you mentioning that culture is a part of this.
I really encourage folks. Oftentimes, especially policymakers, to equally value community knowledge as much as you would value an engineering report. These are not mutually exclusive. These are needed to work together to create programs and policies that work, right, supporting community ownership models and decentralized energy systems and promote local economic development through those types of renewable energy projects, we [00:24:00] can.
Set aside carve outs for those populations that we've been talking about those frontline communities, those black and brown folks right in New York State. Our Climate Act says that at least 35 percent of benefits need to go to what they call disadvantaged communities. With a target of 40%. And while that is not enough, that kind of carve out is an incredibly important start.
And it was actually the foundation for the federal government's justice 40 initiative, which says essentially the same thing. And so Across the board, we need to be prioritizing frontline communities. We have to address the historical energy injustices. Folks are not all starting from the same place. And so we need to make sure that the folks who are decades behind get to today before we start getting the folks who are Where [00:25:00] they need to be today into tomorrow.
Equitable rate design is really important. You know, today we cannot expect a low income person to put a heat pump in their home and raise the cost of their electricity bill. If we don't have a solution for them. More on equitable energy rates later, but I'll say. Other policies that are important are protecting renters, who oftentimes have so little power over the conditions in their own home.
Related to that, we need to be preventing displacement. As we see such a massive influx of federal and state funding to remediate people's homes and to electrify people's homes, we need to make sure That once these upgrades happen, people are not then automatically displaced from these homes. We need to be thinking holistically.
We need to be creating diversity. We need to [00:26:00] transform valuation. I think this is something that you spoke to a bit too. What we value is really important and there are non financial benefits. To energy improvements that really should be integrated into our cost benefit analyses and we need to be increasing and diversifying our labor.
There are so many jobs. There are so many opportunities coming down the vine with this. Clean energy transition, and it all goes back to that point one, we need to prioritize the frontline communities for those jobs, for these opportunities, for these resources, for subsidies, for incentives, all of it.
Kiana: Hopefully, at this point, it's clear that we actually have quite a lot of solutions at our disposal, both policy and otherwise. And as Jasmine states quite clearly, what's absolutely key if we want to get it right this time is that we don't leave any community behind as we implement these new solutions.[00:27:00]
At this point in the conversation, Jasmine and I turned to local solutions, focusing a bit on her work in the Hudson Valley. But before we get there, a quick side note for those interested in more of Jasmine's work on a topic just mentioned and that we didn't have time to discuss too much in length in this conversation, which is equitable rape design.
Jasmine: I would love the opportunity to plug an article that I co authored with Jean Bergman and Ruhan Nagra. Yes. For folks that are interested in understanding how unjust the energy system is, uh, we published an article in the City University of New York's law review called Regulatory Theater, How Investor Owned Utilities and Captured Oversight Agencies Perpetuate Environmental Racism.
It is a very deep dive on the procedural injustices of the rate [00:28:00] cases where utilities actually decide how much they want to get paid. And it's incredibly opaque, almost a year long legal proceeding. All right.
Kiana: So we've learned a few things about energy justice and the history and policies that have gotten us to where we are today.
We've talked about some of the broad issues of energy injustices globally. So what is Jasmine doing on the ground to address energy justice?
Jasmine: Yeah, I'd love to speak a little bit more on the work that we're doing in Mid Hudson Energy Transition. So our focus is on owning and sharing renewable energy, creating healthier homes, and enabling wealth building opportunities for communities.
And community choice aggregations, or CCAs, are a Fancy way of saying a bulk purchasing program for electricity, and they allow one or more municipalities to join together and supply their residents with renewable energy at a competitive price. And we really want to do CCA differently. [00:29:00] We want to go beyond Purchasing renewable energy in bulk through renewable energy certificates to actually getting people to a place where they are cooperatively owning renewable energy projects.
We also want to meet people where they are, um, when it comes to healthy and resilient homes. We know that People cannot electrify their homes if they haven't first done energy efficiency work because their bills are going to increase and there's already utility debt and energy burden crises. And we know that people can't actually do that energy efficiency and weatherization work until they remediate the environmental health hazards in their homes, like mold and lead and asbestos.
And so we're starting at that remediation piece and we're meeting people where they're at to Help them access resources and connect them to contractors, et cetera, to do that [00:30:00] remediation work that then enables them to take advantage of energy assistance programs like empower or the weatherization assistance program, which we have here in New York, and then to eventually be able to use the incentives that are coming through the Inflation Reduction Act, right?
Kiana: An aside, the New York State Weatherization Assistance Program Jasmine is talking about is the largest state level residential energy conservation program in the country. The program assists eligible homeowners with heating and cooling costs while addressing related health and safety concerns. And the Inflation Reduction Act, or the IRA, a federal policy passed in 2022, will provide a plethora of incentives for home energy savings, retrofits, energy efficiency, clean energy, and more decarbonization technologies.
The IRA is the largest investment in clean energy by the federal government. More information about these and every policy mentioned in this conversation will be accessible in the episode [00:31:00] description.
Jasmine: But as it stands today, Our communities are so far behind that they can't actually access those energy efficiency or electrification incentives.
We also want to help fill the financing gap, so we're actually developing a fund, an energy equity fund, where small grants and very low interest loans can go to folks to do the work that's needed in their homes. Um, and all of this work. Will be guided by a community council. So low income BIPOC community members who actually have a say in how we develop our programs and all of these programs that I've just spoken about actually came out of listening tours that we did with the community and the direct needs that were identified to us.
Kiana: That community engagement throughout energy planning is so key and the fact that you're meeting folks where they're at and making these solutions accessible. I think there's so many programs, whether government or [00:32:00] otherwise, that Are oftentimes not accessible or just what is needed to get the ball rolling is those barriers are too high.
So it's really exciting to see the work you're doing building in the Hudson Valley. So with all of that in mind, when you think about the future of our energy grid and energy systems, and you're thinking about a more equitable and just
Jasmine: I'm envisioning an energy grid that is renewable, that is decentralized, and that is community or publicly owned. I envision cooperative systems and models where folks are working together instead of in competition with each other. And I envision a radical shift in understanding for the working class that this energy transition has the ability to level out structural inequalities and that we together have the people [00:33:00] power to achieve our collective vision of prosperity and liberation.
Kiana: In order to achieve this vision that Jasmine so beautifully outlined, there are a number of challenges that lie ahead. Among the challenges, one is the diversity of the energy sector. I asked Jasmine to share some of the challenges she's faced in her career.
Jasmine: There have been many systemic challenges that I've faced in my work and my career.
When you're at the intersection of so many marginalized identities, I'm black, I'm non binary, I'm young, I'm queer, I have disabilities, I'm working class. It's hard to pinpoint specific challenges, but I've had people not wanting to pay me what I'm worth. I've had people not valuing what I have to say.
I've been told to wait more times than I can count, that my focus on energy justice was holding back the climate movement at large. That we had no time to wait and equity could come later. I've been told I wasn't qualified for [00:34:00] a director level role one week before being offered an executive director role.
I've been told that there wasn't an issue with having an all white board of directors and that gender diversity was more important than racial diversity. As if women of color don't exist. I've been undermined by decision makers and underfunded for initiatives that could make a real difference in communities of people who look like me.
I've experienced microaggressions after microaggressions and had people in disbelief of my intelligence. I've been accused of plagiarism in middle school, high school, and college when my writing was, quote unquote, too advanced. I've seen it all and I've pushed on regardless because that's what my mama taught me to do.
Show them up, prove them wrong, and as long as I'm true to myself and my values, the rest will fall into place.
Kiana: None of these challenges have stopped Jasmine from continuing to lead in advancing energy justice work. So I close out our conversation by asking [00:35:00] Jasmine what gives them hope, inspiration, and joy to continue in this work.
What is giving you hope for the future of our energy systems?
Jasmine: What's giving me hope is the folks who are doing the work on the ground. Here in New York, there is a really passionate, talented network of folks who are working at the intersection of energy, environmental, and climate justice. Folks like Alliance for a Green Economy or AGREE, which is led by the absolutely brilliant Jessica Azulay and their deputy director of Avni Pravin.
You have coalitions like New York Renews, Energy Democracy Alliance, and Renewable Heat Now that are leading advocacy for equitable renewable energy solutions. You have the Public Power Coalition and the Peak Coalition, and then you have folks like Hudson Valley Air Quality, or HVAC, who are working in Kingston, where we're [00:36:00] currently based, and partnering with Bard College to study indoor air quality.
of low income homes and are providing immediate interventions where possible to address the mold toxins that are making families sick. For once, we have some dedicated funding, and that gives me hope. Of course, it's not enough, but it is a start. And one hope that I have is that organizations that are not being led by or serving low income BIPOC communities actually do take a step aside and make sure that under resourced organizations and those truly focused on energy equity and justice are prioritized for these unprecedented funding opportunities.
Who
Kiana: inspires you in this work? I know you've already named some, but if there's more you wanted
Jasmine: to share. One of my energy justice idols is Shalanda Baker. Another is Dr. Tony Reams. Another is [00:37:00] Dr. Diana Hernandez. We've got Jackie Patterson, Dr. Myles Lennon, all of which I highly recommend people to check out.
But my number one biggest inspiration would be my mama. Elizabeth Sillick LaRue, who has always instilled a passion for justice in me and really encouraged me to be bold, be strong, not take anything from anyone, and fight relentlessly for an equitable future.
Kiana: I am also inspired by all of those people's work who are truly leaders in what they're doing.
And while I haven't met your mom, you two are the LinkedIn. power mom daughter duo of my dreams. It's true.
Jasmine: No, I must say we get that a lot.
Kiana: And [00:38:00] what about joy? I have to say I love Jasmine's answer.
Jasmine: What brings me joy is being my damn self. I am so lucky to have found spaces where I can show up to this work as my whole self, where I can incorporate fun and joy and goofiness into my everyday. Where I don't have to code switch, and where I can be around like minded folks who are as hungry as I am to make a difference.
Outside of work, what brings me joy is my partner, Carolyn, and my absolutely precious pup o, Zero. We garden, we laugh, we cry, we dance, we sing. Poorly. And we support each other's visions for the future. To be in this movement, you need to have people in your corner, people that love and support you and nourish you because this work is hard on the psyche and it [00:39:00] is hard on the soul.
Kiana: Being in community and having that support is so, so vital. We all go through periods where maybe we feel less community or support than other times. But I truly believe that community and joy is something that we have to work to cultivate. And that once we've cultivated it, it can really hold us up.
So Jasmine, for those who are interested in going more into depth with some of these topics, if there are resources you would like to recommend, and also to share where people can find you and what you're up to.
Jasmine: Yes, well let me start with my plug then. Uh, you can find us at mid hudson. energy. You can find me on LinkedIn. Hey, Jasmine Graham. To learn more about energy justice, you can look to organizations like Initiative for Energy Justice, which publishes scorecards and materials for [00:40:00] policymakers to have more equitable energy policies. You can look to folks like Green Lining Institute, Just Solutions Collective, the Chisholm Legacy Project, Emerald Cities Collaborative, Earth Justice.
We Act for Environmental Justice and the writings of the people that I mentioned before, Shalanda Baker, Diana Hernandez, Tony Reams, Myles Lennon are absolutely great places to start.
Kiana: Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing. Excited to, to continue following all the amazing work you're doing in this space.
Thank you for your time and your wisdom today.
Jasmine: Thank you so much for having me. It has been a joy, and I always love chatting with you, and I'm honored to be on your podcast. Thank you. Thank
Kiana: you for making it to the end of the episode. If you are excited to continue the conversation about energy justice, Engage with at Climate with Kiana to share your thoughts and what other topics you would like to [00:41:00] learn about.
Please check out the episode description for this and every episode if you want to find more resources and information about what we discuss in these conversations. See you next week for another episode and until then be well and be joyous.
Climate with Kiana is hosted and produced by me, Kiana Michaan. This episode was co produced, edited, and sound designed by Lucy Little. Theme music by Colette Michaan. This podcast is recorded and produced in New York City on unceded Munses Lenape land. If you enjoyed the episode, please share it with a friend, leave a comment, and subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts.
For more information about the guests and topics discussed, please visit climatewithkiana. com.