Empirical studies demonstrate that the climate crisis disproportionately harms communities of color, including in terms of exposure to air pollution, extent of suffering caused by extreme weather events, food insecurity, and lack of access to clean water. This discrimination permeates land use, energy production, and agriculture, contributing both to weak laws and to the placement of toxic industries next to and in marginalized communities.
In the fifteenth anniversary year of Hurricane Katrina, this symposium will highlight the connection between past and current discriminatory practices and the harms of climate change that must be understood in order to design the solutions necessary in the areas of environmental protection, access to basic services and resources, and disaster preparedness and recovery.
Speakers:
Professor Nadia B. Ahmad, Barry University School of Law
Dr. Virginia Burkett, Chief Scientist for Climate and Land Use Change, U.S. Geological
Survey
Professor Patience Crowder, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Professor Andrea Freeman, University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law
Dr. Tom I. Romero II, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Professor Catherine Smith, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Professor Carlton Waterhouse, Howard Law School
Professor Ruqaiijah A. Yearby, St. Louis University School of Law