BIPOC CONTRIBUTIONS TO CLIMATE POLICY TO BE EXPLORED AT VERMONT LAW SCHOOL DISCUSSION PANEL

The Environmental Justice Law Society at Vermont Law School will explore the intersections among racial justice, law, climate change, and environmental policy while celebrating BIPOC contributions to the environmental movement when it hosts “BIPOC Contributions to Climate Policy: Past, Present, Future,” Saturday, June 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT. 

The live, virtual event will take place over Zoom and be livestreamed at vermontlaw.edu/live. To register for the event, visit tinyurl.com/2p8euvry.

The event’s keynote address will be delivered by Tamara Toles O’Laughlin JD/MELP’09, an internationally recognized advocate and climate strategist focused on people and planet. Toles O’Laughlin’s niche in environmental work is developing high impact programs and multimedia campaigns to dismantle privilege and increase opportunities for vulnerable populations to access healthy air, clean energy, and a toxic free economy at the local, regional, and national level. 

Additional panelists will include: Alberto J. Valentín, environmental justice and community engagement manager at the Washington State Department of Transportation; Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, director of environmental justice projects of The American Civil Liberties Union of New York; Earl Hatley, a retired environmental consultant and co-founder of LEAD Agency, Inc.; Tracey Lewis, policy counsel for Public Citizen’s Climate Program; Anthony Rogers-Wright, director of environmental justice for New York Lawyers for the Public Interest; and, Sherri White-Williamson, environmental justice policy director for North Carolina Conservation Network.

The work of three organizations – Migrant Justice, Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, and Front & Centered will also be featured and celebrated.