Check out our full calendar of events for the entire month!
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
11:00am CDT West Campus Combined Utility Plant (WCCUP) Walking Tour
Office of Sustainability
Open to – Students, Faculty, OAAs, Staff
In person: Register here
Walking tour of the West Campus Combined Utility Plant provides an in-depth look at the processes responsible for the transmission and distribution of critical utilities such as steam and chilled water across campus and to the medical center.
12pm CDT Earth Week Careers Panel
Green Careers
Open to – Students
Ida Noyes Hall, West Lounge with Will Lutterman
Please join UChicago Green Careers in welcoming several young alumni back to campus to talk about their careers! Their backgrounds span conservation, law, environmental data analysis, and more. It will also be a great opportunity to network with locally-based environmental alumni. Learn more and be sure to register here on Handshake.
5:30pm CDT The Fire This Time: City Mayors Grapple with
Climate Change Costs to their Communities
Institute of Politics
Open to – Students, Faculty, OAAs, Staff
In Person at Ida Noyes Hall: Register here
The Fire This Time: City Mayors Grapple with Climate Change Costs to Their Communities – Many of America’s most populous regions are reeling from the effects of climate change, from rising sea levels, increased flooding, extreme heat, and a surge in wildfires and hurricanes. At the same time, the nation’s biggest cities within those regions are home to a higher proportion of communities of color.
Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a report that highlighted how racial and ethnic minority communities face the most severe harms from climate change. Black Americans are 34 percent more likely to live in areas with the highest rates of childhood asthma while Latinos are 43 percent more likely to reside in areas with the highest projected reductions in labor hours due to extreme temperatures. Throughout the country, mayors, often pressed by climate advocates, have attempted to address the crisis with modest policies designed to the improve health of residents and local economies.
But can this patchwork approach mitigate the threat that climate change poses to those living in large cities? How can communities of color in America’s major metropolitan areas be better positioned to brace for the impact of climate change?
Joining us for a conversation about the effects of climate change on cities and communities of color are:
IOP Pritzker Fellow Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Atlanta mayor (2018-2012) Heather McTeer Toney, former Pritzker Fellow, EPIC Policy Fellow, vice president of community engagement at the Environmental Defense Fund, former mayor of Greenville, Mississippi (2004-2011)
If you have any questions about accessibility, please contact Christine Hurley.
This event is being produced in partnership with the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Program on the Global Environment.
Want more Earth Week content? Check out these events taking place nationally and globally:
April 18-24
Earth Week Film Fest
One Earth Film Festival
Virtual – view screenings and get tickets here
April 21-23
48 Hour Earth Day
Democracy Lab
Virtual – details here
Countdown to Earth day
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
https://www.epa.gov/earthday
April 22
Earth Day Live: Debating Planet Earth’s Urgent Issues
EARTHDAY.ORG
Virtual – details here
To find more events around the world: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2022/