Link now to livestream a Harvard climate change/public health event with John Kerry + Gina McCarthy

[karynnj]

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/c-change-official-launch-tickets-45489195408

Gina McCarthy, the Obama EPA head, is heading that public health/ climate change organization at Harvard.

[MBS]

1. wonderful- wish I had time to watch it now!

Will it be archived, I hope? Do you know?

[karynnj]

2. Yes - it is there now - same link

It was interesting. It dealt both with climate change and its impact on public health. Dr Holder, who was the Science adviser to Obama for 8 years, MCCarthy and Kerry all (obviously) worked together in the Obama years. (McCarthy mentioned Moniz as well.)

One thing Kerry spoke of other than Paris and the other things done when they were in office, his usual activism from the 1970s that led to the EPA ... and encouraging activism now - was the SEED program that Vanessa Kerry started. McCarthy and Holder were both good - with Holder's comments being pretty scary.

PS I like the name that the organization took C Change.

Edited to say link works.

[MBS]

3. great-thanks! n/t

[karynnj]

4. Here is a link on the new center that Gina McCarthy is heading

Former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head and Boston native Gina McCarthy will lead a new climate science center at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the university announced on Wednesday.

Called the Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment, or C-CHANGE, the center will seek to translate climate change research at the Chan School and elsewhere to make it “more understandable and relevant to the public and key decision makers,” according to its website. The center will also hold public forums on climate change and conduct its own research on a variety of topics, including pollution in cities and the use of toxic chemicals in building materials and consumer products.
<snip>
“Climate change isn’t about saving the planet and it’s not about politics, it’s about our kids and making sure they have the opportunity for a healthy, sustainable world,” McCarthy said at a launch event on Wednesday, according to a press release. “C-CHANGE will ensure that cutting edge science produced by Harvard Chan School is actionable — that the public understands it, and that it gets into the hands of decision-makers so that science drives decisions.”

Harvard also announced in Wednesday’s press release that the center will collaborate with Google “to develop a set of public tools and resources” that will discourage builders from using materials with harmful chemicals.



https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2018/05/30/former-epa-head-gina-mccarthy-to-lead-new-climate.html

(One of the talks about the way products are not tested reminded me of Teresa's chapter in "This moment on Earth".

[MBS]

5. Great!

After all her good work, she must be going NUTS with the destruction of the EPA.

[karynnj]

6. I can imagine - McCarthy spoke of Holdren, Kerry and Herself being 3 of the 4 MA people all

Last edited Thu May 31, 2018, 08:11 AM - Edit history (1)

involved on the environment --- Moniz being the 4th. Considering the intelligence and commitment of those 4 all passionately working to get things done, I would imagine that it does make her sick -- all of them spoke of the disregard for science.

However, it seems that the international agreements on this are real and are hurt by the US being terrible, but they still form a turning point and we can go forward faster when we get a different President. On the EPA -- I think EVERYTHING they changed was via executive order or an administrative order. That means -- the list is there -- and a good president can change them back.

I would bet that because coal is no longer economic -- there is no way someone wanting to build a new power plant would not consider that if they don't follow the state of the art , there is a real risk that they will have to spend a lot of money to get them to meet standards in a few years. Given that they are NOT cheaper, why create dirtier energy and run that risk?

By the way, Boston will be hosting a climate change summit for mayors on June 7th, the day before Marty Walsh is hosting the international conference of mayors June 8-11. Kerry will be the keynote speaker and McCarthy will be speaking as well.

This paragraph goes to your question -- the State Department cancelled a similar summit announced by the SD in 2016:

Walsh decided to hold the summit after the U.S. State Department told him a meeting of the world's mayors to discuss climate change wasn't a priority. That meeting, announced in 2016, had been scheduled for 2017.

http://www.wbur.org/news/2018/05/09/boston-climate-summit

Here's Bos.com - far less info -- although they do mention that Kerry and McCarthy are both MA natives. https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2018/05/28/boston-hosting-mayors-summit-on-climate-change

Here is an article that tries to look at what success the mayors have had in the last year. The sharing of experience and pooling together seem important. https://www.curbed.com/2018/5/30/17411024/paris-accord-climate-change-climate-mayors