Perspectives on Sustainable Development

Chris Whitehead, Senior Environmental Justice Consultant
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Environmental justice and climate change are driving decarbonization across industrial sectors and throughout everyday life. There are many nuanced issues that planners will face as they try to sustainably reshape our world. This podcast will focus on climate and EJ but also bring on associated experts to speak about how these issues affect their fields. From city planning, economic development, transportation, education, national security, mental health, manufacturing, supply chain...we should all be considering how climate and EJ considerations will affect our decision paradigms. Join me every two weeks as we discuss critical issues with thought leaders who know them best. Logo credit and general assistance: Uzziah Davis

  1. DEC 9

    Season 2 Finale - We Are Running Out of Backyards

    Send us a text NIMBY - Not in my backyard. If you let that play out for long enough, eventually you risk running out of backyards, and running out of trust.  I have been wanting to do this episode for at least a year and was excited to be able to sit down with Roishetta Sibley Ozane (Founder, Vessel Project of Louisiana) and Sharonda Allen (Founder and Executive Director, Operation Grow Inc.). I spend an obscene amount of time looking at modeling, EXCEL sheets, and reading papers that study undue levels of environmental and public health impact in overburdened communities. All of that is no substitute for lived experiences. Roishetta and Sharonda have raised families in these communities, started impressive organizations, and center much of their work around educating youth and helping those most in need.  Some of this conversation got pretty raw. There is clear frustration and distrust, but also hope, such as in state EJ compliance models.  I chose this as the Season Finale to try and highlight the importance of really listening to these communities. We have only had environmental regulation in the country for about 50 years and despite considerable macro progress, we have only just begun trying to address cumulative impacts and overburdened areas. Getting this right is important. Happy Holidays all, and we will be back for Season 3 in Feb 2026.

    50 min

  2. NOV 25

    S2: E14 - A Warming Planet is a Riskier One

    Send us a text Our climate is changing due to anthropocentric activities over the past 120 years. We are seeing increasing impacts nearly every year due to these changes, with the poor and those living in low-lying areas often taking the brunt. Policy choices today will inform the scope and range of these future impacts, and who is most affected. But we also must meet rising energy demands while not forgetting about affordability.  Let's start there. Everything I have said thus far is true, and a massive challenge, but one that we have no choice but to take on.  Our guests this episode are Sunny Wescott (Chief Meteorologist: Federal Emergency Response and Operations Support) and Matthew Tejada (Sr VP of Environmental Health, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)). Sunny and Matt have dedicated their lives to public service and were mainstays on climate policy development during the Biden Administration. Matt also led the USEPA's Office of Environmental Justice. Our talk centers around objectively taking on climate challenges, taking big swings at policy, and the effects of federal changes over the previous ten months.  Climate risks are not just going away on their own. They are not just going away if you call them something else. Less warming equates to lives saved, fewer financial shocks, and protecting high risk areas. Let's keep working on that.

    1 hr

  3. NOV 11

    S2 E13 - Water Wants to Go Where It's Always Gone

    Send us a text Somehow people still underestimate the impact of water on our lives. We don't think about it a lot, and often take it for granted, unless there is a problem. It is fundamental to our natural systems and public health, as well as recreation, cultural heritage, religions, and now unfortunately many climate-related detriments. Storms are getting stronger and more frequent, inland and coastal flooding is increasing, with each instance forcing us to question our planning paradigms. We have options available to us on the mitigation and resiliency sides and need to make some informed choices. There are many tools available now, such as Drawdown Explorer, that can help inform potential projects.  Our guests this week are George Schuler (Co-Founder and Principal at Connecting for Change, LLC) and Furhana Husani (Director of Programs and Climate Initiatives at the Waterfront Alliance). I love talking with people clearly smarter than me on a certain topic, because I always learn so much, and walk away inspired by their work. For one thing, I never knew so many natural waterways were covered over in Manhattan.  George and Furhana share a similar practical approach with an aspirational mindset, in that the choices we make today can have incredible impact. I hope you enjoy this episode and invite you to follow George and Furhana's work.

    58 min

  4. OCT 28

    S2 E12: Water Purification and Management: From Bivalves to Billion Dollar Projects

    Send us a text Water management will be one of the critical issues of the 21rst Century. Between increased volatility in weather events, climate driven droughts, and historical cleanups...well that's plenty to keep us all busy. Now add data center proliferation and nearly unprecedented water demands. Challenging to say the least. My guests this week are Pete Malinowski (Executive Director of the Billion Oyster Project) and Mark McDonough (President, New Jersey American Water). Both men are passionate speakers who are taking on different parts of this topic. For those who haven't seen Pete's Ted Talk, I'd highly recommend it. Mark has been a friend for a few years, and I am constantly impressed by his work in Camden.  After you watch this, you will have questions, and if you are like me, you will also likely want to dig into these topics. Clean water is a public health necessity as well as an economic imperative. You cannot have sustainable growth without it.

    54 min

  5. OCT 14

    S2 E11: Climate Policy: Bottom Line, The Longer We Wait, The More It Will Cost

    Send us a text We're back!!! What I thought was just going to be a quick break for the summer as I planned a conference, ended up being more of an endeavor as I then had to deal with a fried hard drive, being laid off, and starting my own consulting company. Oh, also during this period, I went to NYC Climate Week. This episode was recorded a few days after climate week. We were fortunate to be joined by two leaders who have helped push aggressive climate reforms in their states at the highest levels. NJDEP Commissioner Shawn Latourette and Former Commissioner of the NYSDEC (and currently Partner and Senior Policy Director at Foley Hoag LLP) Basil Seggos have led New Jersey and New York to being at the forefront of climate and EJ policies, and both men are regulars at NYC Climate Week and similar events around the country.  How do we judge progress and incremental gains in the face of a problem as encompassing as climate? Unfortunately, those who have contributed the least to the problem often bear a higher rate of climate impacts and have a lower capacity to respond. This is the ultimate risk evaluation in that the more the planet warms, the more likely it will be that we see increased flooding, droughts, heat waves, stronger storms, biodiversity loss, etc. Project Drawdown does a great job of walking through all of this and lately put out their Drawdown Explorer to help connect local people with applicable projects in their communities.  Ultimately, it will cost us far more the longer we wait to act, and if we wait, we will likely have less to protect. These are heavy topics, and it is always important to find hope, to highlight progress, and celebrate collaboration.  I hope you enjoy this discussion with Shawn and Basil, I know I did.

    52 min

  6. JUL 22

    S2 E10: EJ Icons: Decades of Protecting Community and Public Health

    Send us a text About four years ago I was giving a talk in Ohio and someone in the crowd asked me, "EJ just kind of sprang up, where did it come from, how did this start?" At first I was pretty taken back by the comment since the environmental justice movement began around the time I was born, but this gentleman simply had not heard about it until that point, until it was tied into his operations.  My two guests this episode are Vernice Miller-Travis (EVP of the Metropolitan Group and Co-Founder of WeAct for Environmental Justice) and Adrienne Hollis, PhD, JD, VP of EJ, Health, and Community Resilience and Revitalization at the National Wildlife Federation. They have been at this for a long time and describe multiple situations that drove them to get into this work. Having to wipe oil smears off windshields so they could drive, swimming in polluted waterways, and seemingly having no say in what happened in their communities. Thankfully, much has changed over the last decades and nearly all environmental metrics have improved, but there are still many areas that need to be addressed sustainably.  If you are going to do this work, you have to try and understand sense of place, community, and heritage and how environmental and public health impacts can affect each. Paraphrasing something from the episode, the community will know if there's a problem, the science will identify the source (s), and hopefully collaboration among all parties can bring on solutions.

    49 min

  7. JUL 8

    S2 E9 - Policy Development: Protecting Public Health and Economic Opportunity

    Send us a text There's a common fallacy out there that public policy that is protective of public health is likely bad for bottom lines. That could not be further from the truth. Sound policy is protective but in a sustainable way that also promotes economic growth.  For this episode, who better to talk about taking on complex policy development, than two people who have done it at the highest levels? Sandra Whitehead is an expert on cumulative health impacts, a professor at GW, and formerly a member of the White House EJ Advisory Council. Ryan Hathaway is currently with Lawyers for Good Government, and was the Director for Environmental Justice with CEQ and previously the EJ Coordinator with the Department of the Interior. Both Sandra and Ryan share my desire for objectivity and passion for following the numbers.  They were gracious enough to share insights from their work with the previous administration and many forward looking thoughts on major policy development. Protecting public health and promoting economic development are not mutually exclusive.  Enjoy the episode!

    56 min

  8. JUN 24

    S2 E8 - We Live in Systems Not Silos: How Changes in the Arctic Impact the World

    Send us a text It feels appropriate that this episode is posting in the middle of a heat wave in much of the United States, with four straight days of heat index readings at or above 110F. While we were planning for the episode a glacier in Europe gave way, burying the town of Blatten, Switzerland. Our world is warming, and that has many difficult implications. With all the changes of the last six months, we had many options for episode names on this one, but something one of our guests said stuck out. We live in systems not silos. Climate is the ultimate tiered system where if you make a change at the top, you should expect to see changes below. The Arctic is a great example of this and why so many climate researchers focus on that part of the world. This episode brings back one of our first guests, Marisol Maddox (Senior Arctic Fellow, Dartmouth College) and a Zach Labe (Climate Scientist, and Graphical Wizard, at Climate Central). Our discussion covers national security concerns, biodiversity loss, the rate of change that we have been seeing, and what these changes mean as climate impacts in the rest of the world. Zach was also kind enough to showcase some of his graphical and storytelling skills toward the beginning of the episode to set the tone for us.  Enjoy, and I hope this episode inspires you to look into these topics.

    59 min
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About

Environmental justice and climate change are driving decarbonization across industrial sectors and throughout everyday life. There are many nuanced issues that planners will face as they try to sustainably reshape our world. This podcast will focus on climate and EJ but also bring on associated experts to speak about how these issues affect their fields. From city planning, economic development, transportation, education, national security, mental health, manufacturing, supply chain...we should all be considering how climate and EJ considerations will affect our decision paradigms. Join me every two weeks as we discuss critical issues with thought leaders who know them best. Logo credit and general assistance: Uzziah Davis

Information

  • Creator
    Chris Whitehead, Senior Environmental Justice Consultant
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    34
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Perspectives on Sustainable Development
  • Show Website
    Perspectives on Sustainable Development