On Wednesday evening, June 17, in
Houston, the Joint Center for Political & Economic
Studies,
the
National Commission to Engage African Americans on Climate
Change,
and Commission Co-Chair State Senator Rodney
Ellis are holding “A Town Hall Meeting
on Climate Change and Green Jobs.”
Senator Ellis invited
the Sierra Club and a number of other public interest
groups to co-sponsor the event. The
Senator is one of the state’s leaders on clean
energy, green jobs, and other environmental issues.
The Commission seeks to increase the involvement of communities
in the climate change debate.
This Town Hall meeting
is being held to hear from local residents on the impact
of global warming on Houston’s African Americans
and Hispanic/Latino communities. In addition to climate
change and energy policy, the Town Hall meeting will
focus on opportunities related to green jobs and green-related
employment opportunities, and funding for projects to
lessen the progression or impacts of climate change,
including weatherization, building efficiency, transportation,
alternative energy, and green spaces.
The
event is part of the Joint Center's partnership with
the Clinton Global Initiative, an organization established
by former President Clinton to help turn ideas into action.
PARTICIPANTS in the Town Hall Meeting:
The Honorable Rodney Ellis, Texas State Senate, District 13 and Commission Co-Chair
Ralph B. Everett, Esq., President and CEO, Joint Center
for Political and Economic Studies and Commission Co-Chair
Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director, American Public
Health Association
Dr. Robert Bullard, Director, Environmental Justice Resource
Center, Clark Atlanta University
Calvin G. Butler, Esq., Vice President of State Legislative
and Government Affairs ComEd, Inc.
Milton Carroll, Chairman of the Board, CenterPoint Energy,
Inc.
Leslie G. Fields, Esq., National Environmental Justice
Director, Sierra Club
Carolyn L. Green, Managing Partner, EnerGreen Capital Management,
LLC
Dr. Gabriela D. Lemus, President, Labor Council for Latin
American Advancement
Frank M. Stewart, President and COO, American Association
of Blacks in Energy
Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director, Dillard University
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is
one of the nation’s leading research and public policy
institutions and the only one whose work focuses primarily
on issues of particular concern to African Americans and
other people of color.
