Thomas Pike’s Post

Today is a big day for the Upper Murrumbidgee River 🙌🎉 There is new hope of restoring the health of the Upper Murrumbidgee under an agreement reached with the Albanese Government and the ACT Independent Senator David Pocock this morning. Over the past year, we have been working with politicians, local community groups, First Nations and government to raise awareness about the poor health of the Upper Murrumbidgee. This effort has now been rewarded by: • A review of the policies and agreements that dictate how the flows of the Upper Murrumbidgee are managed • A rewrite of the Statement of Expectations which govern Snowy Hydro operations - recognising the importance of managing water to meet environmental, social and cultural needs alongside renewable energy production • Significant funding for catchment health initiatives, to purchase water in times of drought, and for First Nations to genuinely have their say in the ongoing management of the river. ✍️ We have extended our community survey that allows you to have your say on the future of the Upper Murrumbidgee River. With the newly announced upcoming review of the Statement of Expectations – we can confidently say that your voice, along with the 900 others who have already completed the survey, will directly impact future outcomes. Take the survey here: https://bit.ly/3Mvng75 Read the full media release here: https://lnkd.in/gjEQWMyC

In our Community Voices on Equity report, which serves as a summary document of equity-centered observations and recommendations from community members, we discuss four types of equity in relationship to #greenstormwaterinfrastructure. The first of four is Spatial Equity. Spatial Equity describes where communities are and/or have been underinvested or disinvested, and where communities are experiencing multiple forms of systemic vulnerability and environmental injustice related to housing, poverty, access to transportation, food, pollution, and/or environmental burdens. Stay tuned as we discuss the next three types of equity and visit our website to access many more resources like this, supporting our mission- To activate local governments and water agencies in the U.S. and Canada to implement green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) equitably. https://lnkd.in/gRK3Pspw

Overall - median income is not the most accurate way to determine communities with water quality issues, but rather other social factors should be used. Why is this important? Because federally mandated state-level funding decisions to address water quality issues in disadvantaged communities are being made. According to this study, most states are using median household income "as the primary (or the only) factor." "In general, rural communities and communities that grew up around large industries that have since left are most likely to face water-quality issues." Definitions matter. Thanks for sharing IC2 Institute. #ruralhealth #ruralwellbeing #waterquality #policy #healthpolicy.

Indicators on disadvantaged communities from the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) have been added to PolicyMap. CEJST was developed to identify disadvantaged communities that face burdens across eight categories: climate change, energy, health, housing, legacy pollution, transportation, water and wastewater, and workforce development. This data can be found in the Federal Guidelines menu. #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #DataDrivenInsights

💡 In a world where climate change and economic inequality are pressing challenges, PolicyMap equips researchers with the data and insights needed to assess climate impact. #climatejustice #economicjustice

This is a very exciting new addition to PolicyMap's data and mapping platform. CEJST is intended to be used for the Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver 40% of certain Federal investments to these disadvantaged communities. Federal investments include clean energy infrastructure, affordable and sustainable housing, and remediation of legacy pollution among others. This data is of particular interest to government agencies, non-profits and CDFIs who will be involved in administering these programs and deploying funding to disadvantaged communities. #environmentaljustice #economicdevelopment #justice40 #affordablehousing #communitydevelopment

🚨 🚨 New Paper Alert 🚨 🚨 What's a big challenge in climate mitigation policies? Most of the recommendations for residents to protect themselves against heatwaves assume people have ACs and that they are able to use them. Yet our newest study in AZ shows that people limit their cooling usage throughout the summer to save money on bills and many households do not have working ACs even in a high heat climate like AZ. When we have talked to energy companies about addressing this AC challenge through our energy analysis work at Peoples Energy Analytics and Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering, we have run into a unique problem. Strict energy conservation laws prohibit electric utilities from encouraging people to consume more energy. This means if a person doesn't have an air conditioning (AC) unit utilities in regions with strict conservation laws will not be able to encourage residents to buy ACs. We need to rethink these strict conservation laws unintentionally harm vulnerable households who struggle to afford AC units. Co-Authors: Minji Kwon, Shuchen Cong, Ph.D., Luling Huang, Lucy (Yueming) Qiu, Funding: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Environmental Justice (EJ) movement: at-risk communities should be shielded from energy production. EJ ignores reality: affordable & reliable energy is key to health, good incomes, education, and economic parity. EJ uses cover of ‘justice’ to hurt communities it claims to help.

I'm thrilled to announce the launch of the Water Justice and Technology Project! WJT is a gathering place for research, stories, art, and calls to action that confront the intersection of water justice and tech. Our latest report brings together writers, historians, engineers, activists, and artists to contextualize and critique real applications of water relief policies and technologies across space and time. The resulting shared reflection on “relief” is explored through individual stories about how technologies, including hydroelectric dams, artificial intelligence, mining laws, green infrastructures, and militia organizations are implicated in upholding white supremacy and colonialism and thus hinder the lives and work of those most marginalized. Relief policies are often cast as solutions to the “four axes of water justice”: water security, water access, water affordability, and water scarcity. However, as this report shows, these humanitarian and developmental aid frameworks overwhelmingly neglect how environmental racism, colonialism, and eco-fascism are impacting hydrosocial relations around the world.   Please feel free to reach out with questions! #climatejustice #climatechange #water

See energy planning through a more equitable lens. 🔎 Explore new equity filters on the State and Local Planning for Energy (SLOPE) Platform. SLOPE can help your community prioritize equitable and inclusive #CleanEnergy planning and investments by understanding #energy burdens and social vulnerabilities by census tract. Explore the new equity filters on 7 of SLOPE’s Data Viewer layers: bit.ly/SLOPEdataviewer