HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University’s Sims Library and the Sustainability Center will present a series of Green Talks about timely environmental issues affecting Southeast Louisiana. Now in its third year, the Green Talks series is part of a campaign to promote ecological awareness at Southeastern.
“The talks will last only 30 minutes, followed by a question and answer session,” said Sustainability Manager Alejandro Martinez. “We hope this will accommodate Southeastern staff and students who wish to attend.”
This year, due to COVID restrictions, all Green Talks are presented via Google Meet. Recordings of the presentations will be available to all who register. Registration is available at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevDS760-4qK-qQIJKarHdA_LM6rHhIn5yW5xfwV7ZXj1Ni8Q/viewform.
The next talk is scheduled Monday, March 29, at 3 p.m. Titled “Clean Energy, Greenwashing, and the Just Transition,” the talk will be given by Rachel L. B. Stevens, assistant professor at Environmental Justice Clinic at Vermont Law School. Stevens will share some of her casework with environmental justice communities who fight “greenwashing,” where companies support false environmental solutions like waste incineration, factory farm gas, and sewage sludge processing to present an environmentally friendly image.
“These greenwashing tactics allow companies to take advantage of clean energy programs and subsidies while harming communities,” Stevens said.
Stevens will discuss clean energy programs, how to avoid greenwashing, and how the “Just Transition” framework shifts economic and political power from an extractive economy to a regenerative one.
Next on the schedule is “The 2020 New Orleans Nurdle Spill – Tracking the Path of Hundreds of Millions of Plastic Pellets” Wednesday, April 28, at 1 p.m.
For more information, contact Outreach Librarian Angie Balius at phone (985)-549-3898 or [email protected].