Clean Air Task Force
For my capstone semester at the Columbia Climate School, I interned for and conducted research on behalf of the Clean Air Task Force's Climate Equity Team. My work focused on how Community Benefits Agreements for renewable energy development could advance environmental justice and mobilize investments into lower and middle income communities across the US. This research emphasized best practices for renewable energy developers to utilize federal funds from several federal agencies, notably the Department of Energy, to address community needs and mitigate local opposition.
Ironbound Trip
One of the most significant parts of my time with the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) was our visit to the Ironbound Community in Newark, New Jersey. This community has been ravaged by numerous developments including four natural gas plants, a wastewater treatment plant, a trash incinerator, an airport, a shipping port, and highway traffic pollution from I-95. Ultimately, the negative impacts these developments have on community members are policy choices. The leaders of the CATF refer to this community as a "sacrifice zone."
The CATF's Climate Equity Team conducted interviews with dozens of community member in a local church, as visible on the left. These interviews enabled the CATF to better understand how several factors, including these developments, have had negative impacts on the health and economic mobility of community members. These conversations also highlighted how a clean energy economy could potentially have several positive impacts on public health and economic growth.
There were several final deliverables for this project to both Columbia and CATF. This includes a final presentation and report for Columbia, and two spreadsheets, a memo, and a presentation for CATF. The document on the bottom left contains our final report for Columbia, and the image on the bottom right has the link to our final presentation for Columbia. These final deliverables for Columbia are similar to our final deliverables for CATF, but for confidentiality reasons, I am not allowed to share the deliverables that were shared with the CATF. These deliverables are very similar to the ones for the CATF, though contains less information on case studies and best practices.