EcoVisions Brings Together Diverse Voices for Environmental Action
Climate change is an evolving crisis that demands vigorous responses from all of us. That was the theme of the first Signature Program at The Vassar Institute for the Liberal Arts, titled EcoVisions: Finding Your Place in Environmentalism. It was held at the Institute, adjacent to the Vassar campus, on November 14, 15, and 16.
The first day of the conference focused on the challenges and advances in decarbonization of buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. The second day began with a panel discussion on conservation and land management. Assistant Professor of Political Science and environmental lawyer Arpitha Kodiveri led a “hackathon” in which local high school students were challenged to find legal solutions to environmental problems. Said Kodiveri, the conference “highlighted the interconnectedness of education, dialogue, and action in shaping a more sustainable and equitable future.”
EcoVisions concluded with discussions on how legal action can tackle some issues generated by climate change and with an address by environmental activist Kristy Drutman. “This is an important moment in human history for all of us,” Drutman said. “We have a role to play for our ancestors, to be a future ancestor, to remember that at the end of our lives that we did everything we possibly could to make this world a better place.”
As he opened the conference on the morning of November 14, Director of Sustainability Kenneth Foster acknowledged the widespread concern about environmental policies espoused by President-elect Donald Trump. “These are troubled times,” Foster said, “but if [the federal government] is abandoning or scaling back environmental initiatives, we will step forward. It will require a major commitment to address these grand challenges.”
Keynote speaker Jasmine Graham, Executive Director of the grassroots environmental group Mid-Hudson Energy Transition (MHET), said families hit hardest by the effects of climate change are those least able to combat it. She said those with the lowest incomes, who are most often people of color, live in neighborhoods where power plants, landfills, and other environmental hazards are located. And before they can benefit from advances in energy technology, such as solar panels or heat pumps, they must address common health hazards such as mold in their homes. “Our challenge is to design good programs that will enable us to level out these inequities,” Graham said.
Following her address, Graham was joined by Foster and four other panelists to discuss advances and challenges in promoting decarbonization.
Evan Carberry ’14, Director of Sales for Kelvin, an innovative heating and cooling tech company, said his firm has been successful in installing hybrid heating and cooling systems in many apartment buildings and other residences in the New York City area.
Marc Tsurumaki, Principal Architect at New York City-based LTL Architects, said builders and architects are learning about advances in building materials that are more friendly to the environment than the concrete, glass, and steel that have been staples of construction for the past century.
Bryan Corrigan, Vassar College Campus Architect, said one of Vassar’s most vexing challenges is finding ways to modify its older buildings so they can benefit from new technology in heating and cooling systems.
And Mark Crosskey, Commercial Energy Program Manager for Sustainable Westchester, a consortium of community leaders and environmental experts working to address environmental issues in Westchester County, NY, said New York State faces a daunting challenge meeting its stated decarbonization goals. “This would require decarbonization of 400 buildings a day,” he said, “and we are not close to that.”
Graham said she was encouraged that so many individuals and organizations are working diligently to address these issues. “Events like this one are part of that solution,” she said. “Building relationships with people from so many different sectors is how we make progress.”
Thursday’s event concluded with a guided tour of the Institute led by Maryann Pilon, Vassar’s Director of Project Management. The 46,000-square-foot project is powered by an array of photovoltaic cells and by 58 geothermal wells on the property, Pilon said. It has an all-electric kitchen and uses energy efficient washers and dryers and biodegradable detergent. In addition, much of the furniture in the building is made from reclaimed wood, Pilon said.
On November 15, EcoVisions presented a panel of professionals in environmental conservation and land use management, moderated by Jen Rubbo, Director of Vassar’s Environmental Cooperative. Panelists included: Keri VanCamp, Director of the Preserve at Vassar; Pia Ruisi-Besares, Director of Science, Climate, and Stewardship at Scenic Hudson; Helen Forgione, Senior Manager Conservation Science, Natural Areas Conservancy; Laura Heady, Conservation and Land Use Program Coordinator at the Hudson River Estuary Program and Cornell University; and Troy Weldy, President of the Columbia Land Conservancy.
The event included a Student Showcase that spotlighted 23 environmental projects created by students from Vassar and local high schools. Projects ranged from a display of insect diversity on the Vassar Preserve to research on water quality in local tributaries. The Tempestry Project was also on display.
Zahara Goldkin ’25, an environmental studies major from Memphis, TN, presented her research tracking bird abundance and diversity at several locations on or near the campus. Goldkin said she is looking for evidence of changes in the bird population caused by urbanization and the shrinkage of wetlands triggered by climate change. While she’s remaining “realistic” about the threats posed by climate change, she said, some of the conference speakers had raised her hopes. “I was particularly interested in learning about what lawyers are doing in climate work,” Goldkin said. “Most of my studies have centered on biology, so it was interesting to learn what others are doing. It gave me a different perspective.”
During the November 15 event, Professor Kodiveri and climate lawyers Ashley Nemeth and Camila Bustos hosted a legal “hackathon.” Students from Spackenkill High School and the Storm King School were invited to make recommendations for resolving a hypothetical legal issue based on the real-life story of Tuvalu, an island nation under threat of sinking due to rising sea levels. Students wrestled with such questions as: What obligations do former colonizers bear toward the now-imperiled countries from which they have extracted natural resources? What responsibilities do countries and industries with the highest rates of greenhouse gas emissions have in helping countries with smaller carbon footprints currently facing climate emergencies? What entities should fund the move of thousands of people and support them throughout their transition? What should be the criteria for migration?
Among the student proposals were the repatriation of climate refugees to former colonizing countries as a form of reparations; supporting the migration of climate refugees to safer locations with a United Nations-organized effort to channel taxes on fossil fuels and funds from donor countries; and using a “danger index” to determine the urgency of any impending large-scale move.
Kodiveri, whose work focuses on the role of law in the context of redressing climate harms faced by indigenous communities in India, thanked the students, saying, “These are ideas that we as lawyers have been thinking through. And to have you come in and give us a sense of energy and innovation is a lot of help for us.”
On November 16, a panel discussion titled “The Future of Climate Lawyering” offered a thought-provoking platform for discussing the evolving role of legal professionals in addressing climate crises. Panelists, in addition to Kodiveri, were: attorney Ashley Nemeth, of the Earth Rights Advocacy Clinic at New York University; Camila Bustos, a climate lawyer and Assistant Professor at Pace Law School; and Yi Yi Prue, a lawyer and climate activist in Bangladesh.
“Both the hackathon and the panel discussion emphasized the need for collaboration across disciplines, generations, and geographies to tackle the formidable challenges ahead in climate law and justice,” Kodiveri said.
The three-day event was capped by a keynote address by Kristy Drutman, founder of Brown Girl Green, a not-for-profit organization that explores the role of diverse voices and perspectives in addressing environmental and climate issues. Drutman shared her personal journey into environmental advocacy and storytelling, emphasizing the need for intersectional environmentalism that centers on marginalized communities. She discussed the history of environmental injustice, the lack of diversity in mainstream environmental organizations, and the importance of community-based solutions.
Assessing the event as it came to a close, Foster, the Sustainability Director, said it had “exceeded our expectations in terms of the quality of discussion and audience engagement. The invited panelists shared a wealth of knowledge and introduced a variety of useful concepts and frameworks. Audience members expressed how they learned to see things in new ways, which is exactly what we hoped would happen over the three days of the program.”