Join us to Break Bread | Break Barriers | Break the Silence
Conversation
Coronavirus has changed every aspect of our lives, from the way we interact with each other to the way we think about our futures. Its impact on the environment is no less dramatic - there have been sharp reductions in carbon emissions and air and water pollution, leading to clearer skies and renewed hope when it comes to fighting global climate change.
However, the incredible developments that we’ve seen may not last. While some communities, governments and corporations are taking opportunities to review and tighten environmental policy, others may use the crisis and future economic recovery to justify harmful activity and behaviors that amplify existing climate issues.
Join environmental experts and other enaged global citizens at the virtual table to ask questions, share opinions and learn about actions we can all take (from our homes) to do our part to protect and improve our world.
Can't wait to see you there!
Recommended Reading & Actions:
Coronavirus lockdowns have sent pollution plummeting. Environmentalists worry about what comes next (NBC News)
5 Ways the Economic Upheaval of Coronavirus May Impact Carbon Emissions (Scientific American)
The Coronavirus will change our lives, but the environment could see benefits (SF Chronicle)
Covid-19 Brings Out All the Usual Zombies: Why virus denial resembles climate denial. (NY Times - opinion)
United Nations Open Call to Creatives - bring your own magic to vital messages that need to be shared
Corona Virus real time resource (Medium compiled)
We can all help in our own way:
Stay active in your community during this time by donating your time, your skills or your dollars - here are a just a few organizations with real need:
Schools and Children: Save the Children, Room to Read, and DonorsChoose, No Kid Hungry (feed kids who rely on school lunches)
Vulnerable populations: GiveDirectly, American Jewish World Service, and National Domestic Workers Alliance Coronavirus Care Fund, GoFundMe Coronavirus Relief Fund
High risk communities: Meals on Wheels and World Institute of Disability
Regional Funds:
SF Foundation (Bay Area Region)
All Home (Bay Area Region)
Cal Fund (LA County)
Robinhood relief effort (New York City)
Chef
You’re encouraged to order from a local restaurant if that’s available to you.
Our generous experts
Darcie Goodman Collins, PhD | Keep Tahoe Blue | League to Save Lake Tahoe
As chief executive officer, Darcie is responsible for mobilizing the League to achieve the most effective protection of Lake Tahoe. She oversees all aspects of the organization’s management, leadership, and strategy. Darcie serves as an ambassador to advocate for the Lake with state and federal leaders, and ensures the League’s advocacy is grounded in the best available science. Darcie earned her doctorate at the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her dissertation addressed the chemical, biological and ecological character of water bodies to determine how environmental science can integrate with community engagement to inform public policy. Prior to joining the League, Darcie had served as Habitat Restoration Director for Save the Bay and had provided research support for the University of California, Davis and the University of California, Santa Barbara, monitoring lake and stream chemistry and ecology. Born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, Dr. Goodman Collins’s first became involved with the League as a summer intern in 1996. In 1997, she was the Tahoe community’s youth representative at the first Tahoe Presidential Summit. Darcie serves on the Lake Tahoe Federal Advisory Committee, is past board president of the Tahoe-Baikal Institute, and is a former board member of the League.
Jessica Morse | Deputy Secretary for Forest Resources Management | California Natural Resources Agency
Jessica is working to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration and vegetation treatment to make Californians wildfire resilient and restore forest health. Prior to joining Governor Newsom’s administration, Jessica spent nearly ten years in National Security working for the Defense Department, State Department and the US Agency for International Development. Her assignments included a year and a half in Baghdad, Iraq, as well as tours in India, Myanmar, and US Pacific Command. Throughout her career she designed and executed innovative strategies across agencies and governments, including a strategy using renewable energy technology transfer as a catalyst for US defense engagement with India. Jessica is a 5 th generation Northern Californian. She and her family still own and manage their original homestead forestland in the Sierra foothills. Jessica is an outdoor enthusiast and can be found backpacking, skiing and fishing throughout the Sierra. She even hiked 500 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. Ms. Morse holds a Masters of Public Affairs from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Principia College. In 2018, Morse ran for U.S. Congress in California’s 4th Congressional District.
Damon Nagami | Senior Attorney and Director the Southern California Ecosystems Project. | NRDC
Damon works to protect parkland, open space, and wildlife habitat and advocates for park and coastal equity in southern California. Damon’s work includes preventing a controversial toll road from paving over San Onofre State Beach, working to revitalize the Los Angeles River without displacing existing communities, and protecting communities and the environment from the impacts of expanded oil production in Los Angeles County and throughout California. Prior to joining NRDC, Damon practiced environmental law at Bingham McCutchen LLP, specializing in contaminated property litigation, Clean Air Act compliance, and litigation under various environmental laws including CERCLA and the Clean Water Act. Damon earned his J.D. at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and his undergraduate degree in environmental sciences at U.C. Berkeley. Damon’s blog can be found at https://www.nrdc.org/experts/damon-nagami