“Hear no evil, speak no evil, there is no evil.” Putting our heads in the sand, ignoring all the bad news on climate change won’t make it go away; especially when it comes to learning more about what may negatively impact our most precious and most vulnerable populations, our children.
Join us in New York City, September 19th, 2014 on the eve of the Peoples Climate March at a dynamic and unique opportunity to hear from mothers on the front lines, cutting edge scientists and innovative policy makers, making their voices heard. Register for: Today’s Fossil Fuels and the Future of our Children’s Health
The Mothers Project and ClimateMama, in collaboration with the new Sustainability and Environmental Justice Minor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Center for Environmental Health, will host an educational forum:
Today’s Fossil Fuels and the Future of our Children’s Health
When: Friday, September 19th from 6-8:45 pm
Where: Auditorium L63, 524 West 59th Street
(between 10th and 11th Ave)
New York City, New York 10019
Reception 5-6pm with light refreshments
This collaboration will be bringing together scientists doing cutting edge research, innovative policy makers at the city, state and international levels, and mothers from impacted communities. They will share studies, research and real world examples of the health impacts from conception into adulthood from fossil fuels, and why and how this little known aspect of the climate crisis must be recognized and addressed.
On expectations for this educational forum, Angela Fox, Founder of the Mothers Project, and one of the forum’s primary organizers, stated: “We hope that this forum will create more and quicker involvement in the demand for the development of sustainable forms of energy. We want their [the panelists] presentations to be pointed and deliver facts that may at times be uncomfortable to hear. It is my belief that nothing every changes unless it becomes personal. I think and I know you will agree that parents, and especially mothers, tend to take up a cause when the outcome will protect their children and keep them from harms way.”
The outline for the forum is detailed below. The forum will include opportunities for dialogue and question and answer sessions with the panelists.
Panel 1: The Science
The Science Panel will be the foundation for everything that follows.
Panelists include:
Dr. Frederica Perera is a Professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health where she serves as Director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health. Dr. Perera is internationally recognized for pioneering the field of molecular epidemiology, utilizing biomarkers to understand links between environmental exposures and disease. Her areas of specialization include prevention of environmental risks to children, molecular epidemiology, disease prevention, environment-susceptibility interactions, and risk assessment. Dr. Perera will speak on: “The multiple impacts of fossil fuel pollutants on children’s health.”
Dr. David O. Carpenter is a public health physician whose current position is Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany, as well as Professor of Environmental Health Sciences within the School of Public Health at the University at Albany. Dr. Carpenter has studied human health effects of several metals and organic chemicals as well as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. Dr. Carpenter will speak on: “Health effects from inhalation of volatile organic compounds & reduced cognitive function in children.”
Dr. Sheila Bushkin-Bedient, MD, MPH, is a member of The Institute of Health and the Environment at the State University at Albany, The State Medical Society of the State of New York and Concerned Health Professionals of New York. Dr. Bedient’s current work revolves around environmental health issues, chronic diseases, and health concerns of older adults. She has authored and lectured on a wide range of topics including: exposure to chemical contaminants and ionizing radiation in early childhood associated with cancer later in life, the public health risks associated with hydraulic fracturing, the health risks and benefits of consuming fish from contaminated waters, emerging infectious diseases and the mental impacts of disasters. Dr. Bedient will speak on: “How Metabolic Disease is Linked to Early Life Exposures to Chemical Toxins.”
Panel 2: The Mothers
This section will be introduced through a video, featuring:
Theo Colborn, Ph.D.
Born in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1927, Dr. Colborn’s first career was as a pharmacist. She and her husband also ran a successful business raising sheep at their ranch in Western Colorado. When she became concerned about the mineral and coal mining pollution in Gunnison River near their ranch, she embarked upon another career, and at the age of 51 began a masters’ program in ecology and went on to get her Ph.D. in zoology. In 1996, she co-authored the book “Our Stolen Future” that covers the dangers of the synthetic chemical endocrine system.
After founding The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, a non-profit committed to researching environmental problems caused by chemicals that interfere with development, she received numerous awards, including: A Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council for Science and Environment, the Blue Planet Prize, The Norwegian Rachel Carson Prize, The Society of Toxicology and Environmental Chemistry’s Rachel Carson Award, and Time Magazine’s Environmental Heroes Award.
Dr. Colborn serves as a senior program scientist and manager of the Wildlife and Contaminants Program at World Wildlife Fund, and is considered a leading expert in her field. She is an inspiration to many, demonstrating how one can passionately and successfully pursue a valuable cause at any stage in life. She raised four children and is now a grandmother.
Panelists include:
Pramilla Malick, community organizer, journalist, anthropologist and mother of 4 is the founder of two grassroots community groups, Stop The Minisink Compressor Station and Protect Orange County, formed to fight fracking-related gas infrastructure In New York State. She will discuss: “The adverse impacts and burdens placed upon communities targeted by the gas industry, from the perspective of parents; both successes and failures.”
Cherri Foytlin, Co-Founder of The Life Support Project, is a Native American, Journalist, Activist and mother of six, who is raising her children in Southern Louisiana. Ms. Foytlin will speak on, ‘The Gulf Coast -– an American Sacrifice Zone.’ She will share information on her ongoing work, insights and experiences related to the health impacts of the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill on her native community.
Panel 3: Policies of change
This panel will present hope, including newly proposed and practical solutions to the crisis we face.
Panelists include:
Thomas Linzey, President, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). Mr. Linzey will speak on, “Harnessing our municipal governments – creating a constitutional right to climate.” CELDF has assisted municipalities in the US to ban hydrocarbon extraction, and to put in place new laws that establish a right to a sustainable energy future. These laws also establish the rights of nature, placing the highest societal value on these natural systems. Mr. Linzey will participate by Skype.
Samara Swanston, Legislative Attorney, Counsel to the Environmental Protection Committee of the New York City Council and Adjunct Professor at the Pratt Institute Graduate School for Urban Planning and the Environment. Ms. Swanston has successfully litigated numerous environmental cases and has written law review articles and reports on Environmental Justice that have been extensively cited. Ms. Swanston will speak on: “Protecting Children by Fossil Fuel-Free Legislative Initiatives.”
Linda B. Rosenthal, member New York State Assembly, District 67. Assemblywoman Rosenthal recently sponsored assembly bill, A.6863-B which would require monitoring, compliance assurance and reporting of elevated radon found in new sources of natural gas. She convened a groundbreaking State Legislature public hearing to explore the potential health effects to New Yorkers from elevated radon from these new sources. The hearing was attended by state representatives of the Committees on: Health; Energy; Corporations, Authorities and Commissions; Environmental Conservation; and the Legislative Commission on Science and Technology, as well as experts in the medical, scientific and policy areas. Assemblywoman Rosenthal will discuss “Current Legislative Efforts to Protect Residents, at the State Level, from Damages inherent in Further Expansion of Fossil Fuel Extraction and Use.”
Osprey Orielle Lake, Co-Founder and Executive Direction , Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) Ms. Lake will speak on: “Women Leading the Way,” showcasing women working nationally and internationally to promote resilient communities and foster a post-carbon energy future. Ms. Lake will focus on the importance of women in climate action and the opportunities and ways in which women are coming together to create and demand change.
The Moderator for the forum is filmmaker, Penelope Jagessar Chaffer, creator of “Toxic Baby,” a film that explores environmental toxins through interviews and surreal imagery. Ms. Jagessar Chaffer works to bring to light the issue of environmental chemical pollution and its effect on babies and children. Her first British Academy Award Nomination came for her BBC4 debut, Me and My Dad. For her work on BBC’s 2005 Shakespeare’s Stories, she received a BAFTA nomination. Chaffer was inspired to begin her research on Toxic Baby by Dr. Theo Colborn.
Help support this event and The Mothers Project by donating here.Click here for more information on Children’s Health and Fossil Fuels, Or copy and paste this link to your browser: http://www.mothersforsustainableenergy.com/featured-story/2014/05/22/childrens-health-the-fossil-fuels
