Symposium highlights the importance of community involvement, equitable access in clean energy transition

Leading minds in the decarbonization and humanities space gathered at the Walton Center for Planetary Health on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9 to begin a statewide dialogue on how to strengthen communities and clean energy standards utilizing the Justice40 Initiative.

The Leveraging Decarbonization for Community Benefits in Arizona Symposium was jointly hosted by Arizona State University’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Lightworks,  Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine, the Just Energy Transition Center and Humanities for the Environment Global Network. 

Other sponsors included UNESCO BRIDGES; Center for Negative Carbon Emissions; Global Futures Education Alliance; School for the Future of Innovation in Society; School of Sustainability; School of Social Transformation and the Department of English.  

Shalanda H. Baker, former director of the Office of Energy Justice and Equity in the U.S. Department of Energy, provided a keynote address on the first day of the event. She was introduced by Matt Henry, who graduated with a PhD in humanities from ASU in 2018. Henry, who researched environmental stories, said his humanities degree prepared him for community benefits planning at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory by introducing him to diverse cultural perspectives rooted in broader histories, literature and art. These perspectives link contemporary community environmental struggles to older stories about exploitative activities unfolding over centuries.

He named Baker’s book, “Revolutionary Power,” as an example of storytelling that can help humanity “look back to the past and plan for the future.”

Baker’s speech primarily focused on the origins of the Justice40 Initiative, which was launched by the Biden-Harris Administration in 2021. The initiative, which she and her team framed, directs 40 percent of the benefits of certain Federal investments in climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing to disadvantaged communities.

Baker discussed the policy architecture established by the Department of Energy to justly implement $100 billion in new clean energy programs — and the structural challenges to advancing a just clean energy transition. A key theme throughout the symposium was the importance of including community members in energy planning, a priority shared by the Justice40 initiative and ASU’s Just Energy Transition Center and Lightworks.

Our current energy system, which has been in use for the last 140 years, already demonstrates the consequences of inequitable energy access. Justice40 aims to address and strengthen the communities impacted most.

“Nationally, over half of Black households, 52.2%, suffer from energy insecurity,” Baker said at the event. “Around 47% of Latinx households suffer from energy insecurity. … Tackling the energy burden became the first Justice40 priority because of that data.”

The symposium that followed Baker’s keynote brought Arizona leaders and youth who have been working directly with their community members to make justice and equity the centerpiece of clean energy efforts.  Many of these leaders have been working collaboratively with each other for many years and, more recently, with ASU’s Just Energy Transition Center to achieve these aims.

“Saturday’s speakers inspired us to think about how we will get ‘all hands on deck’ in Arizona to build a future that will meet clean energy standards and result in communities that enjoy the benefits of good jobs and cleaner environments,” said Lauren Keeler, director of the Just Energy Transition Center and an assistant professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society. 

This collaborative approach was demonstrated in the panel discussions on Nov. 9, which were curated to actively encourage conversation between panelists and participants. Many of the discussions centered around “community benefits planning.”

A community benefits plan centers on four principles: community labor and engagement, investing in quality jobs, accessibility and Justice40. This plan is required by the Department of Energy for nearly all Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding opportunity announcements and loan applications.

The first panel session discussed the resources and support Arizona communities need to fully realize the potential of community benefits plans; the second addressed the role of technology in Arizona’s decarbonization efforts.

Joni Adamson, President's Professor and director of Humanities for the Environment, said the symposium was also an opportunity to highlight the value of young changemakers who are already taking action across Arizona. The third panel session examined how community benefits can foreground youth perspectives.

“We heard from youth leaders about the projects they are already working on and what they hope to see in the future,” Adamson said. “They will be leading us into the next fifty years, so we need to listen to them and help them build their capacity to lead.”

Baker also emphasized the need for new leadership in the transition of power to younger generations. The youth panel noted that leadership must be willing to pass down their knowledge so mistakes are not repeated and time is not wasted. They also emphasized that more funding would help ensure an efficient and worthwhile transfer of power.

The symposium was an important step in the right direction, but Keeler, Adamson and Arizona community leaders recognize the need for what Baker called “the creation of a durable vision for justice and equity” in energy transition.

“If communities cannot see themselves as part of this transition,” Baker said, “it will fail.”

“At ASU,” Adamson said, “we are having much more meaningful conversations about community benefits plans, that are inclusive not only of the sciences but the humanities and social sciences. We are also interfacing much more with community leaders and youth from throughout Arizona.”