Environmental justice touches all aspects of life – from the food we put on our tables, the water in our faucets, the communities we live in, even our international affairs and much more. As the Biden administration has already set goals to address the climate crisis, a key component in tackling climate issues, domestic and abroad, is environmental justice.

Duke in DC recently hosted a Beyond Talking Points virtual event series, which convened a group of experts from Duke University and the Aspen Institute to discuss the environmental justice impacts that result from food, agriculture, trade, international relations and water infrastructure. The panelists considered ways the federal government could incentivize or advance sustainability as well as increase access to essential resources.

Beyond Talking Points is a regular briefing series exposing the federal policy community in Washington, DC to in-depth discussions on critical issues facing America and the world. Each event features a complex and relevant policy topic to be discussed by a panel of experts from Duke and external organizations.

This series was held on consecutive Friday mornings beginning on May 21st through June 4th, and featured Duke faculty from the Sanford School of Public Policy, Divinity School, Law School, Pratt School of Engineering, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and John Hope Franklin Humanities Center.

The events were attended by a range of congressional staffers representing over 30 House and 14 Senate member offices, including 7 different offices representing North Carolina’s congressional delegation, as well as 6 Senate and 9 House committees. Other attendees included staff from 6 different federal agencies.

Below is more information about the panel from each conversation with the title serving as hyperlink to the recorded discussion.

Food & Agriculture: Who We Feed and How We Farm 

  • Kelly D. Brownell, Director of the World Food Policy Center and Former Dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University
  • Norbert L. W. Wilson, Professor of Food, Economics and Community, Duke Divinity School
  • Corby Kummer, Executive Director of the Food and Society Program, Aspen Institute
  • Moderated by Pipa Elias, Deputy Director of the Environment Program, Walton Family Foundation

The Role of Environmental Justice in International Trade and Diplomacy

  • Rachel Brewster, Jeffrey and Bettysue Hughes Professor of Law, Duke School of Law
  • Jackson Ewing, Senior Fellow, Duke Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions 
  • Moderated by Jariel Arvin, Foreign and World Fellow, Vox

Infrastructure Priorities: Water’s Role in Promoting Equitable Planning and Investment

  • Catherine Flowers, Environmental Health Advocate and 2020 MacArthur Fellow
  • Martin Doyle, Director of the Water Policy Program, Duke Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
  • Greg Gershuny, Executive Director of the Energy and Environment Program, Aspen Institute
  • Moderated by Andrew Jones III, Incoming Professor at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering