(Invited) Social Justice & Global Electrification: Diversifying & Distributing Power Through Antiracist Feminist Leadership on Climate and Energy

Abstract

Trained in environmental science and engineering, I have been working on climate and energy for over 25 years. My professional experiences as a woman in this technical field have taught me that the inadequacy of our efforts to respond to the climate crisis -- our inability to end fossil fuel reliance and transition to a renewable-based society -- is not due to a lack of technological innovation or scientific expertise. Rather, our ineffectiveness results from a lack of investment and attention to social innovation and social justice. To fix that, we need an inclusive and integrative approach to climate and energy policy.Rather than continue to perpetuate the inadequate, narrow, exclusive, male-dominated technocratic approach that I call “climate isolationism,” it is time for a new kind of leadership that embraces antiracist and feminist principles and prioritizes transformation toward an equitable and just future that strives for inclusive prosperity for all.At this critical time of interconnected crises of health, climate, housing, growing economic inequities, racial disparities, and structural racism, I believe we will not be effective until social justice, racial justice, and economic justice are at the core of all climate and energy policies. This realization led me to write my new book – Diversifying Power: Why We Need Antiracist, Feminist Leadership on Climate and Energy (Island Press, 2020) A New Kind of Leadership Despite our nation’s ideals of freedom and equality, the political culture in the United States continues to embrace patriarchal leadership (based on domination, exclusion and control) and reinforce white supremacy (systemic and historical privileges for white Americans). This means that wealth and power is concentrated among white Americans, mostly men. The culture of science and scientists is part of this exclusive culture, and those advocating for technocratic climate and energy policies are all-too-often white men. Until power is redistributed, and until we have more diverse leadership on climate and energy, we can expect to continue the legacy of narrow, ineffective climate policies.When women, people of color and indigenous leaders join leadership spaces where they have been historically excluded, they bring different life experiences, different priorities, different perceptions of risk and a different capacity to center social justice. Research on risk perceptions shows that white American men see all kinds of threats — from climate change to automobile accidents to cancer — as less risky than non-white American men and women. Diversifying leadership is essential to effectively balance risk perceptions and center social justice in our policies. Distributing Power to the People As the world electrifies, we need to pay more attention to social justice and seize the opportunity to redistribute power back to people. Antiracist, feminist leadership is focused on resisting and restructuring so that power is distributed rather than concentrated. This kind of leadership requires constant resistance to practices, processes and policies that perpetuate economic inequities and racial disparities. We need leaders who acknowledge who currently has power, and who understand the priorities of those who want to concentrate their own wealth and power. Importantly, we need leaders who understand who has been -- and continues to be -- excluded from positions of power.As the power and influence of the polluter elite continues to grow even during the pandemic, we need more leaders, including scientific leaders, who can stand up for structural and transformative change. We need scientists to recognize the constraints of “climate isolationism” and expand their advocacy to integrate all the opportunities for advancing social justice while transforming to a renewable-based society. I am optimistic for this shift in leadership, mostly because of the power of youth – I have two daughters who are 20 and 21. Through them I see both the passionate concern about the future, and also their deeper understanding of the problematic power dynamics and the interconnectedness of the world’s biggest problems. Young leaders, including those involved in Sunrise and the Movement for Black Lives, offer us all inspiration and hope.