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Username
Gregory King
Proposer First Name
Gregory
Proposer Email
gking@tskenergysolutions.com
Proposer Last Name
King

Boston 2021 Areas of Focus

Proposer Company/Organization
TSK Energy Solutions LLC
Proposer Phone
(617) 610-9616 x1
Proposer Job Title
Managing Director
Proposed Session Description
It is widely acknowledged by the scientific community that we are rapidly approaching a climate mitigation “tipping point” fueled by Green House Gas (GHG) emissions from Power Plants, Buildings and Vehicles In order to avert a climate crisis of unimaginable consequences we must change the way we generate and consume energy by boldly embracing renewable energy, energy efficiency and vehicle electrification. Left unchecked Climate Change is the next global pandemic on the horizon, one where face coverings, social distancing or vaccines will save humanity. Drawdown is the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline. This is the point when we begin the process of stopping further climate change and averting potentially catastrophic warming. It is a critical turning point for life on Earth—one we must reach as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible. With the clock ticking for meaningful interventions time is of the essence but how do you empower aggressive, yet just, climate action when faced with a worldwide recession caused by the COVID 19 pandemic and a deadlocked federal government? The proposed session will focus on the efforts of a cohort of students from the Northeastern School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs lead by an environmental justice advocate to create a Geographic Information System that depicts energy burden in environment justice communities that can be filtered by environmental justice conditions and by Massachusetts House and Senate Districts. The design objective of the system is to visualize energy burden disparities to members of the Massachusetts state legislature. By providing an intuitive and easy to navigate Geographic Information System that can be filtered by legislative districts the system enables a legislator to visualize the significant energy burden disparities between residents of environmental justice communities and non-environmental justice communities. By providing rich data visualization that targets legislators the tool helps them better understand where EJC’s are located non their legislative districts and how the significant energy burden disparity impacts their constituency ability to achieve the American dream.
Diversity and Inclusiveness
The theme of the presentation is the use of data visualization to inform and influence energy policies in environmental justice communities.
Learning Objectives
How to locate rich data sets using publicly available data sources. The presenter will showcase and share their experience finding quality data sets and rationalizing data so that they can be synchronized for the appropriate level of data granularity.
Participates will learn about environmental justice conditions and how to align their policy advocacy with the most meaningful EJC conditions.
Participates will learn about how to design user interfaces that are intuitive and simple to navigate while shielding users from underlying system complexity
Participates will learn how to conceptualize the use of data and information systems to increase the effective of their climate action initiatives.
Has this session been presented before?
No
Target Audiences Level of Expertise
Level 1 - No prior knowledge needed.
Session Format Details
45 Minute presentation followed by 15 Minute Q&A session

Strongest Content Connection - Boston 2021

Anything else you'd like to tell us about your session proposal?
Check out the prototype of a GIS system that depicts energy burden in environmental justice communities. https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__nu.maps.arcgis.com_apps_opsdashboard_index.html-23_4f9039e0f10642128ed767fa7d385916&d=DwMFAg&c=Rt9MH7x8aPAwEY3f-URIJch7v0PDyVhHmVdpquKSoc0&r=3XmoTLOjiQcqV13J5iSAyDjJemrVC7Dy8_z9XrA31unOc4jDpn3vY_7Z5TuS6v3M&m=qa87M0L5NC_HMiSIXpsHXfG8OLBww7JlutVltoiL3r0&s=BBhzYB2Dwl98LAYEaj7q-yGcSFoJq9Ge7kDSb7t7Rkg&e=
Reviewer 1
Cater, James
Proposal #
169
Committee Decision
Rejected

Presenters

Full Description
As the need for climate action becomes increasingly more urgent, it is imperative that the historically overburdened communities that consists of black and brown people are not left out of the policy making process. By securing a voice in the climate action and mitigation discussion, residents of environmental justice communities can ensure that policies are designed with their wellbeing in mind as a driving consideration. Armed with better awareness of the energy burden disparity between communities in the same legislative districts, climate and environmental advocates can now use precision targeting to ensure that the most needy are the first to benefit from decarbonization. During the session the audience will learn about how data science and visualization can be used to empower and stimulate effective climate action.