By Gracie Dogramaci
Kristy Drutman, a Jewish and Filipino environmentalist, uses social media platforms to educate and inspire the public about specific current environmental issues. She describes various ways of highlighting the issues specific communities face, including research initiatives, partnerships with an organization, or a campaign with a nonprofit (Drutman 2023, pg. 1). Drutman says her work is mainly through experimentation when it comes to displaying content on social media discussing an issue (Drutman, 2023).
There are a multitude of sustainable solutions for environmental disasters. Therefore, Drutman is always thinking about how to create more awareness around those who are generating current solutions, as opposed to people “reinventing the wheel themselves” (Drutman 2023, pg. 6).
In urban developments that have previously been reliant on non-renewable sources of energy, an effective solution is to generate awareness as to how this energy is being produced and who it is harming. When a group of people have a similar understanding of an issue, it is much easier to accomplish an intended goal, petition, and lobby to change legislation.
Drutman suggests creating inclusive spaces off of social media to discuss climate change-related issues and exchange ideas and sustainable literature. This can be effective because common spaces for brainstorming can unify individuals and allow for more constructive change to occur more mindfully than on social media. She also asserts that the creation of green jobs are incredibly important, claiming that they are “one tangible thing that we can really put out in the world that will change material circumstances and give people employment.” Green jobs make people feel supported in a transition into a renewable energy economy.
Due to the required infrastructure changes, it will be a challenge for large cities to become entirely dependent on renewable sources of energy. However, establishing the local context or creating an understanding of the city’s demographics and trends — which can be done by surveys — is necessary to produce a shift. A good starting point is establishing a widespread understanding of the issue that a city faces, and assessing the city’s current and future energy needs is the baseline for transitioning to a more sustainable and renewable source of energy. Then, individuals can gather together and march for a policy change to switch to a more sustainable source of energy. (C40 Knowledge, 2021).
Continuing the transition to renewable energy includes selecting the most accessible and affordable form of renewables. Keeping local residents the primary focus of the energy shift and accounting for the geography is crucial for the energy to be utilized and welcomed in every part of the city. The C40 Knowledge database highlights that selecting natural gas, or “clean” coal, is not an actual transition to a renewable source of energy. Furthermore, the database lists four crucial components of the transition: resource availability, technical viability, financial viability, and regulatory viability (C40 Knowledge, 2021). Setting goals for the reconstruction of the infrastructure of a city is critical for an effective transition.
To conclude, certain environmental disasters are inevitable, but as long as we keep people are their localized needs in the forefront of this fight, urban energy transitions and beyond will be possible. If people have an understanding of which local actions contribute to climate change, the green jobs available to them, and the impact of certain weather events and disasters, they will be more inclined to act.
References:
Kristy Drutman interview
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, Inc. (2021, September). How to create a roadmap for your city’s renewable energy transition. C40 Knowledge Community. Retrieved January 22, 2023, from https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/How-to-create-a-roadmap-for-your-city-s-renewable-energy-transition?language=en_US
IRENA – International Renewable Energy Agency. (2021, May 17). How cities can take action to drive the energy transition. IRENA. Retrieved January 18, 2023, from https://www.irena.org/News/articles/2021/May/How-Cities-Can-Take-Action-to-Drive-the-Energy-Transition
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