What a World Beyond Fossil Fuels Will Mean for Workers, Families, and Communities

On Zoom.   Register here.

In spite of our climate-friendly reputation, California is still a major oil and gas producer. This Climate Center webinar will explore opportunities for developing an equitable, statewide plan to phase out oil and gas extraction, imports, refining, end-use, and exports in a managed decline.  Managed decline means that facilities closest to sensitive receptors (like schools and homes) are the first to shut down, and ensures a truly just transition that benefits workers, families, and communities who depend on the oil and gas industry for their livelihoods.  Presenters will include labor representatives, fossil fuel workers, frontline communities, state regulators, and state lawmakers.

Speakers

Virginia Parks, PhD

Professor at the University of California, Irvine

Virginia Parks, PhD, is a geographer and urban planner specializing in the study of urban inequality. Her research and teaching interests include labor and employment, urban politics and policy, and local economic development. Professor Parks has published research on the racial wage gap, immigrant employment patterns, public sector employment, workplace diversity, job training, and the politics of urban development. Throughout this work Professor Parks is motivated by how urban space, politics, and regulatory environments influence inequality outcomes. Her current research analyzes the economic effects of the clean energy transition on workers and regional economies.

Robert Zardeneta

Green Workforce Senior Manager for the Office of Sustainability, Los Angeles

Robert Zardeneta serves as the Green Workforce Senior Manager in the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Robert has more than a decade of experience developing Green Career pathways for underrepresented communities on both a local and national level. He currently is a member of the planning team managing the L.A. City-County Just Transition Task Force for workers and frontline communities impacted by the phase-out of oil drilling.