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PS. Extra-Local Actions: Hawaii. 2023

prerna_srigyan

After the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California, the state spent $1 billion in cleanup and land remediation for one year. It developed a standard for post-wildfire recovery program occuring in phases. Phase 1 is household hazardous waste removal with removal of visible waste like bulk asbestos. Chemical contamination in the soil is addressed later. Phase 2 is Debris Removal includes site assessment, documentation, asbestos assessment and removal, debris removal, hazardous tree removal, soil testing and contamination removal, and erosion control. California's Governor Newsom deployed 101 state and local government personnel for Hawaii. Survivors of the Camp Fire have also offered emotional and practical advice to Lahaina survivor. 

Sources:
https://calrecycle.ca.gov/disaster/wildfires/
https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2023-08-15/survivors-of-ca…

PS. Hazards in Hawaii. 2023

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August 2023 Update:

 

October 2023 Update:
Hazardous Waste after the Lahain fires: After the Lahaina fires, chemical pollutants in the air and water present a hazardous health issue. Chemicals include benzene, polcyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, lead, asbestos. Half the buildings in Lahaina predated the 1978 federal health ban. Symptoms from this chemical exposure can include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite. Apart form these predictable materials, the debris contains combustion by-products of a unique construction material--caneck, made from sugarcane fibers and treated with arsenic as a termite repellant. 

Sources:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/maui-residents-face-lingering-toxic…
https://www.civilbeat.org/2023/08/toxic-debris-from-the-lahaina-fire-wi…

PS. Stakeholder Actions: Hawaii. 2023

prerna_srigyan

State power in Hawaii: The state of Hawaii was the first state in the US to declare climate emergency. They have a pretty extensive climate change portal. The state is also reported as enacting many progressive legislations, such as banning some sunscreens to protect coral reefs, raise the smoking age, commited to goals in Paris climate deal. It also aims to be dependent 100% on renewable energy by 2045. The state has also banned chlorpyrifos, a chemical that in other parts of the US is resulting into multiple disabilities for agricultural populations. 

According to the maunakeasyllabus, however, the state of Hawaii participates in production of Hawaiin culture as a resource that undermines self-determination. In their words: 

“For the state, the work entails producing Hawaiian culture as a resource that can be managed in the first place. (Yúdice 2004: 4). Culture-as-resource works in tandem with public trust jurisprudence to make feasible the settler state’s governance of the differences of Indigenous communities and the pasts that produce it… What is expedient about this rendering of Hawaiian culture is that the state can protect it, usually under a management plan, thereby safeguarding the resource-glue that presumably coheres Hawaiian community; and thus allows the settler state to conclude that it protects Hawaiian culture without having to address Hawaiian self-determination.”

PS. Hawaii Community Assets. 2023

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PS EcoGovLab skills mapping activity Spring 2023

prerna_srigyan

I see immense skill in being able to conceptualize and envision a paradigm for research to translate knowledge-to-action. If one of our goals is expanding notions of what counts as data and expertise, we have members especially skilled in different ways of knowing, in different methodological styles, and in different content and thematic expertise. For e.g. just going by who is in the room today: we have skills in educating (whether to family members or to K-12 schools or university students); in designing curriculum across different environments; in collaborating with different kinds of knowledge partners (NGOs, government agencies, schools); in negotiating interpersonal relationships; in memorialization and archiving practices; and various technical skills.

What expertise, capacities, and skills do you bring to the EcoGovLab?

wypark89

I am a (science) education researcher and look at most things in the world through the lens of education. On disaster (or anything else), the questions I ask are - e.g., why should we teach about it? What should we teach about it, and how? How can we support teachers to teach about disasters in their classrooms? My training in educational research has equipped me with the theories, tools and methods that can be utilised to approach these questions. I am hoping that these knowledge, experiences and skills can cross-fertilise with EcoGovLab's expertise in anthropology, SPS and environmental governance.

Fresno CEC Purpose & Mission

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Our Purpose

One of our greatest responsibilities is to prepare the next generation to meet the challenges they will face in the 21st Century, with a deep commitment to the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship. We have a unique opportunity for a community dialogue about the civic values, knowledge, and skills that K-12 students should learn and practice in our public school system. We will create strong community support for our schools to provide effective civic education for students to be successful in college, career and citizenship.

OUR MISSION

The mission of the Civic Education Center is to restore civility in America by creating opportunities for youth to learn and practice civic values and democratic skills.

About Us – Civic Ed Center

Civic Education Center | Fresno CA | Facebook

Fresno CEC Summer Institute for Secondary Teachers

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Goals

  • Teach the vision of the Founders and the triumphs and tragedies of our history.
  • Teach civil dialogue on controversial issues and democratic deliberation.
  • Integrate science, technology, literature, media, arts and math with civic projects.
  • To promote teacher understanding of connections with the State Seal of Civic Engagement, Social Emotional Learning, and Ethnic Studies.

Summer Institute – Civic Ed Center

CV YEA Mission Statement

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The Mission of CV YEA is "Our mission is to fight environmental injustices in the Central Valley through connecting like-minded individuals". 

CV YEA is based in Fresno, CA and led by Executive Director Kamryn Kubose (interview), who we met during our visit to Golden Charter Academy. CV YEA takes part in Clean Vehicle Empowerment Collaborative. The board consists of master's students and environmental activists based in California.

PS: SJV pesticides: intersecting injustices

prerna_srigyan

1. data injustice: the Cerda family did not have access to the data linking chlorpyrifos as a neurotoxin. 

2. economic injustice: the Cerda family are agricultural workers and are exposed to pesticides like chlorpyrifos on a regular basis. Rafael Cerda's developmental disabilities will present barriers in economic and overall well-being. 

3. epistemic injustice: Cerda family's complaints and allegations are not being considered by the pesticide manufacturers and sprayers 

4. health injustice: Rafael Cerda's disabilities are a direct result of his in-utero and natal chlorpyrifos exposure 

5. intergenerational injustice: Rafael Cerda's disabilities were caused in-utero as his mother was exposed to large amounts while she was pregnant with him. 

6. media injustice: inadequate attention to the extent of harm this pesticide can cause

7. procedural injustice: ongoing lawsuit, result not yet known

8. racial injustice: the affected are Latino/a agricultural workers 

9. reproductive injustice: exposure to Chlropyrifos in-utero