‘Just transition’ discussion stands out at environmental justice workshop | News

The IEPR helps guide the governor’s office as it creates policy. This year, seeking to develop an “equity and environmental justice framework” to guide its work, the CEC scheduled three workshops in areas deemed “disadvantaged” by its CalEnviroScreen pollution assessment tool. Bakersfield was selected to represent the San Joaquin Valley, the first time an IEPR workshop has taken place in Kern County.

The equity workshop, featuring local, state and national policy makers, began with opportunities for these leaders to evaluate their progress toward sustainable energy. KCCD Chancellor Sonya Christian highlighted a $50 million allocation in the state budget for the district’s California Renewable Energy Center of Excellence, with its focuses on workforce development and community engagement.

The discussion took on a different tone as Lori Pesante, civic engagement director for the Dolores Huerta Foundation, noted that the energy workforce features members of disenfranchised groups who suffer the consequences of environmental issues like methane leaks and polluted water. Citing a proverb — “Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter” — Pesante added that these workers don’t often get the chance to construct policy themselves, but should occupy a primary position in such discussions.

“If we’re going to be sequestering carbon using some of the same techniques that were used to extract it in the first place,” Pesante said, “I think that we need to be really clear about what that means, and it’s not just us who need to understand it.”

The issue of “just transition” — ensuring that workers are protected as the economy shifts away from oil and gas toward clean energy — involves a variety of logistical factors, added U.S. Department of Energy Senior Advisor Betony Jones. Electric-vehicle manufacturing should occur where oil workers live to help them switch over. And those workers should be able to obtain credentials that aid them in acquiring EV jobs, Jones added.

“If a lot of workers in oil and gas have mainly learned on the job,” she said, “then their experience isn’t necessarily documented in any way that they can take to a new job.”

Shrayas Jatkar, a policy specialist at the California Workforce Development Board, reminded colleagues to consider “what needs might still exist in the oil and gas sector” as part of a just transition, like remediating land and capping wells.

In response to a question from CEC Vice Chair Siva Gunda on building trust locally, Jatkar suggested as an example, “If there is a vote to be taken, maybe community groups get three votes to somebody else’s one vote. That is a way to try to address what is otherwise going to be very fraught and difficult.”

Throughout the workshop, though, several speakers cited instances of successful community outreach. For example, Norma Rojas-Mora, executive director of government relations and development at Bakersfield College, mentioned a Rural Poverty and Health Equity Summit the school held in Delano in 2019. It was fruitful, she said, without taking place in the “biggest, shiniest” location.

“The biggest feedback we got,” Rojas-Mora said, “was, ‘Thank you so much for providing such a space, hosting a summit in one of the rural communities.’”

The CEC will accept written comments on the workshop through Aug. 10.