UC Berkeley Press Release
Conference on California climate change politics, prospects
BERKELEY – "Changing Climates: Class, Culture, and Politics in the Era of Global Warming," an April 11-13 conference, will explore the challenges, conflicts and politics of climate change in California.
The three-day program will feature journalists, scholars and activists discussing "green-collar" jobs, media coverage of climate issues, the environmental impacts of California ports, and the effects of water policy on Native American tribes in Northern California.
The event is sponsored by the University of California, Berkeley's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and its California Studies Center, which promotes interdisciplinary research and public dialogue about critical issues facing the state. The conference will take place at Berkeley City College, 2050 Center St.
Scheduled speakers on green topics will include:
- Friday night keynote speaker Matt Gonzalez, vice presidential running mate for independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader
- Margaret Gordon, Port of Oakland commissioner
- Ian Kim, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights campaign director
- David Beesley, author of "Crow's Range: An Environmental History of the Sierra Nevada"
- Rose Aguilar, host of KALW-FM's "Your Call" program
Participants on panels discussing immigration and border enforcement, organizing community in Silicon Valley, the living wage movement, the pros and cons of tax increases, and California literature will include:
- Philip Fradkin, author of "Wallace Stegner and the American West"
- Jackie Goldberg, former member of the California Assembly, who will give the Saturday luncheon keynote address on "The Changing Climate of Our Schools: Put Students on the Endangered List"
- Peter Schrag, a columnist with The Sacramento Bee and author of "California: America's High-Stakes Experiment"
- Rick Wartzman, New America Foundation fellow and author of "The King of California: J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire"
- David Bacon, KPFA-FM labor reporter and author of "Communities Without Borders: Images and Voices from the World of Migration"
- Richard Walker, UC Berkeley geography professor and author of "The Country in the City: The Greening of the San Francisco Bay Area"
The conference is free and open to the public. There is a suggested donation of $35 for the general public and $10 for students and low-income attendees.