Belabored Podcast #61: When Climate and Labor Converge (Live!), with Nastaran Mohit and Lara Skinner

Belabored Podcast #61: When Climate and Labor Converge (Live!), with Nastaran Mohit and Lara Skinner

Is real economic and environmental sustainability still achievable? How do you tackle capitalism and climate change simultaneously? Belabored, in its first ever live recording, asks Nastaran Mohit, Lara Skinner, and guests.

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As people around the world prepare to converge on New York City for the People’s Climate March, there seem to be more reasons than ever to despair about climate change, but perhaps also more reason than usual to be optimistic. Issues like the Keystone XL pipeline, superstorm Sandy, and California droughts have seeped into the public consciousness and shown how massive economic inequality overlaps with environmental devastation. But in the face of impending climate catastrophe, is real economic and environmental sustainability still achievable? And how do you tackle capitalism and climate change simultaneously? Belabored, in its first ever live recording at 61 Local in Brooklyn, speaks with two activists on the front lines of both the labor movement and the climate change policy debate about how society can deal with climate change in a way that protects both workers and the environment.

Nastaran Mohit, a New York City-based organizer and activist, discusses how the experience of Superstorm Sandy and its economic aftermath provide vital lessons for both the labor and environmental movements. Lara Skinner, Associate Director of The Worker Institute at Cornell, speaks about her work on labor unions, sustainability and economic alternatives.

Special thanks to 61 Local for hosting us, and to our wonderful audience.

Conversation with with Lara Skinner and Nastaran Mohit

Reports by Lara Skinner and Sean Sweeney at the Cornell Worker Institute:

Pipe Dreams? Jobs Gained, Jobs Lost by the Construction of Keysone XL

The Impact of Tar Sands Pipeline Spills on Employment and the Economy

Nastaran Mohit on The Real News:

Thousands Remain Displaced From Sandy Without Heat and Power

Michelle:

This Is How to Create a Green Economy That Works for All

Where Have All the Green Jobs Gone?

Imagining a “Just Recovery” from Superstorm Sandy

How Sandy Clean-Up Brought Day Laborers Out of the Shadows

Sarah:

Whose Recovery?

What Sandy Wrought, Part 1: Health-Care Crises Remain a Year After the Storm

What Sandy Wrought, Part 2: In the Wake of Disaster, Reproductive Health Care Falls by the Wayside

Community Organizers Fill a Large Gap in Superstorm Sandy Relief, but It’s Not Enough

New Yorkers: Catch Nastaran Mohit and international guests tonight, Friday, September 19, at the opening plenary of the NYC Climate Convergence (St. Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Avenue, 7 p.m.).