On Thursday evening, the Young Democratic Socialists of America and the ETSU Department of Sustainability hosted a panel to discuss climate change and the Green New Deal.
The six panelists included faculty from different departments across ETSU, including the Department of Sustainability, the Department of Environmental Health, the Department of Political Science and Public Policy, and the Department of Women’s Studies. The panel consisted of Kathleen Moore, Jill Leroy-Fraizer, Ying Li, Danika Mosher, Wesley Wehde and Dennis Gilfillan.
One of the topics discussed was the impact of climate change on human health. Ying Li, an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health, discussed the different ways that climate change could affect human health. She discussed an increase in hurricanes, allergies, mosquito born illnesses and floods.
“You have to understand the indirect impacts of these sort of events,” Dennis Gilfillan, another panelist said. “If you’re dealing with an infrastructure that’s already stressed as far as water quality, and you have multiple hundred year floods, that decimates your infrastructure, and that’s going to cost you money. That’s potentially going to cause illness. That’s another thing you have to consider … not just human health directly but also the other human associated risks.”
Other topics that were discussed on the panel included food scarcity and the government’s position on climate change and mental health when talking about climate change.
“We talk about all of these problems and the Green New Deal tries to address them,” Kathleen Moore, director of the ETSU Department of Sustainability, said. “But one thing we are seeing in people that are engaged are mental health issues, because they feel helpless, especially younger generations. I think one of the things that’s inspirational about the Green New Deal is that there are some solutions and there is some hope. We need to make sure that we don’t always talk about the negative, there has to be a positive side too.”
Another topic that was discussed included how climate change can impact the area of East Tennessee. The area will see an increase in rain and drought. While East Tennessee may not see rising sea levels, it could see an influx in population due to people moving inland.
“It’s more than just us,” panelist Danika Mosher said. “It’s about your neighbor. Even though it’s not affecting you that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. … Eventually it will come to impact you.”
