Webinar

BRIEFING: WV v. EPA & the American Public's Understanding of Climate Science and Impacts

THURSDAY, July 21 at 3:00pm ET

WATCH THE RECORDING

Overview: 

This panel discussion featured expert analysis of three significant climate change developments from June 2022: the Supreme Court opinion in West Virginia v. EPA, the release of Climate Central daily climate attribution index, and research led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on how severe weather impacts Americans' sense of urgency on climate--as well as what findings reveal about health and inequity in the U.S.

The discussion included open Q&A with all panelists.

Panel:

  • Allyn Brooks-LaSure, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (moderator)

  • Richard Lazarus, Harvard University

  • Andrew Pershing, Climate Central

  • Mary Findling, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

  • Alonzo Plough, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Bios:

Allyn Brooks-LaSure, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (moderator)

Allyn Brooks-LaSure joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in 2020, bringing more than 20 years of communications, management, and policy experience—in the United States and internationally—to his role as vice president, Communications. His work advances the Foundation’s mission through a high-impact communications strategy that supports mindset changes and drives policies that address health equity and the social determinants of health.

Before joining the Foundation, Allyn served as the executive vice president for communications at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights—a 70-year-old coalition of more than 220 civil rights organizations leading the fights that matter most to communities in America. In this role, he helped broaden and extend the reach and effectiveness of the traditional civil rights movement.

He previously served as a U.S. State Department foreign service officer, with domestic and overseas postings in Washington, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. As communications advisor to the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, he managed efforts to highlight U.S. leadership on climate change—most notably at the 2015 Paris climate negotiations.

As an Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency political appointee, Allyn co-led all aspects of web communications, public engagement, media relations, and production for the agency. He has also served as spokesperson for two U.S. Senators, the National Prostate Cancer Coalition, and the Save Darfur Coalition. At the Caraway Group, a Washington, D.C.-based minority-woman-owned communications firm specializing in diversity counsel and public policy and legislative advancement, he led public relations client accounts for the Microsoft Corporation and the U.S. Army Accessions Command. He is also a past board member of the Greater Washington Urban League Thursday Network and a founding board member of the Virginia Leadership Institute.

Allyn completed his BA in Psychology at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. Born in Bridgeton, N.J., he currently resides with his wife and daughter in northern Virginia. In his spare time, he enjoys good food, good films, and spending time with good friends.

Richard Lazarus, Harvard University: WV v. EPA, and America's options to regulate power plant emissions

Richard Lazarus is the Howard J. and Katherine W. Aibel Professor of Law at Harvard University, where he teaches Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, Supreme Court Advocacy, and Torts.  He served on the Transition Team for the Biden-Harris Transition Team for the U.S. Department of Justice.  He also recently served as the Executive Director of the President’s Commission responsible for investigating the root causes of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  

Professor Lazarus is the author of The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court.  He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1979 and he has a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in economics from the University of Illinois, where he focused on environmental issues.

Background Materials: Opinion | The Supreme Court just upended environmental law at the worst possible moment

Andrew Pershing, Climate Central: The Climate Shift Index, and connecting local weather to climate change in real time

Andrew Pershing, Ph.D. is director of climate science at Climate Central, focusing on expanding public awareness and understanding of climate science across disciplines. His role includes bridging primary research and media analysis of findings and impacts to amplify critical work on climate change and make it accessible to audiences around the world. 

As a scientist, Pershing has led interdisciplinary research teams to study the impact of global warming on marine ecosystems in the northwest Atlantic. More recently, his work has focused on how climate trends interact with decisions that people make. He was the lead author for the Oceans and Marine Resources chapter of the Fourth U.S. National Climate Assessment. As a communicator, Pershing has deep experience working with journalists to present climate science on air and in print, including featured interviews on NPR and in the New York Times, The Guardian, and the Boston Globe. 

Pershing holds a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University and a B.S. in aquatic biology from Brown University.

Mary Findling, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Severe weather and Americans' perception of climate urgency

Mary Findling, Ph.D., ScM, is the Assistant Director of the Harvard Opinion Research Program, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is a nationally recognized public opinion expert on public health issues, and she has recently conducted national polls jointly with NPR and The New York Times. Mary co-directed the recent NPR/RWJF/Harvard poll, The Impact of Extreme Weather on Views About Climate Policy in the United States, which examines serious problems facing U.S. households nationally who have recently experienced extreme weather events, as well as broader public experiences and perspectives on climate change and related policies. Mary is a public opinion researcher and has contributed to more than 30 research publications in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Health Forum, and the American Journal of Public Health. 

Mary holds a Ph.D. in Health Policy at Harvard University, and a Master of Science degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Alonzo Plough, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: The health impacts and inequities of climate change highlighted in recent polling

Alonzo Plough joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as chief science officer and vice president, Research-Evaluation-Learning in January 2014. He is responsible for aligning all of the Foundation’s work with the best evidence from research and practice and incorporating program evaluations into organizational learning. He also oversees the two grantmaking portfolios focused on innovation and emerging issues: Pioneer and Global Ideas for U.S. solutions.

Alonzo has been a national leader in public health practice for over 25 years. He came to the Foundation from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, where he served as director of emergency preparedness and response from 2009–2013. In that role, he was responsible for the leadership and management of activities protecting the 10 million residents of Los Angeles County from natural disasters and threats related to disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies. He coordinated activities in emergency operations, infectious disease control, risk communication, planning, and community engagement.

Alonzo earned his Ph.D. and MA at Cornell University, and his MPH at Yale University School of Medicine’s Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.