Labor, community, and government coalitions are fighting for – and winning – transformative investments in green healthy schools, despite the challenging times that public schools face today.
Public schools face chronic disinvestment, enrollment crises, and a backlog of deferred maintenance. Investing in green, healthy schools saves districts money, improves learning and work conditions within schools, and creates and trains students for jobs in the building and clean energy sector. When schools run on clean energy, they both are more able to adapt to extreme weather events and combat the climate crisis by reducing emissions.
Join this panel to hear from leaders in government, labor, and social movements in Chicago, Columbus, and Los Angeles as they share the nuts and bolts of how they are winning and implementing green schools programs in their districts.
Speakers:
Chelsea Watson - Senior Program Director, Building Power Resource Center
Batul Hassan - Labor Director, Climate & Community Institute
Anusha Thotakura - Chicago School Board Member (District 6A)
Tara Polansky - Lead Climate Organizer, Ohio Organizing Collaborative
Julie Van Winkle - Vice President, UTLA AFT
Lauren Bianchi - Green Schools Organizer, Chicago Teachers Union
The forces shaping our world are shifting, but no challenge is more urgent than the changing climate. Once a distant threat, it now drives economic turmoil, energy insecurity, and environmental risk. While markets focus on inflation and governments navigate uncertainty, long-term stability depends on proactive action. A resilient economy needs a resilient planet. Investing in clean energy, resource efficiency, and modern infrastructure isn’t just about cutting emissions – it’s about unlocking growth, creating jobs, and securing our future. The choices we make today will determine whether we mitigate risk or magnify it, whether we lead or fall behind. The future is ours to shape – if we act now.
Speakers :
Hon. Gaston Browne – Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda
André Corrêa do Lago – COP30 President-Designate
Simon Stiell – Executive Director, UNFCC
Hon. Ralph Regenvanu – Minister of Climate Change, Republic of Vanuatu
Dr. Sabine Mauderer – First Deputy Governor and CFO, Deutsche Bundesbank
Angie Lassman – Meteorologist, NBC News
Mark Patel – Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
Brad Bark – Mayor of Muscatine, Iowa
Lee Jones – Regenerative Farmer & Founder, The Chef’s Garden
Melisa Logan – Mayor of Blytheville, Arkansas
Alicia Bárcena Ibarra – Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico
Join us for an absolutely STACKED lineup at our Climate Week Benefit Dinner this September 21st.
Guests include Abigail Disney, Comptroller Brad Lander, Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Delia Ramirez, and Jamaal Bowman, and State Senator Jabari Brisport.
We’ll have delicious vegan food, refreshments, and inspiring conversations with electeds and activists.
Join us on September 21 for Sun Day in DC, a community event to empower homeowners and renters to make their own power through the sun. Whether you’re solar curious or ready to take the next step, this is your chance to connect with fellow residents and trusted experts and learn about all the economic, health, and social benefits of going solar!
Part of a nation-wide event, Sun Day in DC is a District-wide day of education about the power of clean energy. Get all your questions about solar, batteries and EVs answered by homeowners, renters and building managers who will share their firsthand experiences at up to 80 solar sites throughout the District. Solar Hubs across the city will host vetted installers and and experts to educate DC residents about the installation choices and economic advantages of solar, batteries and EVs even as the federal incentives are winding down.
How It Works
Explore our Sun Day interactive map (coming soon) – Filter homes by roof type, installer, battery backup, EV chargers and other features to plan your visits or learn more from the comfort of your home.
Visit Sun Day solar-powered homes and buildings – Homeowners who have installed solar and renters who participate in solar cooperatives will be available to answer questions and share their journey.
Rest, hydrate and learn at our Sun Day hubs – Selected libraries, community centers, and places of worship, will host trusted solar experts, information booths, sermons and talks.
Sun Day is a day of action on September 21, 2025, celebrating solar and wind power, and the movement to leave fossil fuels behind. Solar energy is now the cheapest source of power on the planet – and gives us a chance to actually do something about the climate crisis. But fossil fuel billionaires are doing everything they can to shut it down. We will build, rally, sing, and come together in the communities that we need to get laws changed and work done.
In the past few years, the District has seen record-breaking extreme weather, higher tides caused by rising sea level, heavy rains and flooding, warmer average temperatures, and a rapidly increasing number of dangerously hot days.
As a prelude to Sun Day, meet with resilience experts from DC’s Department of Energy and Environment to learn more about how climate change is impacting DC and how the District government is supporting residents to keep cool, stay dry, and keep the lights on. Bring your questions and concerns. Take part in the discussion and become part of the solution as we work together for a safer future.
Speakers:
Andrea Limauro, Flood Resilience Planner, Natural Resources Administration, DOEE
Erin Garnaas-Holmes, Lead Resilience Planner, Urban Sustainability Administration, DOEE
At the Martin Luther King Jr. Library, Conference Room 401E
901 G Street NW, Washington, DC
Trump and the billionaires are setting the world on fire.
They’re dismantling our democracy, attacking immigrants, feeding the war profiteers, and fueling the climate crisis. Our communities face attack after attack– floods and fires fueled by Big Oil, ICE agenda kidnapping our neighbors, congress revoking our healthcare.
Trump and the billionaires are at the heart of it all and we’re fighting back.
On September 20th world leaders will be gathering in New York City for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week. This is a critical moment for us to show the world we are revolting against Trump and the Billionaire Class. Make Billionaires Pay is part of a series of international mobilizations for climate justice happening 9/19–9/21 entitled Draw the Line. Authoritarian regimes are on the rise but people are fighting back. We are uniting across the world to demand a better future for our communities and for all living beings.
We’re calling for non-violent protests across the US and a mass march in New York City. The Make Billionaires Pay march is one inflection point in an ever growing rebellion against fascist billionaires trying to take control of our government and extract as much profit for our communities as possible. We believe these protests need to be happening at an ever increasing rate and that these mass mobilizations should be the starting point for community organizing.
The tour will begin with a rally in the park, then visit the shadowy petrostate lobby shops that have made the United States into a petrostate–a country where oil, gas, and coal use every trick in the book to delay the inevitable transition to cheap, clean, abundant solar energy. The Petrostate Tour will visit the five dirtiest tools of the petrostate:
American Gas Association
Interstate Natural Gas Association of America
American Petroleum Institute
Venture Global LNG, Inc.
The Maritime Administration of the Department of Transportation
Lower Senate Park, 200 New Jersey Ave NW
Following a brief kick-off rally, we will march less than a mile to the first three stops. For stops #4 and #5, we will board a double-decker Sun Bus. We will end with a pizza lunch and an open discussion about how to continue our campaign against the Petrostate.
10:30 AM:
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight Subcommittee Examining the Use and Regulation of Chemicals
