The Natural History Museum is pleased to co-produce a series of expeditions and events on the occasion of the 13th Clean Energy Ministerial in Pittsburgh on September 20-23, 2022. This work is dedicated to frontline communities and will shine a spotlight on the costs, health impacts and environmental devastation caused by extractive and fossil fuel-based energy initiatives.
EXPEDITION OVERVIEW
In September, 2022, the House of Tears Carvers will embark on a 15-day journey from the Pacific Northwest with a newly carved totem pole, pausing in communities across the country for blessings and prayer. An inter-tribal delegation of youth and elders will escort the pole to its destination: the 13th Clean Energy Ministerial in Pittsburgh, PA.
As the world’s energy ministers convene with business leaders to discuss technological solutions to the climate emergency, Indigenous, Gulf South, and Appalachian grassroots leaders will come together for the Clean Energy Justice Convergence–a series of events and expeditions that shine a spotlight on the costs, health impacts and environmental devastation associated with extractive and fossil fuel-based energy initiatives.
Co-produced by The Natural History Museum, Breathe Project, and more than 45 local and regional groups, this 4-day series features art and ceremony, “toxic tours” of gas, steel, and petrochemical infrastructure, round-tables and rallies calling for truly clean energy and an end to false solutions and fossil fuels.
Join the journey.
Events
Student Strike for Climate Justice
Join a student-led coalition of high school and college Climate Justice organizations for a rally at “The Cut” on campus at Carnegie Mellon University.
read more...Art Projections for Clean Energy Justice
Join artist Aaron Henderson for evening projections that highlight the connection between energy and our fragile climate.
read more...Kayak Expedition for Clean Energy Justice
Join kayakers on the Allegheny River for a paddle to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center with signs and flags calling for a clean energy future.
read more...The Chief’s Pole: Welcome Program and Blessing
Join us as we welcome an inter-tribal delegation of Indigenous artists and activists who have traveled from the Pacific Northwest to the 13th Clean Energy Ministerial in Pittsburgh, PA with a 14′ totem pole. A program of speakers, ceremony and song is open to the public.
read more...Rally for Clean Energy Justice
Hear from local organizers and Indigenous, Appalachian, and Gulf South community leaders who are calling out false solutions and calling for clean energy justice.
read more...Clean Energy Justice Roundtable
This panel brings together frontline communities, including Indigenous elders from the Pacific Northwest and environmental justice advocates from rural Appalachia and the Gulf South. Drawing on intergenerational knowledge and the lived experience of struggle, speakers will shine a spotlight on the costs, public health impacts, and environmental damage caused by extractive and fossil fuel-based energy initiatives.
read more...Petro-chemical Tour
Join Beaver County residents Bob Schmetzer and Terrie Baumgardner, both members of Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC), for a tour of the petrochemical buildout in Beaver County, PA.
read more...Gas Lands Tour
Led by local residents and public health advocates, this tour will give you a first hand account of what it is like to live and grow up in the most heavily fracked county in Pennsylvania, Washington County.
read more...Mon Valley Steel Tour
This half-day tour will begin in Hazelwood in Pittsburgh, the site of the largest solar array in Pennsylvania, before traveling to two environmental justice communities.
read more...