NEXT WORLD CONVERSATIONS: REGIONAL OHIO ACTION FOR RESILIENCE
The Next World of Energy
During Covid lock-down, we held monthly conversations on “what the next world might look like,” if we addressed the climate crisis in the same coordinated way that we addressed Covid, asking experts across central Ohio and beyond to converse together on their grandest visions for real change. These meetings facilitated a series of topics about the changes we wished to see (and be). Some topics addressed included how major systems impacted our quality of life such as food, energy, education, democracy, and health.
Meet the People Involved
Jon-Paul d’Aversa
As the Country’s first dedicated energy planner at the metropolitan planning organization level, Jon-Paul d’Aversa designs and leads energy initiatives for the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission. Through the Franklin County Energy Study, the Local Government Energy Partnership, and the Clean Energy Acceleration Program, his work is focused on the intersection of equity, the economy, and the environment.
Jon-Paul brings nearly a decade of energy planning and sustainability experience to MORPC. Half of this time was spent at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, where Jon-Paul led the 2015 New York State Energy Plan and crafted the New York State 2030 goals for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and emissions. His analyses supported the creation of the Reforming the Energy Vision Proceedings, the New York Green Bank, and the Microgrid Consortium.
Miranda Leppla
As the OEC’s Vice President of Energy Policy and Lead Energy Counsel, Miranda works to advance clean energy and energy efficiency policies and projects, works with utilities and businesses to create and implement plans for carbon pollution reductions, and advance forward-thinking, cutting-edge energy policies through advocacy, communications, partnerships, and litigation. She represents the OEC and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the Ohio Power Siting Board, and courts throughout the State of Ohio in legal cases pertaining to energy issues.
Joel Wainwright
Joel Wainwright is Professor in the Department of Geography at Ohio State University, where he studies political economy, social theory, and environmental change. He is author of Decolonizing Development (2008), Geopiracy (2013), and, with Geoff Mann, Climate Leviathan (2018).
Rev. Marcia Dinkins
Rev. Marcia Dinkins is the new Executive Director for Ohio IPL. Rev. Dinkins brings with her organizing experience on the national, state, and local levels. She has a background in organizing on issues related to domestic violence, health and safety, education, jobs and crime. She holds three degrees: Associate of Arts (Oakland Community College); Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary and Women and Gender Studies (University of Toledo); and a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice & Policy (Youngstown State University). Shea has taught social justice workshops at Case Western University, Bowling Green State University, and at the American Baptist Churches Leadership Academy.
Pastor Shawn Jackson
Pastor Shawn Jackson is the pastor of Mayes Community Temple and is also the Director of Student Life and Diversity and Inclusion at Ohio State Marion. He also serves on several committees and boards in the Marion community, including the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (which he chairs), the Black Heritage Council, and the Children’s Services.
Jim Reding
Jim Reding teaches AP environmental science, ecology, and a summer class on sustainable agriculture. It is most important to Jim that the students are involved and engaged in his class. His classes are relevant and thought-provoking. Students are encouraged to wonder why and seek answers to their questions. Jim is a natural facilitator of inquiry-based learning and energizes his students to ask questions that he does not know the answer to. Along with his student, he developed the school’s organic garden, including raised beds, fruit trees, a hoop house, greenhouse, aquaponics, a rain garden, and solar panels. Many of the projects were responses to problems and were mentored as they came up with solutions to real-life problems. Students identified problems and were mentored as they came up with solutions to real-life problems. The garden extends far beyond its fences – produce is sold to community members and students eat the fresh food when dining in the cafeteria.
Dustin Braden
Dustin Braden is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Ohio Wesleyan University. Driven by pairing science with communications, Dustin got his start at Granville High School working with the Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program to restore ~35 acres of farmland into prairie and wetland habit. Since then, he’s worked at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and their nonprofit Friends Group to lead tours of public lands, conduct nest counts, and increase their digital communications presence. Dustin currently works with Citizen Science GIS as an undergraduate research assistant and at Ohio Wesleyan as an intern and coordinator for the Environment and Sustainability Program.
Alyssa Battistoni
Alyssa Battistoni is political theorist and Environmental Fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment working at the intersection of political economy, feminist thought, and environmental politics. She writes frequently on climate and environmental politics. She writes frequently on climate and environmental politics for publications, including The Nation, Dissent, Jacobin, and Boston Review. She is the co-author of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal. One of her most recent co-authored publications in Jacobin is titled “We Can Waste Another Crisis, or We Can Transform the Economy”. She writes, “The urgency of climate change had never been clearer. We need a bold vision of a good and livable future – and a political program to match.”
Reed Kurtz
Reed Kurtz is a political scientist who studies relations between politics and nature in a time of planetary ecological crisis. He received his PhD in Political Science from The Ohio State University, where he is currently a Postdoctoral Research Affiliate at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies. Previously he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Otterbein University, and in Spring 2021 he will be a Visiting Assistant Professor of International Relations and Environmental Politics at Purdue University. Reed is a native of the Midwest and longtime resident of central Ohio, with experience living and working abroad in Chile and China. He was co-editor of the most recent issues of Radical Philosophy Review focused on climate change and the coronavirus pandemic.