Members of LMU’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform Working Group attended the Los Angeles Times’Climate California Live event on Sept. 26, 2024, in downtown L.A.
The event, hosted at the Zipper Concert Hall, featured a series of panels highlighting the work and insights of the Climate Desk at the Times,with an emphasis on the effort needed both to decrease the rate of warming, and to respond to the effects of the climate crisis that we are already feeling.
“The Times climate reporters offered perspective and clarity on how to handle our own anxiety, anger, and paralysis,” said Amy Woodson-Boulton, professor of history, “addressing both mitigation — what can we do to prevent the worst effects? — and adaptation — how can we make sure our infrastructure can survive what’s happening?”
The three panels — focused on climate anxiety, sustainable lifestyle change, and activism — provided valuable insight into the work being done throughout California, both in government and through ground-level activism, to advance environmental sustainability goals like those guiding LMU in its adoption of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform. The journalists on the panels, including Pulitzer Prize finalist Susanne Rust, addressed both the obstacles facing progress, and the meaningful opportunities that still exist to change our world for the better.
Panelists spoke at length about some of the concrete steps being taken in California to improve the rate of climate action, including special guest Alyssa Jaipersaud, a member of the Los Angeles County Youth Climate Commission, who spoke to the historic nature of that first-of-its-kind body, which hopes to serve as a model for similar groups across the country, and give a greater voice in the crafting of climate policy to the generation who will be most affected by it.
At the same time, panelists made it clear that there were significant challenges ahead because of the combination of the speed at which action is needed and the slow pace of political change. Woodson-Boulton said, “Sammy Roth, who writes the great, free climate newsletter Boiling Point, reminded the audience that there are individual choices that will make a difference, such as using less plastic, eating less meat and dairy or using ChatGPT less — the panel worried about the new challenge that AI poses in its outsized use of water and energy!”
Woodson-Boulton continued, “The conversation continually returned to the difficulty of shifting so many aspects of our society; at the end of the day, individual choice is important, but we also need the systemic change that can only come with major social shifts and government action. As Roth said, ‘We are trapped in a system that we didn’t build.’”
Lucy Renfrow, LMU’s sustainability coordinator, appreciated the event’s focus on social and individual themes, rather than just technological solutions. Renfrow sees a path to addressing the need for social engagement and awareness in programs like those included in AB-285, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, which calls for climate education programs throughout California’s schools. “I think we as a university can even look to this policy as great inspiration,” Renfrow said, “If students feel more confident in their understanding of sustainability, I believe they’re more likely to engage in meaningful actions to promote it.”
Loyola Marymount University has signed on to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, a global initiative inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical On Care of Our Common Home (Laudato Si’) that will guide our institutional journey to ecological renewal by 2030. To learn more, visit lmu.edu/lsap.
