{"id":215662,"date":"2021-08-12T15:58:11","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T19:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=215662"},"modified":"2021-08-17T10:26:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-17T14:26:39","slug":"impatient-for-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2021\/08\/12\/impatient-for-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Impatient for Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

As wildfires raged and reports of climate crises dominated the news cycle, the students of the PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies Green Teams 2021 summer program brought not only the scientific method and careful research but a sense of urgency and growing impatience to their final presentations at the Kasser Theater August 4.<\/p>\n

A desire to break through the noise was on display from the start, as the day began not with a slide show but with a dance performance choreographed to a recording of renowned 18-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to acknowledge that the older generations have failed. All political movements in their current form have failed. But Homo sapiens have not yet failed,\u201d intoned the voice of Thunberg as Green Team program alumna Kaitlyn Esposito and current program member Morgan Nash danced to their own choreography, accompanied by Melissa Nash and Alexandra Butman. The piece was titled \u201cWake Up!\u201d<\/p>\n

A theme of being behind the curve and needing to catch up reverberated throughout the 12 presentations on diverse projects ranging from vertical farms to mass transit electric vehicles to upgrades for affordable housing to novel clean energy storage.<\/p>\n

\"Two
2021 PSEG Green Team members Matthew Murray, a Psychology and Justice Studies major from Montclair State, and Peya Yousuf, an Economics and Mathematics major from Rowan University, discuss waste reduction, environmental justice and potential impacts of PSEG alignment with the European Union Taxonomy framework for sustainable economic practices.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

City of Newark Green Team member Lucia Wiggers, a Geosciences major from Williams College, noted that growing Newark\u2019s tree canopy is one tool for reducing its high land surface temperature. \u201cNewark is one of the most intense heat islands in the country,\u201d said Wiggers, \u201cwith a high percentage of impervious surfaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Wiggers lamented the timeframe for impact: \u201cThis should be done as soon as possible because it takes 20 years for a tree to be planted before it has climate benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montclair State University President Jonathan Koppell, who started on the job just two days prior to the event, picked up on the mood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this notion that young people are sort of selfish and narcissistic because they are staring at their phones and doing Instagram … but I actually think that people your age are more public-service oriented than most. And are more dedicated to doing something about the world than most.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other thing that I think characterizes younger folks is that you are impatient. You don\u2019t want to sit in a classroom for five years or 10 years and say, \u2018Okay I\u2019m learning, and I\u2019ll do something someday. No, I want to do something today.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Koppell continued: \u201cIf the bargain is I get a little bit of arrogance and a little bit of cockiness that goes with your impatience to be the difference maker in the world, I\u2019ll totally take that. Keep your passion, keep your impatience. We need you out there solving the problems that we are dealing with as a world.\u201d<\/p>\n

PSEG Chief Operating Officer Ralph LaRossa kept paying the directness forward. He told students that, although PSEG is selling its fossil fuel plants, \u201cDon\u2019t clap \u2013 because someone is buying them.\u201d Why? \u201cBecause it\u2019s cheap. Burning natural gas is cheap.\u201d He urged students to work to find climate solutions that also fit the pocketbooks of corporations and individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour real challenge is not just to come up with the great ideas but to come up with the cheap great ideas because they win in the marketplace. That at the end of the day is how you make real change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The daylong event also worked to stretch the view beyond New Jersey with the inclusion of keynote speakers Laurie Wiegand-Jackson, owner and president of Utility Advantage, and Heba Allah Essam E. Khalil, professor of Sustainable Urbanism and senior coordinator of Cairo University\u2019s Architecture Engineering and Technology Program, who connected via Zoom from Egypt to discuss climate issues of the \u201cGlobal South.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing less consuming doesn\u2019t mean you are more green,\u201d Khalil said regarding the developing world, while also cautioning about the recent rapid population growth of Global South cities such as Cairo which now numbers more than 9 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen looking at the data, it can be scary and disheartening to see the effects we humans have already had on the environment, and we can too easily find ourselves arguing whether or not we have enough time to rectify our Earth, but that won\u2019t get anything done,\u201d said Matt Murray, Montclair State student and member of the PSEG Green Team. \u201cBut the PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies is an epicenter for growth and knowledge in sustainability, and shows students how this field is not only able to be utilized anywhere and everywhere but needs to be utilized anywhere and everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTime is of the essence,\u201d adds Montclair State student and fellow PSEG Green Team member Ingrid Witty. \u201cHowever it is still possible to avert further crises if we know how. We need to find
\nanswers; this is why future research is critical and must be implemented. Education is the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"President
\u201cKeep your passion, keep your impatience,\u201d Montclair State President Jonathan Koppell told students. \u201cWe need you out there solving the problems that we are dealing with as a world.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Faculty
PSEG Chief Operating Officer Ralph LaRossa told 2021 Green Team members, \u201cYour real challenge is not just to come up with the great ideas but to come up with the cheap great ideas because they win in the marketplace.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Threee
From the left: 2021 PSEG Green Team members Megan Dematteo, an Environmental Science major from Stockton University; Matthew Murray, Psychology and Justice Studies, Montclair State University; and Peya Yousuf, Economics and Mathematics, Rowan University. Team members not pictured: Maranda Bretts, Sustainability Science, Montclair State; Michael Chilinski, Computing & Informatics, Law & Justice, Rowan University; and Agbayi Gbugu, Computer Engineering, Hampton University.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Amy
PSEG ISS Director Amy Tuininga noted the challenges of tackling climate change under the conditions of an ever-changing global pandemic. \u201cThis summer has been even tougher [than last] because this reentry of virtual and in person at the same time. All of you have done an incredible job.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Zoomed-in
2021 Green Team program members listen to fellow students\u2019 final presentations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Story by Staff Writer Mary Barr Mann<\/a>. Images by University Photographer Mike Peters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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