MIDDLEBURY — “Climate Justice: Assuring Fair Access for all Vermonters to a Clean and Healthy Environment” will be the topic of the next in a series Community Conversations held at the Middlebury Congregational Church, sponsored by Andy Nagy-Benson and Emily Joselson.
This event will take place on Sunday, Oct. 15, from 4-5:30 p.m., with a panel including Maeve McBride, director of the statewide environmental organization 350VT, Ingrid Pixley, board member of the Addison County Community Trust, and Marc Cesario, co-owner of Meeting Place Farm in Cornwall.
These panelists will be speaking about how some of the most vulnerable Vermonters are already experiencing more than their share of the bad effects of climate change because of unpredictable and extreme weather events. For many low income Vermonters these events represent threats to their homes, their jobs, and even their lives.
“Already, groups in Vermont are coming together under the banner of climate justice to combat the worst effects of climate change and to help ensure that all Vermonters have a voice in how their communities can become safer and healthier,” said Fran Putnam, one of the panel organizers.
“When farmers’ crops are destroyed by flooding, as they were this past summer, it hurts not only the farmers, but also our local economy. It will take a huge effort to reorient our economy in the face of climate change.” 
Members of Interfaith Climate Action Network are helping to organize this panel as part of their ongoing interest in bringing solutions to climate change to the attention of the community.
The panel discussion will be followed by a question and answer session and is free and open to the public.