In an interview for Global Sisters Report (a project of the National Catholic Reporter), Sister Joan Brown addressed the complexities of the shift to sustainability.   Here are some excerpts.

“The communities feel that they’re ‘a sacrifice zone’ and are continually ‘a sacrificed zone,’ ” Brown said. “They’re suffering from pollution now. Everybody else is using their energy. And yet with this transition, where are the jobs going to come from?”

These are challenging and daunting questions with no easy answers, and balancing respect for local needs with the demands required for the good of the entire planet will not be easy, she said.

But Brown stressed that local participation “at the table” is necessary, as is the voice of the faith community.

GSR: In your advocacy work, you’ve seen how difficult this process of just transition can be. Give us some idea of that.

Brown: We did an energy transition act in New Mexico that passed in 2019. That was to address the coal-fired power plants. The bill itself was to provide carbon-free energy by 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2045. In that process, the effort of a large collaboration was to move toward renewable energy while engaging communities in the transition for new jobs, training and ways to address local needs for tax revenue as we addressed climate change.

What about the need to shift to other technologies? There are complexities with that dynamic, right?

Yes. A story comes to my mind where there’s been an effort to get public comment on a large transmission line through the state of New Mexico to take all of the renewables from our wind and from solar. It’s going through rural areas again and through some sensitive environmental areas. Some ranchers, farmers and others in the affected rural areas are concerned. The energy is going elsewhere and they feel they are paying the price.

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The article appears in the A Just Transition feature series. View the full series.