7:00 AM Breakfast
9:00 AM
Spotlight on Recent HEI Activities and Accomplishments, and a Look at HEI’s Strategic Plan for 2025–2030
Session chair: Elena Craft, HEI
HEI President, Elena Craft will chair presentations highlighting HEI’s major accomplishments over the last year and provide an overview of HEI’s Strategic Plan for 2025-2030.
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9:00 AM Ellen Mantus, Donna Vorhees, Anna Rosofsky, and Pallavi Pant, HEI: Highlighting progress and accomplishments across HEI Programs
9:30 AM Ellen Mantus, Donna Vorhees, and Pallavi Pant, HEI: Looking ahead: The 2025-2030 Strategic Plan
10:00 AM Discussion
10:30 AM Poster Session 2
11:30 AM Break
11:45 AM Clear Skies Ahead: Progress and Promise in Clean Air Initiatives Around the World
Moderator: Pallavi Pant, HEI
Panelists: Juan Castillo, Pan American Health Organization, Jane Akumu, UN Environment, Karma Yangzom, Asian Development Bank, Nina Renshaw, Clean Air Fund
Air pollution is the leading environmental health risk factor around the world, and results in significant health, economic, and societal impacts. In the last two decades, some countries around the world have made significant progress toward clean air, while others have begun to establish air quality monitoring and management programs. With several pivotal moments for air quality action in 2024, the panel will reflect on the gains made in recent years toward clean air for all and identify windows of opportunity for continued collaboration and engagement.
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12:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM
Alternative Fuels for a Low-Carbon Energy Transition – Challenges, Opportunities, and Implications for Human Health
Session chairs: Peter Thorne, University of Iowa, USA and HEI Energy Research Committee, and Heather Holmes, University of Utah, USA and HEI Research Committee.
Transitioning the energy system will require changes across a number of sectors, including energy production and distribution, buildings, land use planning, industry, and transportation. HEI has a longstanding history in assessing the health effects of traffic-related air pollution, as well as an interest in emerging fuels and technologies. This session will explore the topic of alternative fuels in a changing transportation infrastructure, focusing on on-road transportation and the kinds and combinations of fuels (e.g., electricity, biofuels, ethanol, hydrogen) and their inputs that will support an evolving vehicle fleet, including impacts to greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, and environmental justice implications.
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1:30 PM Peter Thorne, University of Iowa, USA, and HEI Energy Research Committee: Welcome and introduction
1:35 PM Jonathan Lewis, Clean Air Task Force, USA: Where have we been and where are we going? A historical overview of the transportation and fuel landscape
1:55 PM Vikram Ravi, Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA: Where are we going, what are the implications? Insights from NREL's Resources and Sustainability Group
2:10 PM Valerie Thomas, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA: The future of biofuels as on-road vehicles electrify
2:25 PM Anna Spurlock, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA: Air quality and health implications of electric vehicle charging infrastructure
2:40 PM Panel discussion and Q&A moderated by chairs, featuring speakers above
3:10 PM Heather Holmes, University of Utah, USA, and HEI Research Committee: Wrap up and adjourn
3:15 PM Ice cream social break
3:45 PM
Integrating Environmental Justice Considerations into Policy and Regulatory Decision-Making: Progress and Barriers
Session chairs: Madeleine Scammell, Boston University, USA and HEI Environmental Justice Oversight Panel, and Neeta Thakur, University of California, San Francisco, USA, HEI Research Committee, and HEI Environmental Justice Oversight Panel.
Following Executive Order 12898 and, more recently, establishment of the Environmental Justice (EJ) 40 initiative under Executive Order 14008, US government agencies have been making efforts to incorporate EJ into their policy and regulatory decision-making. In addition, EJ advocates and advisory groups have pushed for government agencies to integrate EJ into policymaking to address the overlapping environmental and social inequities comprehensively. This session will explore local, state, and federal government agency successes and barriers in integrating EJ into policymaking and regulation and recommended paths forward.
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3:45 PM Madeleine Scammell, Boston University, USA and HEI Environmental Justice Oversight Panel: Introduction
3:50 PM Ana Baptista, The New School and Tishman Environment and Design Center, USA: Leveraging community and academic expertise for environmental justice policy and decision-making
4:05 PM Veronica McBeth, Department of Transportation, USA: Integrating Environmental Justice into USDOT practices and policies
4:20 PM Christopher Frey, EPA ORD, USA and Onyemaechi Nweke, EPA OEJ, USA: Integrating Environmental Justice into USEPA practices and policies
4:40 PM María Belén Power, Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, USA, Deneen Simpson, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, USA, and Sofia Owen, Alternatives for Community and Environment, USA
5:10 PM Panel discussion and Q&A moderated by chairs, featuring speakers above.
5:45 PM Free Evening
climate-welcome.pdf 
