The town hall, hosted by Climate Power 2020, Latino Rebels, and Fuse, featured Julio Ricardo Varela, founder of Latino Rebels, and Cristela Alonzo, a comedian, actress, and producer, as moderators and Jamie Margolin, co-founder of Zero Hour, Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director of UPROSE, and Teresa Leger Fernandez, the Democratic Nominee for New Mexico's Third Congressional District, as panelists.
“Today people felt ash coming down, they thought it was actually snow,” said Yeampierre, beginning with the fires blazing in California.
She’s based in New York.
“We know that not only is California burning, we had Hurricane Andrew that impacted Houston and Fort Arthur, Hurricane Maria, superstorm Sandy in New York. Two weeks ago I was on an Amtrak train and a tornado touched down and took out the engine from the train,” Yeampierre continued.
“We’re living in a place where the current extreme weather events are happening, and they're impacting the front lines, the people least responsible for creating climate change are the ones that are most impacted,” said Yeampierre. “So we are in a state of crisis and it is a climate justice concern for our frontline communities, and it’s serious. It’s happening as we speak.”