Tag: webinar

WEBINAR: The Ethics of Sharing Great Lakes Water – April 17, 2024

Published on March 7th, 2024 by - Blog Posts

We will post the recording of this webinar on or before April 23, 2024.

With worsening water scarcity in the US and around the world, pressures to share Great Lakes water will grow.

The Great Lakes Compact allows water to be diverted outside of the watershed basin for “short-term humanitarian emergencies.” 

But what does this mean, and who defines it? What are the ethics of sharing water? Is it right, and under what conditions?

These questions will be explored in a webinar hosted by FLOW featuring experts in environmental ethics and policy:

Dr. Susan Chiblow
Dr. Susan (Sue) Bell Chiblow is Anishinaabe, born and raised in Garden River First Nation, Ontario. She has worked extensively with First Nation communities for the last 30 years in environmental related fields. She is an assistant professor at the University of Guelph in their new Bachelor of Indigenous Environmental Science and Practice program. Sue has been appointed as a Commissioner to the International Joint Commission.

Dr. Cameron Fioret
Cameron is on the Board of Directors of the Windsor, Ontario-based nonprofit Windsor of Change; and a Policy Analyst in the Government of Canada. Previously, he was a Policy Analyst in the Canada Water Agency, a Virtual Visiting Research Fellow at the United Nations University (UNU-CRIS), and a Visiting Scholar in the University of Michigan’s Water Center in the Graham Sustainability Institute. He completed his PhD at the University of Guelph under the supervision of Dr. Monique Deveaux, Canada Research Chair in Ethics and Global Social Change.

Dr. Caitlin Schroering
Dr. Schroering is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Studies at UNC Charlotte. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies from the University of Florida, and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from Denison University. Her primary line of research is based on extensive fieldwork with two movements fighting against water privatization, one in Brazil and one in the United States. She is the author of Global Solidarities Against Water Grabbing: Without Water, We Have Nothing, forthcoming with Manchester University Press this September.

The discussion will be moderated by FLOW senior policy advisor, Dave Dempsey. Dave is the author of Great Lakes For Sale, which provides historical context for the issue of Great Lakes diversions and chronicles the region’s internal wars over bottled water.

With thanks to:

This webinar is presented with sponsorship by the Barton J. Ingraham & Gail G. Ingraham Foundation.

“The Strait Story” Line 5 Webinar

Published on July 17th, 2023 by - Blog Posts

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzO-NA-qjfw

Download the Line 5 Fact Sheet (PDF)

 

Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline is over 70 years old and remains a threat to the waters and people of the Great Lakes region.

On Wednesday, July 19 2023, FLOW and Oil & Water Don’t Mix presented a special live webinar, featuring a panel of experts on how Michigan, Wisconsin, and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa are working together in the courts to shut down Line 5 and bring an end to Enbridge’s trespass on state, sovereign, and indigenous lands. We also discussed smart pipeline alternatives, how organizations are working to avert an oil spill disaster, and answered audience questions.

Our expert panel:

  • Riyaz Kanji, founding member and Directing Attorney of Kanji & Katzen and attorney for the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
  • Christopher Clark, Supervising Senior Attorney, Earthjustice – representing Bay Mills Indian Community
  • Sean McBrearty, Campaign Coordinator, Oil & Water Don’t Mix and Legislative and Policy Director at Michigan Clean Water Action
  • Read full panelist bios.

Hosted by FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood, and moderated by Senior Legal Advisor Skip Pruss.

This online webinar was supported in part by a grant award from the Mackinac Island Community Foundation’s Natural Resources and Preservation Fund.

 

Meet the Line 5 Webinar Panelists

Published on June 27th, 2023 by - Blog Posts

Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline is over 70 years old and remains a grave threat to the waters and people of the Great Lakes region. On Wednesday, July 19, FLOW and Oil & Water Don’t Mix will present a free live webinar, The Strait Story: Enbridge Line 5 and its Trespass on State Waters and Indigenous Lands. Viewers will learn about important legal developments, smart alternatives, and how we can avert an oil spill disaster.

We’re pleased to announce an outstanding panel of experts for the webinar:

Riyaz Kanji, Founding Member and Directing Attorney, Kanji & Katzen

Riyaz Kanji is a founding member of Kanji & Katzen, PLLC, a firm whose mission is to advance Tribal sovereignty. A graduate of Harvard College and the Yale Law School, Riyaz served as a law clerk to the late Honorable Betty Fletcher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Justice David Souter of the United States Supreme Court. He is an advisor to and vocal cheerleader for the Tribal Supreme Court Project. Riyaz represents Tribes at all levels of the federal court system, and was part of the team that argued and won the decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma vindicating the continued existence of the Muscogee Creek Reservation.

Christopher Clark, Supervising Senior Attorney, Earthjustice, Chicago

Christopher joined Earthjustice’s Midwest regional program in January 2020. He works with the Chicago-based team to advance the organization’s mission throughout the region. Earthjustice, in collaboration with the Native American Rights Fund, currently represents the Bay Mills Indian Community in its advocacy and litigation efforts involving the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline. 

Prior to joining Earthjustice, Christopher worked for over a decade as senior counsel and then Midwest Regional Director for Lambda Legal, the nation’s largest LGBTQ legal rights organization. In that capacity, Christopher successfully argued cases before five different state supreme courts in the Midwest region. 

Christopher obtained his undergraduate degree in Public and International Affairs form Princeton University and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. He lives in Chicago with his husband, Victor where they own an art gallery.

Sean McBrearty, Legislative and Policy Director, Clean Water Action

Sean McBrearty is the Campaign Coordinator for the Oil & Water Don’t Mix campaign and Legislative and Policy Director at Michigan Clean Water Action, where he works on water infrastructure, oil and gas, and drinking water issues. Mr. McBrearty has served as a leader in the campaign to decommission Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline for the past six years. He learned the importance of protecting drinking water and our environment from a young age, growing up in a community devastated by perennial droughts and poor water and air quality in California’s Central Valley.