'An Inconvenient Truth' Producer On What We Still Need To Work On

Film producer Lawrence Bender forever changed the conversation about climate change with his work on An Inconvenient Truth. Twelve years later, he is still a leading advocate for environmental causes. In this exclusive op-ed, Bender shines a light on one hurdle to sustainability that we need to be talking about.

As I prepare to host the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability’s (IoES) 2018 gala in a couple of weeks, I’m taken back 11 years to the annual conference of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Barack Obama had asked me to join a panel to discuss global warming. I accepted, of course. The year was 2007. Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, which I produced, was riding a wave of box office and award success.

As I was being introduced, the crowd began to cheer loudly and gave a standing ovation, which felt extremely odd for someone like me. I looked over, and of course they weren’t cheering for me—they were cheering for Obama, who had just walked onstage.

After my time at the microphone ended, Obama began to speak. He knew jobs, health care, and education were the issues most pressing on these leaders’ minds. But he knew the urgency of global warming and how it would affect all of us. He also knew part of the solution was green energy and predicted a massive expansion of green business, from blue-collar jobs installing clean energy to high-end research and engineering. He wanted this group to have a seat at that table.

Obama also drew attention to a persistent tragedy: Communities of color are much more likely to be victims of environmental harm. He urged the leaders in the room to get serious about fighting back to protect the health of their communities. They listened, and the speech inspired me personally to fight harder than ever for a healthy planet.

Obama turned out to be prophetic on both counts.

Unfortunately, Obama was also right about communities of color getting the worst of pollution and climate change. From the Standing Rock Sioux fight against big oil to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, environmental injustice is as bad as ever—maybe worse. Communities of color are more likely to be exposed to air pollution tied to diseases like asthma. As a result, 13.4 percent of black children have asthma, compared to 7.8 percent of white children.

Near the final days of President Obama’s time in the White House, he honored a young UCLA climate scientist named Aradhna Tripati with a Presidential Award. He recognized not just her research but her committed, personal outreach to communities traditionally left behind by math and science. Last summer, Tripati launched the first and only center for diversity in environmental science in the country. Focusing on mentor relationships at all levels, "from K to gray," the center offers person-to-person support to ensure the next generation of leaders includes people of all backgrounds.

The world needs fresh, creative approaches. Research tells us that’s just what diversity brings.

So here we are, 11 years after Obama clowned with me in front of the Congressional Black Caucus in D.C., and everything appears to have come full circle. Now is the time to cure environmental injustice from root to tip. In November, we’ll get a chance to vote in new political leaders, but it can’t stop there. We need to support representation in science and advocacy, too. That will give all communities in our country a seat at the table on issues that affect all of us.

It’s time to include everyone in the battle for our planet’s future.