Podcast / A People’s Climate / Nov 15, 2025

(Solar) Power to the People, With Elizabeth Yeampierre

On A People’s Climate: The path to climate justice is local.

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(Solar) Power to the People with Elizabeth Yeampierre | A People’s Climate
byThe Nation Magazine

In this episode of A People’s Climate, host Shilpi Chhotray sits down with Elizabeth Yeampierre, veteran organizer and executive director of UPROSE, Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community-based organization, to explore how frontline communities are taking climate action into their own hands.

In a capitalist world that prioritizes bigger, faster, and more, Elizabeth’s work takes a different path. Small, hyper-local solutions like a community-owned solar grid have huge impacts. Residents of Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, where UPROSE focuses its work, are seeing lower energy costs, good green jobs, and local ownership. All while creating a blueprint for other communities to follow.

Elizabeth also takes us beyond the buzzwords of “green economy" and “clean energy” to show what a Just Transition really looks like. Mainstream environmental efforts often focus on the end goal: shifting to renewable energy. But they fail to ask “at what cost and to whom?” Elizabeth’s work ensures community members aren’t left behind.

This episode is a masterclass in how grassroots power can transition us to a just future.

Key Topics

  • A Just Transition: Shifting to renewable energy while protecting workers and communities historically harmed by pollution
  • The community-led renewable energy Grid Project
  • Resisting extractive economies and reclaiming industrial spaces without displacement or gentrification.
  • The importance of building an intergenerational movement
  • How Trump-era policies have dismantled climate protections and undermined renewable energy incentives
  • How disaster capitalism exploits crises and how community-led responses offer real solutions

Resources

UPROSE

The GRID 

Sunset Park Solar

A new solar project in Brooklyn could offer a model for climate justice

US Spending On Climate Damage Nears $1 Trillion Per Year

The Shock Doctrine (Naomi Klein)

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode of A People’s Climate, host Shilpi Chhotray sits down with Elizabeth Yeampierre, veteran organizer and executive director of UPROSE, Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community-based organization, to explore how frontline communities are taking climate action into their own hands.

In a capitalist world that prioritizes bigger, faster, and more, Elizabeth’s work takes a different path. Small, hyper-local solutions like a community-owned solar grid have huge impacts. Residents of Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, where UPROSE focuses its work, are seeing lower energy costs, good green jobs, and local ownership. All while creating a blueprint for other communities to follow.

Elizabeth also takes us beyond the buzzwords of “green economy” and “clean energy” to show what a Just Transition really looks like. Mainstream environmental efforts often focus on the end goal: shifting to renewable energy. But they fail to ask “at what cost and to whom?” Elizabeth’s work ensures that community members aren’t left behind.

This episode is a masterclass in how grassroots power can transition us to a just future.

Key Topics

  • A Just Transition: Shifting to renewable energy while protecting workers and communities historically harmed by pollution
  • The community-led renewable energy Grid Project
  • Resisting extractive economies and reclaiming industrial spaces without displacement or gentrification.
  • The importance of building an intergenerational movement
  • How Trump-era policies have dismantled climate protections and undermined renewable energy incentives
  • How disaster capitalism exploits crises and how community-led responses offer real solutions

Resources

UPROSE

The GRID 

Sunset Park Solar

A new solar project in Brooklyn could offer a model for climate justice

US Spending On Climate Damage Nears $1 Trillion Per Year

The Shock Doctrine (Naomi Klein)

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/subscribe.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

A People’s Climate is Nominated for a Webby!
byThe Nation Magazine

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If you support independent media and care about the climate, please cast a vote for A People’s Climate. It takes less than 30 seconds. Voting closes at midnight PDT on Thursday. 

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Shilpi Chhotray

Shilpi Chhotray is the host of A People’s Climate, a new podcast from Counterstream Media and The Nation. New episodes every Saturday, starting September 27.

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