Puerto Rico & Hawai’i: Building Power with Energy Democracy With Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, Ruth Santiago, Todd Yamashita, & Niki Franco

Today on the show: a special panel discussion addressing the questions: How can communities build power in the face of colonization, natural disasters, and corporate profiteering? In Puerto Rico and the Hawaiian island of Molokai, residents have been grappling with some of the highest energy costs in the nation, while for-profit utilities amass record profits. But communities on both islands have advocated for a different path, one that prioritizes care, democratic control, and resilience. Join us to hear how people are fighting back against disaster capitalism and the privatization of their energy utilities and building their own energy solutions. 

Guests:

• Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, serves on the Maui County Council representing Molokai. 
• Ruth Santiago, JD, LLM is a community and environmental lawyer who works with grassroots environmental advocacy groups in Puerto Rico, and is part of the We Want Sun (Queremos Sol) initiative. 
• Todd Yamashita is a founding board member of Hoahu Energy Cooperative, a community owned and managed energy coop.

Moderator: Niki Franco, Partners for Dignity & Rights

FULL BIOS:
Ruth Santiago, JD, LLM is a community and environmental lawyer who works with grassroots environmental advocacy groups in Puerto Rico. She has sought to protect Puerto Rico’s South Coast aquifer, battled the country’s largest oil burning power complex and worked to expand rooftop solar energy projects in the Jobos Bay communities between Salinas and Guayama in southeastern Puerto Rico. Additionally, she is part of a civil society initiative to promote community-based solar projects and energy democracy called We Want Sun (Queremos Sol). She also serves on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.

Born and raised in Molokai, Keani Rawlins-Fernandez is honored to serve the people and ‘āina of Molokai, Maui, Lāna‘i, and Kaho‘olawe on the Maui County Council. She is committed to ensuring that her community’s voice is put at the center of decision-making, that the ‘āina is protected, and that the people in her community are cared for.

Todd Yamashita is a fourth-generation resident of Molokai and serves on the board of Hoahu Energy Cooperative Molokai, which is committed to creating resilient, sustainable, equitable, culturally conscious energy for all.

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