Speaker: Diana Hernandez, associate
professor of sociomedical sciences, Columbia University
Join Diana Hernández for a timely conversation at the intersection of climate change, energy
justice, and public health. Drawing on insights from her new book, Powerless: The People’s
Struggle for Energy (Russell Sage, 2025), Hernández will reveal how everyday households —
especially in low-income, historically marginalized communities — are navigating the
compounding pressures of rising energy costs, inadequate housing, and extreme weather.
Hernández’s research centers on the voices and experiences of those on the frontlines: households enduring unaffordable bills, unreliable utilities, and dangerous heat with limited protection. This lecture will unpack how energy insecurity is both a cause and a consequence of structural inequities and how the fight for energy justice is inseparable from broader struggles for health, housing, and climate resilience. Through compelling storytelling, original research, and a call to action, Hernández will invite the audience to rethink power — both electrical and political — as we confront rising temperatures and deepening inequality and to reimagine what it means to build a just energy future, starting not with technology, but with those most affected- the people.
Co-hosted with the Center for Demography and Ecology and the Center for Demography of
Health and Aging