letter from the editors

Dear Reader,

Let’s take a step back and look at the state of our planet. The earth’s current carbon dioxide levels have risen to 400 ppm (parts per million), a level last seen during the mid-Pliocene, approximately 3 million years ago. At the current rate of increase in CO2, we will hit 500 ppm within 50 years, leading to temperature rise of more than 3 degrees C (5.4 F) — a level that would cause more frequent extreme weather and global sea rise. We are reaching a tipping point.

Now we’re seeing stronger, longer, and earlier natural disasters on a yearly basis. In our home state of California, we’ve seen fires ravage our communities, with neighboring towns experiencing the fallout of toxic smoke and ash. Due to the state’s neglected power lines, cities across the state have been subjected to electricity shut-offs, resulting in blackouts that put a halt to social and economic activity. But are we past the point of no return? We’d like to challenge the narrative of hopelessness and apathy.

Perennial’s story began in Fall 2019 as the brainchild of two undergraduate students who saw the need to amplify the diverse work of Cal’s environmental community. Students and Berkeley community members make significant contributions to a variety of environmental issues, but too often these accomplishments have not been visible to the wider campus. Our peers at Cal’s premiere environmental blog, the Leaflet, have made a significant impact in increasing environmental conversations on campus. However, there still remained a gap. While most other disciplines at Cal have journals dedicated to showcasing the academic work of their undergraduates, the ESPM (Environmental Science, Policy, and Management) department did not. At Perennial, we have sought to fill this gap. We seek to provide an open and accessible platform for the student community, publishing editorials written by Perennial’s passionate staff and academic papers from Berkeley’s environmentally-minded undergraduates.

As Cal’s only undergraduate environmental journal, Perennial hopes to encourage student action and scholarship, inspire discussion on solutions to our planet’s most critical issues and promote diversity of thought and identity in the environmental sphere. We hope our environmental journalism shares stories that intrigue our readers, and that our academic research papers take readers behind the scenes of the complex processes of the stories we share. The journey to launching this, our first issue, has been fraught with challenges. In the fall of 2019, Perennial’s first semester as an official student organization, UC Berkeley,

like many across the state of California, dealt with the difficulties of the seemingly annual California Wildfires and the following PG&E power outages. While campus remained closed for only a few days, the ramifications of this lost time on students were felt throughout the semester. At the time, we felt the loss of predictability and the delays brought on by these fires were the worst we would face. Yet, Spring 2020 brought us the global COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis that has changed our way of life, wreaking havoc, especially on already vulnerable communities. UC Berkeley was forced to transition to remote learning. This change left many students, ourselves included, in a state of disarray. Perennial was forced to adjust – to reconsider what our semester would look like and to ask ourselves how to continue while ensuring the wellbeing of our staff.

However, despite these difficulties, we have persevered. Our incredible staff showed immense dedication to our mission. Impassioned with the desire to share their stories and to highlight the injustices of environmental racism, our staff has worked diligently through disaster and quarantine. The publication of this issue during this time of crisis is a testament to the impressive resilience of young people committed to seeing change in their lifetimes.

With a theme of “justice,” this issue will delve into the deeper distributive concerns behind environmental issues. In the face of climate change, wildfires, and pollution, it is often the most vulnerable groups — especially people of color and low-income communities — that bear the heaviest burden. As you read the following 14 articles, we challenge you to rethink these environmental issues — who bears the burden of environmental damage? How can we center equity in solutions?

We are at a crucial moment in history. There are two paths in front of us: status quo or rapid change. Our generation is increasingly aware of the urgency and importance of making the right decision. You can see this in the way we protest and demand change from the top. On the Berkeley campus, we have also seen incredible reforms, including the decision to divest from all fossil fuels. Please don’t wait in silence for these shifts to happen. We hope that after reading this issue, you are more confident and prepared to continue these discussions and to take action — every conversation, every vote, and every small effort can make a difference.

Sincerely, Jasmine Chen, Sarah Belle Lin, and Shehla Chowdhury