Coal, Campaigns and Climate Change in America (Nick Stump)

RightsUp: The Oxford Human Rights Hub Podcast

[Original release: 1 August 2017] Following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, what is the future of environmental justice and human rights in the United States and the world? We talk with environmental human rights expert and lawyer, Nick Stump, about what we can learn from the experiences of the Appalachian region of the U.S. Appalachia is known for coal mining, and it became a focal region in Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, as Trump promised to save a declining and environmentally destructive industry to create more coal jobs. As such, Appalachia has become symbolic of the American economic crisis, along with other industrial regions. We talk about the environmental realities in Appalachia, the power of symbolism, and the prospects for realising environmental human rights. Interview with: Nick Stump (West Virginia University) Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann (University of Oxford) Music by: Rosemary Allmann