PORTLAND, OR – This Saturday, Aarthi Ananthanarayanan, Director of the Climate and Plastics Initiative at Ocean Conservancy, will be a featured speaker at TEDx Portland (Oregon). In a talk both timely and fitting for TEDx Portland’s Year 11 Theme of “Confluence,” she will discuss the link between climate and plastics and debunk the myths perpetuated by the fossil fuel and plastics industry that will keep us from achieving our society’s climate goals.

As our society transitions away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy, it is impossible to deny the connection between plastics and climate change. Plastics are oil. Both made from and powered by fossil fuels, they are responsible for 3-4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Combatting climate change and plastic pollution and building a clean energy economy that protects the climate, our coastal communities, and the ocean requires us to reduce plastic production and greenhouse gas emissions all along the plastics lifecycle. Significant reductions are needed in both plastic and oil and gas production levels to be successful and set the stage for meaningful change. 

WHEN: Saturday, May 20, 2023, 9:00am PDT

WHERE: Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay Street, Portland, Oregon

The event will be livestreamed, and a recording will be available at a later date yet to be announced.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Journalists interested in conducting in-person or phone interviews with Aarthi Ananthanarayanan should contact Cody Sullivan at [email protected].

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Ocean Conservancy is working to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together with their partners, Ocean Conservancy creates evidence-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. For more information, visit https://oceanconservancy.org/, or follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.