Veronica Backer-Peral

Promise & Peril: Fighting Climate Change One Animal at a Time

15Feb

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Community, Featured, Kent State University, Loyola Marymount University, Morgan State University, Video

Promise & Peril: Fighting Climate Change One Animal at a Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOfjRiouoXQ In a world where no one can seem to agree on any meaningful solutions to climate change, we need to find all the common ground we can. "Promise & Peril," a Los Angeles Loyolan Project Citizen Climate 360 film, seeks to find that ground through telling the stories of two animal populations affected by climate change.

California representatives announce new California Coastal Caucus

21Aug

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Loyola Marymount University, Policy

California representatives announce new California Coastal Caucus

Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA). By Kelsey Warda (Climate 360). By Veronica Backer-Peral SAUSALITO, CA — In an effort to address policy issues of importance to coastal California, congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) and congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) announced the launch of the Congressional California Coastal Caucus on August 20, 2021. The announcement took place at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California, and was followed by a panel discussion with both congressmen, Dr. Jeff Boehm, Chief Executive Officer of The Marine Mammal Center, and Dr. Cara Field, Medical Director of The Marine Mammal Center and moderated by Carol Costello. One important focus of the caucus is climate change. “The reason why I ran for Congress is because of climate change,” Lieu told on-site Clim...

Young Republicans take up fight against climate change

29Jun

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Louisiana State University, Loyola Marymount University, Policy

Young Republicans take up fight against climate change

Courtney Hope speaks at the Conservative Climate Rally in Miami, Florida, on June 5, 2021. Hope is running for national chairperson of the College Republican National Committee. Courtesy of Courtney Hope. By Domenic Purdy, Sami Beekman, Veronica Backer-Peral Republicans are three times less likely than Democrats to believe that addressing climate change should be a top priority of government. But change may be coming. Young Republicans — under age 39 — are twice as likely as their Baby Boomer elders to support climate action, according to the Pew Research Center. Young Republicans have taken a more active role than previous conservative generations in the fight against climate change, distancing themselves from former President Donal...

News Analysis: what does the transition away from natural gas look like?

22Jun

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Energy, Loyola Marymount University

News Analysis: what does the transition away from natural gas look like?

By Veronica Backer-Peral Protestors oppose construction related to the restoration project at the SoCalGas natural gas storage facility at the Ballona Wetlands in Los Angeles. Photo from Maddie Cindrich. Demanding that the state of California close the Playa Vista natural gas facility less than two miles from the Loyola Marymount University campus is just the start. The more challenging step is determining what comes next. Natural gas was the most used energy source across California in 2018, amounting to a total of more than 2,000 trillion British Thermal Units (BTU) consumed every year. That’s the same amount of energy that 200 million burritos has. One of the natural gas storage facilities that provides energy to Californians was that of Aliso Canyon i...

22Jun

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

AUTHOR

Executive Producer, LMU My name is Veronica Backer Peral and I am a senior triple major in applied mathematics, computer science and history at Loyola Maymount University. I joined the Los Angeles Loyolan in my sophomore year and am currently serving as a managing editor at the Loyolan in addition to being the Executive Producer for Climate 360 at LMU. Outside of journalism, I have been heavily involved in various research initiatives at LMU, including through the University's Independent Undergraduate Research Program and Global Policy Institute, and have especially focused on using computational and mathematical techniques to study issues of human importance. Alongside the Climate 360 team, I look forward to exploring solutions to the most pressing issues facing our generation; soluti...

When did climate change become political?

11Jun

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Energy, Loyola Marymount University, Policy, Video

When did climate change become political?

By Veronica Backer-Peral This piece was originally published on October 29, 2020, by the Los Angeles Loyolan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXP8OBLmOd0&feature=emb_title Some topics should be political, but when it comes to climate change and rising global temperatures, it's remarkable how even basic facts and science continue to be disputed. Renowned environmentalist Bill McKibben speaks to reporter Veronica BP on the topic of when and how climate change became so politicized.

Opinion: Climate change is everybody’s problem

11Jun

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Loyola Marymount University, Opinion

Opinion: Climate change is everybody’s problem

By Veronica Backer-Peral This piece was originally published on October 19, 2020, by the Los Angeles Loyolan. Graphic: Katie Nishimura | Loyolan Rising global temperatures and the inevitable havoc they cause on our planet will go down in history as the greatest threat faced by humanity in the 21st century. It is far past the time for all of us to come together and do whatever it takes to meet this challenge. On Oct. 14, the Global Policy Institute at LMU hosted renowned environmental activist and author Bill McKibben for a conversation on “climate change and environmental justice.” As a GPI fellow, I had a chance to work behind the scenes of the event, but more than once I found myself pausing to listen to McKibben, wondering how it is possible that climate change is still a po...