Stars Talk L.A Wildfires, Home Rebuilds and What to Do With Your Tesla at EMA Impact Summit

The Environmental Media Association kicked off its ninth annual Impact Summit on Thursday, rolling out a two-day lineup of stars and activists for wide-ranging conversations about the environment.

A large focus of the summit’s first day was discussing the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires that devastated the Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas earlier this year. Jenna Dewan led a conversation about philanthropy and how the city banded together after the fires, while Property Brothers star Drew Scott moderated a panel about rebuilding homes in the destroyed areas.

“You’re rooted in your home, it’s your memories, it’s everything in your life. It’s where you wake up every morning, go to bed every night and it affects every aspect of your life, whether it’s work or relationships,” Scott told the audience at the Pendry West Hollywood. “And we’ve had that ripped away from us, a lot of families did here in January.”

Ben Stapleton, executive director for the U.S. Green Building Council – Los Angeles, noted how “the world is watching us and seeing as Americans, as Angelenos, how do we respond to the tragedy? How do we do this in a way where we come together? Can we rebuild at scale in a way that can be more resilient and be more sustainable, and can we have a different narrative that the world can come see here for the Olympics, for other events, than what they’re seeing coming out of the U.S. right now?”

Stapleton continued that immediately after the fire, he was getting flooded with emails and calls from people who lost their homes saying they wanted to rebuild in an environmental way; going with electric over gas was one such suggestion for how to do that.

Of choosing to rebuild with the planet in mind, he added, “it’s going to reduce our utility bills long term, it’s going to reduce the air pollution in our homes, which is going to reduce our health care costs. The reason we rebuild green is because it’s healthier. And ideally, people are getting these homes they don’t even know it’s green, it’s just cheaper, faster, easier. And so we’re launching a group purchasing platform to help drive down some of that cost for folks to get access to some of those sustainable materials. We’re trying to do the things that we can to help meet people where they’re at, including contractor training. People need to know how to rebuild the right way.”

Scott also called out contractors who are telling people they need to rebuild with steel, concrete and materials where “it’s basically going to be four times the cost to build your home back. These are people who didn’t have the money — they didn’t have the insurance or they were underinsured, they can’t even afford the build back, let alone something’s going to cost four times. You don’t need all of that. What you need is the envelope to be more fire retardant. We don’t need the old vents that all these old houses have, we don’t need exposed eaves especially with your neighbors five feet away. It’s going to spread really fast if you have those issues.”

Ed Begley Jr., Miranda Cosgrove, Malin Ackerman, Daniella Pineda and Peyton List also took part in conversations throughout the day, and Phil Rosenthal recorded a live version of his Naked Lunch podcast with Kevin Nealon. During the conversation, the pair touched on what to do with their Teslas given Elon Musk’s current role in the Trump administration.

“I bought mine in 2012 when it first came out. Why? To protect the environment. Now, do I get rid of that car in solidarity with people who are against what he’s doing to the country? Or do I keep that car because it’s better for the environment than a gas car?” Rosenthal asked the audience of activists, as several suggested it was best to keep the car.

“I think I’m doing my part by keeping a car from 2012 in the first place, right? I’m not buying a new car, by the way, the tariffs are going to make it terrible for me to buy another car,” he continued, as Nealon deadpanned, “I have a Tesla, but I am so opposed to Elon it’s in the shop now. We’re having a gas engine put in it.” Another audience member suggested to put a bumper sticker on the car that would disavow Musk while still keeping the Tesla.

“Now, does that keep the mob from dragging me out of my car and beating me up? It does? So that’s all I need, everything’s fine,” Rosenthal responded, joking, “Is this the problem with you people, is that you think a bumper sticker is going to fix the world?”

Eli Roth, Sosie Bacon, Lance Bass, Nikki Reed and Jesse Metcalfe are among those taking part in the second day of the summit, sponsored by Toyota.