Why is climate protection a partisan issue in the U.S. and what can be done about it?

The Environmental Forum of Marin has invited two award-winning Bay Area authors and Rep. Jared Huffman to Corte Madera on Monday evening to explore the roots of this issue and discuss ways to bridge a seemingly deepening political divide.

“The idea is to be inspirational here,” said Norma Fragoso, who directs the forum’s master class, “to give people a venue in which they can learn about and talk about that interconnectedness and how important it is for every single one of us to get involved and to do so now.”

While the Environmental Forum of Marin primarily focuses on studying and advocating for local environmental issues, this event — titled “The Great Divide: Can We Work Together for a Healthy Environment?” — has a national and international scope.

“This is probably the most political of events we’ve ever done,” said Nancy Benjamin, the forum’s communications director. “We bring experts together all the time to talk about the environment and it’s hard not to get political with environment these days.”

The keynote speaker will be Arlie Hochschild, sociology professor emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley and author of the 2016 book “Strangers In Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right,” which focused on Louisiana’s Tea Party movement.

“What I love about Arlie Hochschild’s work is she talks about what she refers to as the deep story of the south,” Fragoso said. “The environmental forum works to try to understand how it is that people address climate change and how do people face it or not face it.

“Many people are unable to talk about climate change with their friends and families and it’s a situation that we must all be very much aware of. The time is now.”

Joining Hochschild will be Mark Hertsgaard, an environmental correspondent for The Nation and the author of “Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth,” which reflects from a father’s point of view on how communities and future generations will need to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Fragoso said Hertsgaard has been a dedicated supporter of the Environmental Forum of Marin for many years.

“Mark has his finger on the pulse internationally of the environmental movement and is a tremendously inspirational speaker and writer who makes those personal connections between people and climate change and what is happening around the world,” Fragoso said.

Kicking off the event will be Huffman, D-San Rafael, who has spoken at several local climate-focused events in Marin County these past two months. Huffman had stressed at these past events that climate protection policies must stem from local governments since federal progress has stalled under President Donald Trump’s administration.

“I’m sure you remember the old phrase, ‘the personal is political,'” Fragoso said. “It goes both ways. The political affects each and every one of us in our personal lives; no more profoundly than what we see for instance in the town of Paradise now.”

The discussion is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Corte Madera Community Center at 498 Tamalpais Drive. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Advance tickets cost $15 for members and $20 for nonmembers. On the day of the event, ticket prices will increase by $5. Tickets are available online at marinefm.org.