Citizens' Climate Lobby

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Official podcast for climate heroes from Citizens' Climate Lobby. We're creating the political will for a livable world.

Episodes

Friday Jan 22, 2021

CCR 56 Tony Campolo--A Christian's Call to Save Creation

Friday Jan 22, 2021

Last month we featured three Conservative Christians who told us how their faith compels them to promote creation care and climate change solutions. This month we feature one of America’s most widely known Progressive Evangelical Christian thought leaders. Rev. Tony Campolo is professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University, and he led the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education for more than 40 years.

Rev. Campolo has written over 50 books on topics that have educated and challenged his Evangelical Christian audience. He has been ahead of his time on a variety of social issues. In 1992 he published the book, How to Rescue the Earth Without Worshiping Nature, A Christian Call to Save Creation. In the book, he seeks to help believers see they have a role to play in caring for creation.

Rev. Campolo, who is 85 and has never retired, suffered a stroke in 2020. He is at home recovering with the help of his wife Peggy. Before the Pandemic and his stroke, Citizens Climate Radio’s host, Peterson Toscano, was fortunate enough to sit down with Tony and ask him about his 1992 book.

Rev. Campolo reveals his frustration with fellow ministers and accuses them of not listening to God’s voice in regard to the mandate to care for creation.

The Art House

Returning to the Art House is Jennie Carlisle, the curator and director of the Smith Gallery at Appalachian State University along with Laura England, a senior lecturer. They are two of three co-facilitators of ASU’s Climate Stories Collaborative. Both Jennie and Laura appeared in Episode 49 and told us about how in spring 2020 they quickly adapted to the Covid Global Pandemic by putting their annual Student Climate Stories Showcase onto Instagram.

Some climate leaders see art straightforward communication tool. But art overloaded with messages about issues and politics can turn out clunky and preachy. How does an artists stay in a creative space? When producing climate arts, what is more important the process or the product?

You can hear standalone version of The Art House at Artists and Climate Change.

Good News Report

This episode we begin a new feature, The Good News Report. Listeners share their climate successes with us. Good news this month comes from Cathy Orlando in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. She is the International Outreach Manager for Citizens Climate Lobby and also the Canadian Director. Slow, steady, and relentless climate advocacy has paid off!

If you have good news to share, contact Peterson Toscano: radio @ CitizensClimate.org

Dig Deeper

Ron Sider, Canadian-born American theologian and social activist
Tony Campolo’s Christmas 2020 Homily
Making a Planet Worth Saving: Bill McKibben interviews Reverend Lennox Yearwood, Jr. (New Yorker)
Amitov Ghosh: Where is the Fiction about Climate Change? (The Guardian)

We always welcome your thoughts, questions, suggestions, and recommendations for the show. Leave a voice mail at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

Tuesday Dec 22, 2020

CCR Ep 55 Climate Change and Creation Care: What Would Jesus Do?

Tuesday Dec 22, 2020

In a followup to our most downloaded episode, What Does the Bible Say About Climate Change?, host, Peterson Toscano speaks with two Christian women about their faith, their commitment to creation care, and why they see Citizens Climate Lobby as a place where they can pursue meaningful solutions. They talk about their values, the Bible, the spiritual charge to do the work of reconciliation, especially in a contentious and politically divided country. They speak with conviction about the need for Christian believers to take creation care seriously.

Kelsey Grant served as a CCL fellow with the Mountain West Higher Education Region. Currently she is a CCL Conservative Fellow and member of the Conservative Caucus Executive Team. At the University of Colorado-Boulder she is a pre-law student, double majoring in Political Science and Philosophy. She discovered Citizens’ Climate Lobby through her church, where she co-founded environmental ministries, taught about environmental stewardship as a Sunday School teacher, and occasionally served as a guest preacher. She has published over a dozen Op-Eds/letters to the editor. Kelsey was named a 2020 Udall Scholar and 2020 Truman Scholar Finalist for her work on conservative outreach in the climate space and empowering individuals to be effective facilitators of bipartisanship. Kelsey Grant’s Instagram.

Andrea Zink is from Tennessee and has spent her professional career working in the non-profit sector for mission-driven organizations such as The Salvation Army, Vanderbilt University, and Nashville Opera. She attends the United Methodist Church and serves on the United Methodist Circle of Grace prison ministry music team and on several UMC Creation Justice work committees.Andrea joined CCL in 2016 when she discovered CCL's bipartisan approach to climate change solutions. Andrea Zink’s Instagram.

The Art House

In the Art House you will meet Lindsay Linsky. A Bible-believing Christian in Georgia, she is the author of the book, Keep It Good—Understanding Creation Care through Parables. Through her book she seeks to break through environmental apathy and partisan noise to show Christians God’s simple yet beautiful message of creation stewardship.

As a teacher, Lindsay Linsky understands how challenging it is to correct misinformation, and she recognizes the power of stories to engage people with new ideas. In our show she shares practical insights and a very powerful Bible verse that highlights the call to creation care.

Lindsay Linsky has been featured on panel discussions at theology conferences as well as podcasts and webinars on Creation Care Radio, Yale Climate Connections, and RepublicEN’s The EcoRight Speaks podcast. Special thanks to Price Atkinson for introducing us to Lindsay Linsky.

Lindsay earned her PhD in Science Education with a focus on environmental education and ocean literacy from the University of Georgia, and lives with her husband and children in Suwanee, GA. Lindsay Linsky on Twitter.

You can hear standalone versions of The Art House at Artists and Climate Change

Dig Deeper

Lindsay Linsky on Why Christians Need to Keep Creation Good (YouTube)
Evangelical Environmental Network
Young Evangelicals for Climate Action
Christianity Today articles on Creation Care
Church and creation care: we need a theology-before-politics approach by Doyle Sager in Baptist News Global
Bible Verses on Creation Care
How to Rescue the Earth without Worshiping Nature—A Christian’s Call to Save Nature by Tony Campolo, our guest for Ep 56 which premieres on January 22, 2012.

In 2021 we will also introduce a new feature to our monthly show. Our Good News Report will give listeners a chance to share those important and often under-reported stories of climate successes. It may be a story of national significance or something happening in your own neighborhood. We want to celebrate your successes. If you have a good news story, email us: radio @ citizensclimate.org.

Friday Nov 27, 2020

CCR Ep 54 Justice, Football, and Talking Trash -- Garry Gilliam and Sharona Shnayder

Friday Nov 27, 2020

A recent episode of Lew Blaustein’s Green Sports Pod featured a riveting interview with National Football League player, Garry Gilliam. Blaustein writes:

Garry Gilliam experienced this hope-squashing system firsthand during his childhood in the opportunity-deprived section of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Now, the ex-NFL offensive lineman is using his resources and his seemingly boundless energy to try to break that system, replacing it with a more equitable, hopeful one.

His system-breaking tool is The Bridge Eco-Village, an innovative start-up that provides opportunities for African-Americans and other marginalized people to “Work, Eat, Live, Learn and Play” in affordable, high quality mixed-use developments. The pilot is being built in — where else — Harrisburg.

Lew Blaustein has given us permission to rebroadcast an edited version of his interview with Garry Gilliam. You will also hear Citizens Climate Radio’s host, Peterson Toscano check in with Gilliam to find out how things stand with the Bridge Eco-Village today in light of the Covid-19 Global Pandemic. Garry Gilliam has good news to share about the progress of the project.

As the Coronavirus pandemic shut everything down, Sharona Shnayder, a college student, simply could not stay inside any longer. One Tuesday she joined a friend at neighborhood park. Together, while maintaining a safe physical distance, they picked up trash at a park in Portland, OR near their university.

Not only did people in her community begin to notice and join in; word quickly spread. Now there are Tuesdays for Trash events happening all over the world.

Sharona, who grew up in Nigeria and now lives in the USA, shares how picking up trash is bringing people together, lifting spirits, and getting people engaged in climate work. In fact, this may be a project your own climate group wants to take on in order to connect in a new way with your own community.

Friday Oct 23, 2020

CCR 53 Andrew Stuhl with Lessons from a 1972 Flood and Lynn Neuman is Dancing with Plastic

Friday Oct 23, 2020

Andrew Stuhl, an associate professor of environmental studies and sciences at Bucknell University, has been interviewing residents from Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River Valley about what they remember about 1972. He keeps hearing about the powerful smell of flood mud. This was the pungent odor throughout the Susquehanna Valley after Hurricane Agnes brought historic rainfalls and a massive flood which upended lives and reshaped towns and waterways.

“It reminds me of the connection between smell and memory, and how quickly a memory can come back to you if you smell something in the present day,” Andrew tells podcast host, Peterson Toscano.

"I like to think about that as a metaphor for the importance of history and the importance of moments like Hurricane Agnes. They’re always with us, and sometimes they don’t come to our immediate senses, but they can be triggered, and they can be brought up really quickly. I like to believe in the power of memory and history, to mine those experiences, to reflect on them, and recognize and regard them, so we that can walk today in the difficult moments, and get through them.”

Andrew talks about his community-based research, the Agnes Flood Project. You will learn why this one storm is still so important, not just for the region, but for the entire country. Lessons drawn from 1972 and the resiliency modeled by local residents during and after the storm will help us in coping and caring for each other during the Coronavirus Pandemic and with the growing risks of climate change.

If you or someone you know have Hurricane Agnes stories to share for the Agnes Flood project, contact Andrew Stuhl and the team. They are also looking for pictures from the hurricane and its aftermath. Email agnesrevisited@gmail.com. This story was made possible through a collaboration with Susquehanna Life Out Loud podcast.

The Art House

How does an artist decide to do the work she does? How does that work evolve overtime? What impact does it have on the audience and how can an artist deepen that impact? During a recent conversation with dancer and choreographer, Lynn Neuman, Peterson Toscano encountered an artist with boundless curiosity. This curiosity drives her work.

As director of Artichoke Dance Company, Lynn recognizes the vital role art plays in addressing issues like climate change. Entertaining and Educating not enough though for Lynn and her company, though. They always want to do more to get people to act. Through community engagement and direct outreach to lawmakers, they are training community members how to change legislation.

And in this time of the Coronavirus pandemic Lynn Neuman and Artichoke Dance Company have been adjusting and adapting once again. See their Covid Creations. “It reflects our feelings of isolation and desires for connection during the corona virus. Filmed at various times of day, the series reflects the available bandwidth of the internet.”

Dig Deeper

Hurricane Agnes, National Weather Services
Tropical Storm Agnes devastated Pa. in 1972: ‘Battered, lashed, flooded and paralyzed’ Penn Live
The 1972 Agnes Flood at Milton, PA, video with archival footage
Dancing In Plastic — How One Woman Is Shining A Light On Plastic Pollution, Medium and accompanying video
Waste Side Story, Robin Michals photography collaboration with dancer Lynn Neuman.
New York State’s Bag Waste Reduction Law, NY Dept of Environmental Conservation

Friday Sep 25, 2020

CCR Ep 52 Doug Parsons on Adaptation, Resilience, and Bouncing Forward

Friday Sep 25, 2020

Climate change related work often comes down on one of two sides: 1. Mitigation to reduce or end human causes greenhouse pollution in order to slow down and lessen the impacts of global warming. 2. Adaptation of our communities and infrastructure in order to prepare for the impacts of climate change and respond to extreme weather and other consequences of climate change.

Doug Parsons, the host of the America Adapts Podcast talks to us about what he has learned from nearly 100 episodes interview adaptation experts. He will discuss differences between adaptation and resiliency. He highlights efforts to adapt to sea level rise, wildfires, and flooding, and points out an impact of climate change that will affect almost everyone at some point in their lives—extreme heat.

You will also hear an excerpt from a conversation Doug Parsons has with s Dr. Carolyn Kousky, the Executive Director at the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at the University of Pennsylvania. They discuss how wildfires in California drove their utility into bankruptcy and what policy reforms are needed to prevent this from happening again.

Doug also reflects climate adaptation in light of the Coronavirus Global Pandemic. What lessons are climate adaptation experts learning? What challenges do they face?

The Art House

Joining us in the Art House is Musician and composer Jason Davis. Jason curates ClimateStoriesProject.org. The site hosts videos from people all over the world. They reveal the impacts of climate change in their lives, and how they are responding. Jason takes some of these stories and composes music to accompany them. You will hear a moving and powerful testimony from John Sinnok, Inuit elder in Alaska. Woven around the story is Jason’s haunting and beautiful composition for the double base. He calls the piece Footsteps in Snow. You will also learn how you can share your own story on the website.

Jason wants to hear your climate story. He invites you to explore his site to read other climate stories then consider contributing your own. That website is climatestoriesproject.org

Friday Aug 28, 2020

CCR 51 Art and Identity in a Time of Climate Change

Friday Aug 28, 2020

Those of you who regularly listen to this podcast know that when addressing climate change, we believe in the power of art. Artists take on a unique role in helping the public better understand the many issues connected to climate change. They also play an important part in helping us process our strong emotions about our rapidly changing world.

Poet and climate advocate Clara Fang shares her powerful and moving poem, The Children on Why They are Striking for the Climate. She also tells us about the poetry she reads and how it connects her to the natural world. Clara serves as Citizens’ Climate Lobby Student Engagement Coordinator. In her role, she engages students in climate advocacy and helps members conduct outreach to higher education. She holds a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University and a MFA in Creative Writing from University of Utah. In the episode she announced plans to organize a creative writing action group on CCL Community.

Photographer, writer, and climate advocate, Princella Talley tells us about the vital role of art in her life and her work. Her interests in visual art and storytelling started at a young age when observing dolphins in the ocean. After a successful career as a professional writer, Princella worked on a freelance writing assignment that ultimately drew her into the world of climate change and her role as diversity outreach outreach coordinator at Citizens’ Climate Lobby. In her conversation with host, Peterson Toscano, Princella speaks candidly about the challenges of being a person of color in predominately white climate spaces.

Before joining the Citizens’ Climate Education team, Princella spent more than a decade as a photographer and writer. She covered topics ranging from climate change and ecotourism to artificial intelligence and mobile app development for major news outlets with more than 60 million online visitors, independent publications, and tech startups in Silicon Valley. She’s written for CBS Las Vegas, worked as a former copy editor for a digital publication with 135,000 weekly readers, and created content for a GRAMMYs campaign.

Princella is also a business owner of Louisiana Food Fellow, a cohort of change leaders working within local food systems. In Central Louisiana, she partners with community leaders to provide environmental education and implement sustainable and eco-friendly programs in economically disadvantaged communities.

Krista Hiser, PhD is a professor of composition and rhetoric at Kapi'olani Community College in Honolulu, Hawaii. She also directs the Center for Sustainability Across Curriculum within the University of Hawaii System. In the spring she taught the course, Landscapes in Literature—Cli-Fi, Sci-Fi, and the Culture of Sustainability. In this episode, Dr. Hiser outlines for us the difference between science fiction and climate fiction and provides examples for each. She also raises concerns about the many apocalyptic narratives that flood the Cli-Fi market and that play a prominent role in climate conversations. She believes there are batter ways to talk about climate change.

Climate Fiction and Science Fiction discussed in this episode

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Generation Z by Peter Meredith
We Are Unprepared by Meg Little Reilly
The Man with the Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-Yi
A Rain of Night Birds Dsena Metzger
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Mr. Eternity by Aaron Thier — Hear him speak and talk about his novel on CCR Ep 10
Code Blue by Marissa Slaven — She discusses the book and does a reading from it in CCR Ep 33

Friday Jul 24, 2020

CCR 50 Big Climate Problems Require Even Bigger Global Solutions

Friday Jul 24, 2020

Think of this as a patchwork quilt. Instead of one long main segment, the Art House, and the Puzzler Question, we have sewed together five shorter segments from around the world that each stand alone. Together they tell a larger story.

Olivia Oguadinma in Nigeria discusses the role of storytelling in motivating her peers to meaningful action. Through her Gems on Earth podcast she reaches young people throughout Western Africa and beyond.

Doerte Wihan, a mother of five and a kindergarten teacher in Berlin, Germany had not given climate change much of a thought. Then she attended a student climate strike with one of her children. This one event launched her into the world of extreme climate change activism. She is now a member of the climate protest group, Extinction Rebellion. She talks about her dramatic transformation and the strength she has found being in community with fellow climate activists.

Artist Shane Petzer in Barrydale, South Africa talks about turning trash into art. Through the Magpie Art Collective, he and fellow artists create breathtakingly beautiful chandeliers all made from trash. Two of these hung in the White House in the Obama’s private quarters. During this time of Coronavirus lockdown, Magpie Art Collective have partnered with the Quakers in the Western Cape to create #QuakerPeaceDoves. Find out about how you can take part in the collective remotely and turn your trash into art.

And in the USA we feature Solomon Goldstein-Rose. In 2017 at the age 22 Solomon was elected to Massachusetts legislature. After a two year term, he decided he would not run again. Instead he has been ramping up his efforts to get us thinking and acting about climate change. In March just as the Covid-19 Global Pandemic shut everything down, Solomon published his first book: The 100% Solution. A Plan for Solving Climate Change. The book is filled with whimsical and technically accurate illustrations by visual artist and writer, Violet Kitchen. She tells us about the role art can play in change movements.

Since this is our 50th episode, friends of the show have left us messages. You will hear greetings and well wishes from listeners and also from former guests, Dr. Natasha DeJarnett (many episodes,) Solemi Herandez (ep. 43,) Katie Zakrzewski (ep 48) and Brian Ettling (Ep. 24.) We also share messages from follow podcasters.

Doug Parsons from America Adapts Podcast
LaUra Schmidt and Aimee Lewis-Reau with the Good Grief Podcast
Lew Blaustein from Green Sports Pod

Friday Jun 26, 2020

CCR 49 Unleashing Our Imagination with Hannah Pickard, Dr. Natasha DeJarnett, and Sean Dague

Friday Jun 26, 2020

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.” -Albert Einstein.

As climate change advocates, our ability to imagine a better future sometimes requires supernatural skills. Still engaging our imagination is essential to stirring up the kind of hope and excitement that inspires others to action. We need to articulate what it is we are fighting for? What is the world we want to create? Through a mind-expanding thought experiment, three guests join us to help unleash our imagination potential. Imagine a world without fossil fuels. What does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it smell like?

Hannah Pickard at Boston’s New England Aquarium shares proven insider tips about effective communication strategies. Hannah Pickard is the Program Manager for the National Network of Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) where she leads a national effort to change public discourse on climate change to be positive, civic-minded and solutions-focused. For the last 10 years, she’s grown a network of over 184 institutions who are committed to using their public platforms to invite their communities into climate action and support each other to improve their practice. She is a climate communications specialist and trainer of evidence-based communications methods that empower hope & civic action on climate. She has abackground in informal education, social impact strategy, conservation psychology, community engagement and evaluation.

Dr. Natasha DeJarnett has been a leader in environmental health research for over 10 years. Her positions in national environmental and public health associations as well as academia has advanced research agendas for the environmental health workforce, established successful national climate change and health initiatives, and inspired the next generation of environmental health professionals. In addition, she serves on the Boards of Citizens’ Climate Education and Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Sean Dague is software engineer by day, and the group leader for the Mid Hudson South chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby He came to climate action after seeing the impacts of Hurricane Irene and Sandy in the north east. In addition to his work with Citizens Climate Lobby, he's also an En-ROADS Climate Simulation tool ambassador. He's a huge fan of trains, heat pumps, and electric vehicles.

Can you imagine a world without fossil fuels? What will it look, smell, sound, and feel like? Share your answers with host, Peterson Toscano. Leave a voice mail at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org

Click here for a transcript of this episode.

The Art House

Jennie Carlisle and Laura England are both part of the Climate Stories Collaborative at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.

“The Climate Stories Collaborative is our response to the growing call for more trans-disciplinary and creative approaches to climate change communication,” they explain. “Our mission is to grow the capacity of our faculty and students to be more creative and compelling climate storytellers.”

While many of the students finish with completed pieces of art, Jennie stresses that the process required to produce the art is their primary goal. Of course, they also want to reach out to the wider world whenever possible.

At the end of the school year, the Climate Stories Collaborative hosts a showcase for the student artists. This provides them with an opportunity to engage with the wider public in a large gallery space. Laura explains that in the past, students, faculty, and community members would mingle in the gallery to view the art and see performances.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school closed and the showcase had to be canceled. But like so many others, they adapted and took the showcase online. As a curator, Jennie initially worried about creating a virtual showcase but quickly saw multiple benefits, including seeing viewers become deeply engaged with the art and the artists through their comments. The Climate Stories Collaborative now reaches many more people all over the world through this Instagram online showcase.

Dig Deeper

Video of Sean Dague’s Thought Exercise: Imagine a World without Fossil Fuels
Hannah Pickard CCL International Call March 2020
Peterson Toscano’s Citizens Climate Virtual Conference Breakout Session: Telling a New Kind of Climate Story
Citizens Climate Radio Ep 39 Envisioning and Communicating Climate Success
Climate Change and the Imagination by Kathryn Yusoff and Jennifer Garbrys (PDF)

Friday May 22, 2020

CCR Ep 48 Republicans Ready To Tackle Climate Change

Friday May 22, 2020

For a long time climate advocates faced skepticism and resistance coming from Republican lawmakers. That is changing. In February Citizens Climate Radio host Peterson Toscano traveled to Washington DC for the first ever Conservative Climate Training and Lobby Days. Nearly 100 people showed up from all over the country, young and older. They met with Republican staff and members of congress to talk about climate change and a path forward.

In this episode you will hear excerpts from interviews with volunteer lobbyists Carlos Simms, Mary Lawing, Katie Zakrzewski, Isuru Seneviratne, and Cindy Burbank. On a panel of Republican climate leader Alex Flint, the Executive Director at Alliance for Market Solutions spoke during the February event. Mr. Flint previously served as staff director of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. He was the senior vice president of governmental affairs at the Nuclear Energy Institute, and he was a member of President Trump’s transition team. He outlines for us the dramatic shifts he has witnessed while speaking with lawmakers.

Jim Tolbert, Citizens Climate Education Conservative Director and Jacob Abel, a Citizens Climate Conservative fellow, provide insider glimpses to the conversations about climate change they have with fellow Conservatives.

You will learn what has changed in the Republican party, and the new landscape climate advocates lobbying Conservative members of Congress now face. Guests will share what Republicans bring to the climate conversation and the Conservative values that compel them to pursue effective ways to transform our energy economy. You will also receive advice and learn the ways these conservatives are speaking with their family, friends, and elected leaders about climate change.

Dig Deeper

Alex Flint: My Climate Journey podcast
RepublicEN, conservatives, libertarians, and pragmatists of diverse political opinion standing together because climate change is real, and it's our duty and opportunity to reduce the risks.
Margaret Thatcher - UN General Assembly Climate Change Speech (1989)
The End of Republican Climate Change Denial by Alex FlintPuzzler Question

Puzzler Question

We updated last month’s puzzler question and made it more personal.

He is the question slightly restated:

In a Zoom call you share your renewed commitment to promote climate solutions and ask your friend, Gretchen, to join your group. Gretchen slowly shakes her head and says, “I am concerned about the planet too, but with so many people affected by Covid-19, I think we are just going to have to deal with that first. Climate action is very important but for so many people right now, there are more pressing issues to address.”

The dilemma so many of us face right now is that climate action has been eclipsed by an immediate threat to humanity. How are you dealing with this? How are you navigating this new landscape? How are you adapting? What is a resource you have found helpful?

Share your answers with Peterson by June, 17, 2020.

Leave a voice mail at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)

You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org

Friday Apr 24, 2020

CCR 47 Eco-Grief in a Time of Coronavirus Mourning

Friday Apr 24, 2020

How are the impacts of climate change similar to what we are experiencing with the Coronavirus global pandemic? Many climate advocates have long felt sadness, anger, and despair over the destructive effects of climate change and the slow response by elected officials to do anything about it. Suddenly with the Coronavirus Outbreak we are all thrust into yet another existential crisis and even more grief. Eight women talk about working through grief to a place of action. They use their expertise to connect the impacts of climate change to what we are now seeing with Covid-19.

Guests include:

Dr. Nathasha DeJarnett, Interim Associate Director Program & Partnership Development National Environmental Health Association
Dr. Lise VanSusteren, an American psychiatrist in private practice in Washington, DC with a special interest in the psychological effects of climate change.
Elizabeth Rush, author of Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore
Solemi Hernandez, Citizens Climate Lobby Southeast Regional Coordinator
Edie Lush, co-host of Global GoalsCast podcast
LaUra Schmidt and Aimee Lewis-Reau, co-founders of the Good Grief Network
Anna Jane Joyner, co-host of No Place Like Home podcast

See our complete show notes at Citizens Climate Lobby.

Host, Peterson Toscano says, “As a podcaster, I get to hear and share stories. The stories and people I cover educate me about climate change and many other issues. They also affect me emotionally. They stir up sadness along with empathy.” Fellow climate podcasts, Edie Lush and Anna Jane Joyner, point out how essential grief was for them in helping understand what roles to take in the climate movement.

In addition to the mental health risks we face, Dr. DeJarnett highlights the groups most vulnerable to the impacts of Covid-19 and to Climate Change. These include people of color, children, and women. In episode 23 Dr. DeJarnett shared research conducted after Hurricane Katrina. It reveals women experienced extreme trauma in various forms including domestic violence during and after the storm. Dr. DeJarnett worries about similar dangers women now face during this time of extreme isolation. Solemi Hernandez speaks about her concerns for farmer workers and the multiple risks they face as essential workers living in remote rural areas often without health care and with unresolved immigration issues.

LaUra Schmidt and Aimee Lewis-Reau from the Good Grief Network, share the tools they use to help climate advocates face the eco-grief that often slows us down. Through their 10-Step Program, Personal Resilience and Empowerment in a Chaotic Climate, they have seen climate advocates breakthrough so they are more energized to do their work.

All of the guests share best practices and strategies to help process grief and cope with stress in this time of Coronavirus.

Thank you to Raul Diaz Palomar for music from his album Musica Para Poder Contra La Verdad.

Art House

In the Art House, writer Elizabeth Rush returns with good news. Her book Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore has garnered awards and was chosen as the Read Across Rhode Island pick. At the kick off event Elizabeth watched an excerpt of a play based her book. Observing herself portrayed on stage gave her a chance to realize something about her own grief process she had not noticed before.

She talks about what she learned and reads selections from her book.

Dig Deeper

Four ways Coronavirus is Turning the Natural World Upside Down, The Atlantic
Experts See a Worrisome Link Between Pollution and Coronavirus, The Hill
Climate Change and Health Equity, American Public Health Association
Coronavirus: Why Has the Virus Hit African-Americans So Hard? BBC
Climate Change Increases the Risk of Violence Against Women, United Nations
Climate Change Leads to More Violence Against Women, Girls, Deutsche Welle
As Cities Around the World Go on Lockdown, Victims of Domestic Violence Look for a Way Out, Time Magazine
How Millions of Women Became the Most Essential Workers in America, New York Times
How the Pandemic Will End: Generation C, The Atlantic
We Need Courage, Not Hope, to Face Climate Change, by Dr. Kate Marvel, On-Being
Olio Food Sharing App
Dutch Baby Recipe, New York Times

Puzzler Question

Listeners share what they would say to Charles. He was worried about the Yellow Vest Protests in France and how something similar might happen in the USA if legislation is passed to put a price on carbon.

New Puzzler Question

On Earth Day in an on-line conversation with your friend, Gretchen, you share your renewed commitment to promote climate solutions. Gretchen slowly shakes her head and says, “You know I am concerned about the planet too, but with so many people affected by Covid-19, I think we are just going to have to deal with that first. Climate action is very important, but for so many people right now, there are more pressing issues..”

Gretchen is correct. When people are struggling to pay bills, put food on the table, and as they recover from so many different losses, they often don’t have space for climate conversations. In fact, this has been true for lots of marginalized people for a long time, even before Coronavirus. So this puzzler question is for you to answer for yourself. How do you navigate your climate work as we deal with the impacts of Coronavirus?

Send Peterson your answers. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from.

Get back to him by May, 17th, 2020. Email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)