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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 Mar 27, 2020
Friday Mar 27, 2020
The resilience and adaption we see happening all over the world, in our governments, and in our homes, have gotten some climate advocates reflecting on the preparations & rapid responses needed to address extreme weather events and other impacts from global warming. How is Coronavirus similar to climate change? How is it different?
Host, Peterson Toscano convenes a panel of experts to consider these questions.
- Dr. Natasha DeJarnett, the interim Associate Director of Program & Partnership Development at the National Environmental Health Association. In previous episodes she has helped us better understand public health issues and climate change. Whether she is discussing environmental racism and pollution, the illnesses afflicting coal miners in Appalachia, or promoting mental health in a time of Climate Change, Dr. DeJarnett provides well sourced and grounded information.
- Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, the director of the Sustainable Finance Center at the World Resources Institute. He leads the Center’s work to help drive finance into activities that promote sustainability and combat climate change. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy and Environment at the US Department of the Treasury.
- Alice. C Hill, a senior fellow for Climate Change Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. Over 10 years ago she joined the Obama administration as senior legal counsel to Homeland Security director, Janet Politano. As a climate change resilience expert, She believes we possess the tools to respond to the impacts of climate change. She and Martinez-Diaz co-authored the book, Building a Resilient Tomorrow: How to Prepare fo the Coming Climate Disruption.
In discussing the connections they see regarding our preparations for and responses to protecting the public from Covid-19 and the impacts of climate change, they point out that governments do not properly plan for unexpected future events because of a collective failure of imagination. Martinez-Diaz explains the idea of availability bias, “the difficulty that we all have to imagine things we have never seen before. Therefore, we have a lot trouble planning and getting ready for things for which we have no living memory.” This was true of Coronavirus and is also true for climate change.
In responding to crisis and suffering, they each point out the importance of having empathy towards those who are at risk, particularly the most vulnerable in society. This thoughtful and insightful conservation will help climate advocates better understand the work we seek to do in effectively communicating the urgency of climate change. Being able to tell stories to government officials and other stakeholders is a necessary skill to develop and hone.
The Art House
Hear the story of Yuri Ivanovich Petrov. As a boy he survived the infamous 900 Days Siege of Leningrad during World War II. Though he experienced the unimaginable hardships, he also developed inventive ways to survive. The lessons he learned during the greatest crisis of his generation, can help give us hope and guidance for our own.
Puzzler Question
You are talking to your. friend, Charles. Charles is concerned about climate change but doesn’t know what we could do about it. You explain carbon pricing is a powerful tool to help us decrease fossil fuel emissions. Before you could say more your Charles interrupts, “Are you out of your mind? Did you see what happened in France when they tried that. Those Yellow Vest Protest! It was a political disaster! You really expect that to work here?”
How would you respond to Charles?
Send your answers to Peterson by April, 15, 2020. You can email your responses to radio @ citizensclimate.org r leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)
Dig Deeper
- What would happen if the world reacted to climate change lit it’s reacting to coronavirus? What would a fast, coordinated, collective response to climate change look like? by Adele Peters for Fast Company
- Coronavirus Shows Up Rapid Global Response to Climate Change Is Possible by Jamie Margolin for Teen Vogue
- America Adapts Podcast: The Climate Change Podcast
- That Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief by Scott Berinato for the Harvard Business Review
- The Siege of Leningrad from Eyewitness to History
Wednesday Feb 26, 2020
Wednesday Feb 26, 2020
Concerned about climate change, Princeton University student, Jonathan Lu, and his friends became excited about a particular solution: Carbon Fee and Dividend. Through Citizens Climate Lobby they learned about a proposed national policy to price carbon and give the revenue back to households. That inspired them to ask, Could this be done in New Jersey?
Having a good idea is one thing, but doing all the hard work to make it a reality is quite another. Jonathan and his friends realized they needed help researching New Jersey state law. They also needed to speak with over 100 stake-holders all over the state. They wanted to make sure idea for legislation would appeal to as many different groups as possible.
Luckily they found a group of hard-working, intelligent, and creative people who enthusiastically joined the cause. People like Ahan Raina and Aurora Yuan. At the time they were both 15 years old.
Our host, Peterson Toscano, chats with Jonathan, Ahan, and Aurora, members of New Jersey Student Climate Adadvocates (NJSCA.) They and scores of high school and college students are working on the New Jersey Climate Investment and Carbon Cashback policy. In addition to applying what they are learning in school about climate change, economics, and civics, they are discovering just how challenging it is to devise a bill that appeals to as many people as possible. They are committed to seeing households benefit once carbon pricing begins in the state.
After hearing from over 100 stakeholders though, they realized they needed to make adjustments to their original policy proposal. In a state with many businesses and industries, they heard how their idea might impact New Jersey businesses. They came up with a compromise that has made the bill better for more people in New Jersey.
While they worked on the policy though, Student Climate Strikes broke out in North America and beyond. Why do policy work instead of strike? Both Ahan and Aurora share insightful responses.
“People are definitely talking more about climate change because of the work of these climate strikers,” says Ahan. He adds, “You can build as much public interest as you want, but then someone has to do the work of building the policy.”
Aurora believes policy is the best way to address climate change, but not the only way. “I do participate in the climate strikes...I think policy though is the real concrete solution because we can’t get any tangible change without creating policy and systematic change.”
She understands why many of her peers are furious about the world they will inherit. For Aurora though, that anger can get in the way of the conversation. “The more angry you are and the more angry words you say to other people, the less they are willing to listen to you and the less they are willing to work with you...I think having a tone of calmness and willingness to speak with others and listen to where others are coming from, and then cooperating with others is really, really important right now."
Jonathan, experienced great success working with high school students on climate policy. In this episode he offers excellent advice to climate groups who want to work with young people.
If you inspired anew by this rising generation and learn some practical strategies for developing effective policy while for working with youth, hear the full interviews in this latest episode.
To learn more, follow them on Instagram.
The Art House
Irish author, Shirley McMillan wanted nothing to do with climate change. A busy mom with a young child, she recoiled when Peterson Toscano first initiated a conversation with her about climate change six years ago. She did not deny the reality or seriousness of climate change, but it all felt too much. She was also uninspired by the many suggestions for how women can do all the hard work to lower the family’s carbon footprint.
Then something changed; Shirley began to see climate change as something more than just an environmental issue; she realized how it is also a human rights issue.
Hear a lively conversation between Shirley and Peterson as she shares why it took her awhile to warm up to climate action. Learning about her reasons may help you better understand why your own friends and loved ones switch off when you start talking about climate change. Discover how over time you can influence your friends to embrace climate change on their own terms.
Puzzler Question
Like Shirley, your friend, Heather, told you she wanted nothing to do with your climate work. She also had a limited view of what that work looks like: “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t have time for climate work. I feel bad saying that but I work full time and I have two children still in school. I don’t have time for protesting right now”
Hear what listeners had to say to Heather.
New Puzzler Question
You are talking to your friend, Charles. Charles is concerned about climate change but doesn’t know what we can do about it. You explain how carbon pricing is a powerful tool to help us decrease fossil fuel emissions. Before you could say more Charles interrupts, “Are you out of your mind? Did you see what happened in France when they tried that. Those Yellow Vest Protest! It was a political disaster! You really expect that to work here?”How would you respond to Charles?
Send Peterson your answers. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from. Get back to him by March, 15, 2020. You can leave a voice mail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) or email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org
Dig Deeper
- Economists’ Statement on Carbon Pricing The Climate Leadership Council
- Pricing Carbon The World Bank
- A Brief Look at Carbon Pricing by Canadian Province The North Shore News
- Ten Carbon Pricing Bills before the US Congress, Eco-Justice Journey, The Presbyterian Mission
- Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR 763)
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.
Friday Jan 24, 2020
Friday Jan 24, 2020
On October 20th 2007, after having a revelation about the severity of climate change, Marshall Saunders launched Citizens Climate Lobby. He then inspired over one hundred thousand everyday citizens to appeal directly to members of congress. He helped empower them to offer a bold and straight forward solution to address climate change. Everyone who met Marshall, heard him speak, and worked beside him walked way with determination and a deeper belief in their own ability to change in the world. On December 27th, 2019 at the age of 80, Marshall Saunders passed away at his home in Coronado, California.
As host of Citizens Climate Radio, Peterson Toscano had the pleasure of sitting down to record interviews with Marshall multiple times. In these lively conversations, Marshall's voice is filled with kindness, wisdom, tenderness, insights, and mirth. Whenever Marshall spoke about CCL, he expressed an unshakable faith in individuals to do far more than they ever imagined possible. As a leader, he influenced hundreds of thousands of volunteers to believe something outrageous—that cooperation in the US congress leading to bipartisan climate legislation was not only possible, but inevitable.
For our main section we return to the beginning and bring you an intimate, moving, and at times hilarious conversation with Marshall Saunders, founder of Citizens Climate Lobby, and Mark Reynolds, the executive director. They reveal their origin stories. Highly ambitions and successful businessmen, they seemed unlikely candidates to head up an organization that puts relationship-building and climate advocacy at its heart.
We may say of a man that he is more often kind than cruel, more often wise than stupid, more often energetic than apathetic or vice versa; but it could never be true to say of one man that he is kind or wise, and of another that he is wicked or stupid. Yet we are always classifying mankind in this way. And it is wrong. Human beings are like rivers; the water is one and the same in all of them but every river is narrow in some places, flows swifter in others; here it is broad, there still, or clear, or cold, or muddy or warm. It is the same with men. Every man bears within him the germs of every human quality, and now manifests one, now another, and frequently is quite unlike himself, while still remaining the same man.”
It sounds like Heather as a limited view of what climate work looks like. How would you respond to Heather?
Send Peterson your answer by February 15, 2020, along with your name, contact info, and where you are from. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)
- A history of Bipartisanship : BipartisanPolicy.org
- Cooperation: Congress Simply Has to Bring it Back : Brookings Institute
- Five myths about bipartisanship : The Washington Post
- Marshall Saunders Obituary : Coronado Times
- Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy : Good Reads
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.
If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!
Friday Dec 20, 2019
Friday Dec 20, 2019
In this episode you will meet a fellow climate action figure. Solemi Hernandez finds great joy and fulfillment in the climate work she does. In hearing some of her own story, we hope it inspires you in your own. Originally from Venezuela, Solemi has lived in the US state of Florida for the past 17 years. She seeks to improve conditions for immigrant farm workers. She is also raising her two sons, and Solemi has taken on a very big mission. She wants to save the world starting in her own community.
Like her father and grandfather before her, Solemi worked for the oil industry in Venezuela. In fact, she grew up in an oil town and saw firsthand the environmental and health hazards that came with the well-paid oil jobs. Once the oil industry became nationalized, Solemi moved to the USA and started on a very different path—as a social justice minded environmentalist. She began to volunteer with various groups including the Water Keepers Alliance and the Sierra Club. She helped create a local chapter of The Pachamama alliance, an umbrella organization that connects environmental and social justice organizations to work in the community. She also volunteered for Citizens Climate Lobby.
Her concerns for her community and her passion to address climate change deepened in 2017 when she and her family endured a category 5 storm, Hurricane Irma. For three days the family lived in an emergency shelter in a public school that eventually also flooded. They returned to a devastated neighborhood. Their house survived the storm the region was without electricity for three weeks. With sweltering temperatures and limited supplies and resources, she and her community worked together to take care of each other. Solemi speaks about the added risks marginalized people face who do not have the income and mobility necessary to escape the storms and then to rebuild.
Solemi admits that climate work is challenging, but she has found purpose and meaning in the climate work she is doing. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and her story is inspiring.
Solemi Hernandez is Citizens Climate Lobby's Southeast Regional Coordinator covering Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. She first learned about CCL in 2017 and she immediately signed up as a volunteer because she was inspired by CCL’s mission to create the political will for climate solutions. She is currently enrolled as a Political Science student at Florida Gulf Coast University. She has been a grassroots activist and community organizer for many years in Florida.
Prior to CCL, she worked as the co-host of a Spanish language TV talk show based in Southwest Florida. While at this position she had the opportunity to research and conduct in-depth personal interviews with political candidates and politicians. She has been volunteering with a number of organizations advocating in Tallahassee for the environment and the Everglades restoration.
Solemi is the mother of two wonderful young boys who are her motivation to continue her work for a better quality of life for all. She enjoys reading, watching documentaries, spending time with family and friends, going to the beach and exploring nature in all its diversity.
The Art House
Playwright Chantal Bilodeau returns to the Art House. Every two years to coincide with the UN COP meetings, Chantal and her team organizes an international event, Climate Change Theatre Action. They select 50 short climate change themed plays from 50 playwrights around the world. This fall over 200 communities organized events in 30 countries where they read some of these plays. Chantal shares highlights along with good news about how the movement is growing both in and outside of the theatre community. A book with all 50 of the 2019 plays will be published in 2020. The collection of 50 plays from 2017 is available now.
Puzzler Question
We hear your answers to a question about what household might do with a carbon dividend. Your friend Darren thinks given out a dividend is a bad idea. He says, "People will just use the dividend they get to continue paying for fossil fuels. Giving them money enables them to stay in their fossil fuel lifestyles. Hear what listeners had to say.
New Puzzler Question
You are at a political rally chatting with a new friend. Let’s call her Heather. When you ask her if she wants to join your climate group, she says, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t have time for climate work. I feel bad saying that but I work full time and two children still in school, I don’t have time for protesting right now.
How would you respond to Heather?
Send Peterson your answer by January 15, 2020, along with your name, contact info, and where you are from. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)
Dig Deeper
- The Elderly and the Disabled were Left Behind in Hurricane Irma. What Will Happen Next Time? (American Magazine)
- Post Katrina and New Orleans homelessness (Real Truth)
- The 17 Principles of Environmental Justice (Reimagine)
- American Meteorological Society Explaining Extreme Events from a Climate Perspective This BAMS special report presents assessments of how human-caused climate change may have affected the strength and likelihood of individual extreme events. (American Meteorological Society)
- The 5 biggest environmental and climate change stories over the last decade and what’s changed (ABC News)
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.
If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!
Saturday Nov 23, 2019
Saturday Nov 23, 2019
Adam Rosenbalm and Austin Ramsey study at East Tennessee State University (ETSU.) Both raised in Conservative families in the South, they arrived on campus at a time when American citizens were more politically polarized than ever. After the 2016 election it seemed the country was more polarized than ever. Conversations quickly became debates that led to arguments. Both Adam and Austin wanted to do something about the partisan divide between Conservative and Liberal Americans. Fortunately they learned about a new group called Better Angels.
According to the Better Angels’ website, "Better Angels is a national citizens’ movement to reduce political polarization in the United States by bringing liberals and conservatives together to understand each other beyond stereotypes, forming red/blue community alliances, teaching practical skills for communicating across political differences, and making a strong public argument for depolarization.” They do this through their Red and Blue Workshops. With the help of a skilled facilitator, Better Angels hosts parliamentary styles debates.
After attending a Better Angels’ event, Adam and Austin decided to bring the Better Angels’ style of debate to the ETSU campus. They hosted the first-ever Better Angel’s debate on a college campus. They chose a hot button topic that drew a large audience. Adam explains, “East Tennessee State University is in rural Tennessee…and firearms are a part of most people’s lives, and so we set forth the resolution that said, ‘Resolved: Students should be allowed to carry guns on campus.’ The whole premise of the event after that was people were asked to either speak in the affirmative or the negative on the topic.” Throughout the debate students were given space to share their feelings about the topic and raise questions.
What often becomes a heated debate where people walk away angry and further divided instead became a space of deeper understanding and friendship. Because of skillful facilitation and clear guardrails that kept the conversation moving forward, the ETSU Better Angels gun debate was a huge success. Austin says, “It really won over the campus. Students really connected with the style. We had students on both side of the issues that at the end worked together to say, hey, we need to meet to talk about this issue. We need to work together, because now we see this issue is deeper than a gun…it’s about how we’ve been raised, how we perceive this issue, where we were born, and how some of the milestones in our lives affect how we think about this. And that’s important when we talk about these difficult issues.”
After that initial success, Adam and Austin organized debates on other topics. They share with Citizens Climate Radio host, Peterson Toscano, some of the insights they have learned that help them to foster civil discourse that results in genuine understanding and appreciation of people on the other side of an issue. They also talk about climate change and the challenges that must be overcome when organizing an effective dialogue between Conservatives and Liberals.
The Art House
Being a climate advocate can be very difficult. How do you maintain hope in the face of bad news and apathy from those around you? Where do you find encouragement and inspiration? What role can faith play in our climate work? These are the questions Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade and Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas the editors of a new anthology of essays by climate change faith leaders, wanted to answer. They bring together 21 climate leaders in the book, Rooted & Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis.
Contributors include Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Rev Fred Small, Cristina Leaño, and Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman. In his introduction to the book, Bill McKibben argues for the need for a faith-based book about climate action, “…love, I would suggest, is what finally roots this volume: a love for the world around us, in all its improbable glory, and for the people who alone can bear witness to that glory and rise to its defense. If they are indeed summoned to that calling, it may be in part by fear—by the proper functioning of the survival instinct. But I suspect it will be more by love, the ever-great mystery. This volume opens some windows on that mystery, because the people whose words are collected in it have been powered by that force.”
In the Art House the editors speak briefly about the book, and then contributors, Dr. Nathasha DeJarnett, a research coordinator at the National Environmental Health Assocation reads a portion of her essay, “The View from My Window. Corina Newsome, from Young Evangelicals for Climate Action shares how her hope was rekindled through the process of writing her piece, “The Thing with Feathers.” Once she received her copy of the book and read the other essays, she found even more hope.
Puzzler
We hear answers to last month’s puzzler: System Change, Not Climate Change. What does that even mean?
New Puzzler Question
You are talking to your neighbor, Darren. You explain the many possible ways of we can address climate change. One proposal is to charge energy companies a fee when they extract fossil fuels. The money collected then goes to households. You say this carbon fee and dividend plan will serve as an incentive to switch over to cleaner sources of energy. Darren replies, “Well that’s stupid. People will just use the dividend they get to continue paying for fossil fuels. Giving them money enables them to stay in their fossil fuel lifestyles?”
What do you have to say to Darren?
Send Peterson your answer by December 15, 2019, along with your name, contact info, and where you are from. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)
Dig Deeper
- Conservative Climate Lobby Day
- What Does the Bible Say about Climate Change? Ep 30 Citizens Climate Radio
- Parliamentary Procedure, Britannica
- The Case for Climate Hope by Conor Dwyer Reynolds, The New Republic
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.
If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!
Saturday Oct 26, 2019
Saturday Oct 26, 2019
Tuskegee University is a historically Black University in Alabama founded in 1881. From the early work of George Washington Carver, Tuskegee has trained generations of researchers who are unraveling mysteries from the natural world. Dr. Carver wrote, “I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”
Two researchers have been tuning in and made a series of extraordinary discoveries all from agricultural waste. Out of the muck Dr. Michael L Curry, Dr. Donald White, and a team of other researchers found a natural alternative to plastics, one that will biodegrade in less than 100 days. This will keep us from adding even more pollution to a very polluted world. Further researched revealed this material also has other extraordinary properties.
Dr. Curry and Dr. White continue in the tradition of George Washington Carver and the many curious, well trained, and highly skilled researchers at Tuskegee University.
The Art House
Puzzler Question
We will extend the puzzler question from last month.
After attending the recent climate strikes, imagine you run into your cousin, Kristan. She saw news reports about events around the world. She says, “I love the sign ‘system change not climate change,’ but it seems like a total fantasy. They expect everyone to go vegan or something? What systems can we change that will make any difference with climate change?"
Kristan needs some help envisioning the kind of change that you are pursuing. How would you answer her?
Send Peterson your answer by November 15, 2019, along with your name, contact info, and where you are from. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)
Dig Deeper
- George Washington Carver, Tuskegee University
- 7 Incredible Uses for Nanocellulose, Gizmodo
- Bioplastics, Encyclopedia Britannica
- MIT engineers devise new way to remove carbon dioxide from the air, Cnet.com
- Acting for Climate Facebook page
- Artists for Climate Change
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.
If you listen on iTunes, please consider rating and reviewing us!
Saturday Sep 28, 2019
Saturday Sep 28, 2019
Tatiana Schlossberg is the author of the new book, Inconspicuous Consumption. In it she highlights just how good we are at being bad when it comes to fossil fuel pollution. She exposes the pollution generated by four major industries--Fuel, Food, Internet, and Fashion. About the book, Bill McKibben writes, “[Schlossberg] deserves real credit for coming through her journey into the guts of the consumer machine with a clarifying insight: We aren’t going to solve our problems one consumer at a time. We’re going to need to do it as societies and civilizations, or not at all.”
In her conversation with host, Peterson Toscano, Schlossberg dives into the the vast world of fashion and the extreme pollution the industry produces, and how this pollution contributes to global warming. She focuses on specific sectors including denim and the production of jeans.
In writing about cotton, Schlossberg points out, “It’s grown in more than sixty-five countries around the world, makes up about one-third of all the fibers used in textiles, takes up about 3 percent of global agricultural land, and has a big carbon footprint: producing the world’s cotton supply for the use in textiles results in 107.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year.”
In addition to creating pollution, growing cotton and manufacturing cotton textiles demand a massive amount of water. “Producing one kilogram of cotton requires somewhere between 1,800 and 7,660 gallons of water, depending on where its grown,” according to Schlossberg. Once harvested, the cotton is then transformed into fabrics like denim, a process that is also water intensive. Schlossberg states, “as much as 2,900 gallons can be used to produce a single pair of pants (using conventional methods), mostly because of the dyeing and finishing.”
When it comes to the alternatives to cotton, like synthetics, Schlossberg reveals the tremendous greenhouse gas emissions and micro-fiber pollution created every year as a result of the manufacture, use, washing, and disposing of synthetic fabrics. The company that pioneered synthetic fabric, Patagonia, is now hard at work looking for solutions and alternatives. Schlossberg warns pollution from fashion is increasing because of the growing industry of fast fashion, where cheap quick production comes with a hidden ecological price tag.
In her book and this podcast episode, Schlossberg does a great job of pointing out the many sources of pollution that come from the world of fashion. She readily admits she does not provide many solutions. Her job is to help us understand the scale of the problem. She recognizes the response needs to be in relation to the size of the problem. Individual efforts are not nearly enough. The role of politicians and the political process is vital to bringing about the changes in policy we need. In addition, the role of citizens speaking out about climate change is more important than ever.
Schlossberg helps us consume this heavy topic with plenty of spoonfuls of sugar; her humor, warmth, and hope shine through.
The Art House
What does it take to create a poetic masterpiece that is also able to express the complex emotions we feel around climate change? Poet Catherine Pierce describes her process crafting her moving poem, Anthropocene Pastoral Host, Peterson Toscano produces an Art House segment heavily influenced by the podcast Song Exploder. They invite a musician to unpack a song and talk about almost every aspect of it and their creative process. In the Art House, Pierce does something similar for us with Anthropocene Pastoral. The poem first appeared in the American Poetry Review.
Inspired by the California Super Bloom of 2017, Pierce captures the strangeness of living in a world that is rapidly and dangerously changing but at the same time can be unseasonably pleasant and beautiful. (Tatiana Schlossberg wrote about a Super Bloom for the New York Times.)
Pierce opens the poem with the line, "In the beginning the ending was beautiful.”
In the conversation she reveals the many choices she made as a poet to create the haunting mood of the poem and the lush landscape in it filled with a riot of images, animals, and life. She explains some of the techniques and devices she uses to construct the poem. Then she reads the poem for us.
You can read more of Catherine Pierce's climate change themed poetry online including High Dangerous and Planet. Pierce’s last book of poetry, The Tornado is the World is about an EF-4 tornado/extreme weather. The filmmaker Isaac Ravishankara produced a beautiful short film out of one of the poems in the collection, "The Mother Warns the Tornado.”
Catherine Pierce is the co-director of the Writing Program at Mississippi State University, and the author of the award winning collection of poetry, Famous Last Words. She is working on a new book of poetry, Danger Days, which continues her exploration of climate change. It will be available in autumn 2020.
Puzzler
Students from Susquehanna University answer last month's puzzler question. Victor, a middle school student is freaking out because of climate change. “What could I even do about?” What does he need to hear?
We also get inspiration from elementary students at the River Valley Nature School who gave a presentation at the Climate Strike event held in Lewisburg, PA.
New Puzzler Question:
After attending the recent climate strikes you ran into your cousin, Kristan. She saw news reports about events around the world. She says, “I love the sign—system change not climate change, but it seems like a total fantasy. They expect everyone to go vegan or something? What systems can we change that will make any difference with climate change? ”
Kristan needs some help envisioning the kind of change that you are pursuing. How would you answer Kristan?
Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from. Get your answer in by October, 15, 2019. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)
Dig Deeper
- The Price of Fast Fashion (Nature)
- Making Climate Change Fashionable—The Garment Industry Takes on Global Warming (Forbes)
- We Have No Idea How Bad Fashion Actually Is for the Environment—But it’s definitely not good. (Racked)
- Synthetic Microfiber Pollution (Patagonia)
- Waste Not, If You want to Help Secure the Future of the Planet. (NY Times article by Tatiana Schlossberg)
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.
Saturday Aug 24, 2019
Saturday Aug 24, 2019
Sometimes we cannot easily imagine the impacts legislation and policy can make. Andrews Smalls from City Lab wrote the article, What American Cities Looked like Before the Environmental Protection Agency Was Created. "Since 1970, the agency has reduced the six most common air pollutants by more than 50 percent, reduced air toxins from large industrial sources by almost 70 percent, and eliminated the use of ozone-depleting chemicals. And this progress was accomplished even as the country’s GDP tripled, energy consumption increased by 50 percent, and vehicle use nearly doubled."
Of course we have still have work to do. We need to reduce localized pollution and heat-trapping greenhouse gases globally. So how do we build the political will so that the public clamors for legislation and policy that will change how we get and use energy? We need to communicate to the public what success looks like. Envisioning success in our climate work though requires imagination.
To help us with this task Sean Dague, the group leader for the Mid-Hudson South chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby, leads us through a powerful exercise. He asks us, What does a decarbonized world look like? What does it smell like? What does it sound like?
Once you hear Sean’s vision of a successful future, we invite you to continue the exercise. Try some creative writing. Write a short story or a letter from the future about what you see, smell, and hear. Maybe create visual art, a drawing or painting. If you can’t draw or paint, get images from magazines and on-line then create a collage. Write a song, create a map, choreograph a dance. Use art to capture a vision of a decarbonized world. Even if you do not see yourself as an artsy person, just try it.
Towards the end of his life, writer Kurt Vonnegut would say, "Everyone should practice art because art enlarges the soul."
PLEASE feel free to share your art with our host, Peterson Toscano, and let him know if I can share it with listeners, on the podcast, Facebook, and Twitter.
If you have art from this exercise to share or if you have idea for the Art House, feel free to contact Peterson at radio@citizensclimate.org.
You just spoke to a group of middle school students about your climate change work. During the Q&A a student named Victor says, “I am freaking out because of all the bad stuff I am seeing and it seems like it is just getting worse and worse. I really do not see the point of even trying anymore. I think we are too far gone. What difference does this make?”
Lots of people young and old feel the same way. So how do you respond to Victor? How can you validate his fears while also giving him reasons to hope and pursue solutions.
Send us your answers. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from.
Get back to Peterson by September, 15, 2019 Email: radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less: 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)
- Climate Interpreter, Do you work or volunteer with an aquarium, zoo, national park, national marine sanctuary, or other informal science education center that is addressing climate change? Connect and share with a national community of colleagues and peers.
- NNOCCI’s Research Reports, Frameworks Institute
- What Does Success Look Like? Reports from the Future from Climate Stew
- Role of Values in climate change community engagement, NewsDay
- America Adapts podcast episode 95 Summer Sizzle featuring Citizens Climate Radio
- Citizens Climate Radio Ep 12: Values that drive CCL’s work
Saturday Jul 27, 2019
Saturday Jul 27, 2019
Lew Blaustien, editor of Green Sports Blog, is very concerned about climate change. A sports nut since childhood, Lew began a career in sportscasting, and eventually settled into the marketing side of professional sports. There was nothing in his background to suggest he would turn into a passionate climate advocate. The 911 attacks on New York City in 2001 though changed everything for him. You will hear about how that traumatic event set him on a new career path.
Lew puts the challenges we face into perspective. He says, “Mike Trout of the Anaheim Angels—best player in baseball—recently signed a 400 plus million dollar twelve year contract extension. Twelve years is also what the IPCC said is the time frame that humanity has to reduce our carbon footprint by 45%—basically Mike Trout’s contract.” Lew believes sports fans can become instrumental in taking on climate change. “We need to get the masses of people who follow sports...to engage on positive climate action.”
In this lively interview you will hear Lew brimming with enthusiasm as he reveals a growing trend in the professional sports world. More and more athletes, teams, and leagues are working hard to address environmental concerns. You will also hear from professional skier, Angel Collinson. Through Protect Our Winters she has been speaking to members of congress. In speaking with lawmakers and how many are concerned about climate change, she has become more determined than ever to speak out about the issue. Inspired by athletes like Angel Collinson and Milwaukee Brewers pitcher, Brent Suter, who we featured on Episode 37, Lew and other in the green sports movement are urging teams and players to take the next step—speak directly about climate change and endorse the policies that will address our dangerous pollution problems.
The Art House
Poet liz gonzález joins us in the Art House. Her background is important to her work. She describes herself as “a fourth generation Southern Californian on my mother’s side and the daughter of a Mexican immigrant father who died when I was three.” A teacher of creative writing through the UCLA Extension Writers Program, liz writes poetry and creative non-fiction. Through her writing liz captures the beauty and the challenges of a rapidly changing landscape. For the Art House she reads from her book, Dancing in the Santa Ana Winds: Poems y Cuentos New and Selected. She explains how the power of the Santa Ana winds serves as a metaphor for the early years of liz’ marriage. She also reads a poem from the anthology, Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California.
Though she is very passionate about the suffering that comes from pollution and climate change, liz reveals how difficult it is for her to write about social justice issues. “It has to just happen naturally. I can’t sit down and decide I want to write it. It always ends up sounding preachy, and there are people who do it so much better.” Experience the natural beauty liz recreates in her writing and learn about some of the challenges artists like liz face in a time of climate change.
Puzzler
For last month’s puzzler we asked listeners to share with us the colors and sounds they associate with climate change.
New Puzzler Question
On Facebook you reconnected with a childhood friend, Lydia. She has become worried about climate change and is wondering about what she can do right now to prepare for the effects of climate change. While she admires your work in mitigating climate change, she feels a growing interest in adaptation. Lydia asks you, “What are ways I can help my community to get ready for climate change?”
This is a big question and hopefully the beginning of a larger discussion about climate adaptation. What are some ideas you have for Lydia? Where might she start in adapting to climate change?
You’re welcome to answer either or both. Send Peterson your answers by July 15, 2019, along with your name, contact info, and where you are from. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414 (+1 if calling from outside the USA).
Dig Deeper
- Sports for Climate Action Framework
- The Green Sports Alliance
- Thomas L Friedman: The Power of Green
- Ep 18 Race Car Driver and Climate Advocate, Aaron Telitz
- George Marshall: Don’t Even Think about It: Why are Brains are Wired to Ignore Climate Change
- LA Times: The Santa Ana Winds and the Literature of Los Angeles
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.
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Saturday Jun 22, 2019
Saturday Jun 22, 2019
In this episode we feature two people with very unconventional jobs. Milwaukee Brewers pitcher, Brent Suter is concerned about climate change. He is using his platform to speak out. Circus artist and podcaster, Eliana Dunlap, "does circus" and is using circus arts to raise awareness about climate change.
There is a growing movement among professional athletes. Beyond greening the sportsworld, more and more champions are using their platforms to urge large scale responses to climate change. Lew Blaustein, editor at Green Sports Blog, writes about this trend. He has been introducing Citizens Climate Radio host, Peterson Toscano to professional athletes who are not afraid to talk about climate change.
Brent Suter received a scholarship to play baseball at Harvard University, where he studied environmental science. He learned about the effects of climate change and what how we need to drastically reduce our pollution. At first that meant making individual lifestyle choices to lower his own personal carbon footprint, but he has been expanding his efforts. Through his Strike Out Waste initiative, he got professional baseball players to use reusable water bottles during spring training.
That’s just a start. Brent understands we need to change national energy policy. In a recent interview for the Green Sport Blog he said, "At this point in time, a carbon pricing program and higher incentives for clean energy are absolutely imperative towards the goal of stabilizing our climate and ensuring a healthy and viable future for our planet. The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act would not only help achieve these goals, but would give the funds raised back to the people, save countless lives, and create millions of jobs! A Green Revolution needs to happen fast, and this law, if passed, would play a vital role in helping solve the most important problem of our lives.”
Hear our exclusive interview and learn more about the exciting news about how Brent is taking on climate change.
The Art House
Eliana Dunlap was not born into a circus family; instead she learned circus arts at a circus school in Quebec. Her circus skill set is impressive and includes acrobatics, juggling, dance, and her speciality, the German Wheel. She has been performing circus arts in non-traditional spaces. She is also someone who is creatively responding to climate change. Through her podcast, Changing the World and Other Circus Related Things, she is connecting with other concerned circus artists. She is also one of the founding members of the Circus Action Network.
Eliana likens the high stakes world of circus arts to the challenges we face with climate change. She also sees examples from the circus world about how we can get people from various backgrounds to work together. This summer she and a friend will do street performances of a new circus art show called, High Stakes--What's the Plan(t)? In addition to lots of juggling and acrobatics, the show features a live plant as part of the action.
In this fascinating interview, Eliana opens up about the world of circus and how she and other concerned artists are creating avenues for a deeper conversation about climate change.
Puzzler
In answer to last month's question, high school student, Jerome Foster II, explains why in his climate work he is more of an advocate than a rebel.
New Puzzler Question
It’s a weird one, but there is a method in Our madness. We need to expand the ways we talk about climate change. Here is the question:
What color do you associate with climate change and why? or What sound do you associate with climate change and why?
Answer either or both.
Try answering the puzzler question. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from. Get back to host, Peterson Toscano by July, 15, 2018. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)
Dig Deeper
- United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework
- Brent Suter on Major League Baseball Network Twitter with a video about sustainability
- WTMJ 4 featuring Brent Suter's skills doing impressions
- See Eliana Dunlap on the German Wheel and on the Trapeze
- A short documentary about the German Wheel
- High Stakes--What's the Plan(t) video promo
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.
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