597.6K
Downloads
946
Episodes
Official podcast for climate heroes from Citizens' Climate Lobby. We're creating the political will for a livable world.
Episodes
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 Dec 14, 2019
Saturday Dec 14, 2019
Dr. Carolyn Woo spearheaded a dialogue at the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences on “The Energy Transition and Care for Our Common Home.” At the conclusion of the event, leaders from the energy sector and the global investment community released a statement saying, "The combination of policies and carbon pricing mechanisms should be designed in a way that simultaneously delivers innovation and investment in low carbon solutions while assisting those who are least able to pay."
Woo, currently a Distinguished President’s Fellow for Global Development at Purdue University, served as President and CEO of Catholic Relief Services from 2012 to 2016. She was featured in the May/June 2013 issue of Foreign Policy as one of the 500 Most Powerful people on the planet and one of only 33 in the category of “a force for good.”
More Information on the Dialogue: http://www.humandevelopment.va/en/eventi/2019/la-transizione-energetica-e-la-cura-della-nostra-casa-comune.html
Monthly Action Sheet (and Dr. Woo's slides): http://www.cclusa.org/actionsheet
Friday Dec 13, 2019
Friday Dec 13, 2019
Join our November 2019 speaker, Dr. Andy Hoffman, University of Michigan, for an extended Q&A featuring CCL volunteer questions that we didn't have time for during our monthly call.
Solving climate change — and saving civilization as we know it — will require a major systemic shift in our culture. Dr. Hoffman maintains that we are in a societal moment akin to a new era of enlightenment and joins us to talk about the system-level changes to our thinking needed in the anthropocene and the role of business in the great rethinking of our economy. Dr. Hoffman is the Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. He has published 16 books, including How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate and Re-engaging with Sustainability in the Anthropocene Era: An Institutional Approach.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
- The critical role of business engagement on climate action with its associated opportunities (1:44)
- Encouraging companies to be first movers towards solving climate change (5:12)
- Fundamentally rethinking the transportation industry, consumers vs. producers (10:25)
- Whether carbon fee and dividend policies violate the concept of a free market (12:41)
- The influence of the military in climate change (15:14)
- Changes impacting the broader public conversation on climate change (16:57)
- Changes in our cultural self-awareness (24:15)
- Encouraging people to live their lives to reduce energy use (29:37)
- Artists and sports figures influencing public opinion on climate change (33:29)
- How climate change has affected real estate prices & development (38:21)
Find this recording on CCL Community's Monthly Speakers page: http://cclusa.org/monthly-speakers
Find out more: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/
Friday Dec 06, 2019
Friday Dec 06, 2019
Join CCL Leaders Bill Barron, Sarah Karush, and Julia Selker for a training that will walk you through how local groups have hosted house parties, open homes, or climate action salons in their own homes to help generate engagement in their local communities for Citizens' Climate Lobby and the Energy Innovation Act.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
Community Climate Party (VA) (4:40)
Energy Innovation & Carbon Dividend Action Party (UT) (13:53)
Climate Action Open House (DC) (25:00)
Presentation Slides: http://cclusa.org/house-party
Follow Citizens' Climate Lobby on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CitizensClimateLobby
Twitter: https://twitter.com/citizensclimate
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!
Friday Nov 15, 2019
Friday Nov 15, 2019
Join Dr. Noah Kaufman, Research Scholar at Columbia University, and Jerry Hinkle, CCL Research Coordinator, for a live webinar discussing the recently released Columbia University's "Assessment of the Energy Innovation Act." This study offers an up-to-date, independent assessment from a prestigious institution of the Energy Innovation Act’s impacts on emissions, air pollution, and Americans’ finances. It confirms that the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act is effective at reducing emissions and is good for people.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
Emissions Impacts (8:13)
Energy Production & Prices Impacts (15:04)
Government Revenues (20:01)
Impacts Beyond The Assessment's Scope (24:29)
Comparison To Other Proposals (27:39)
Columbia Website: energypolicy.columbia.edu/research/report/assessment-energy-innovation-and-carbon-dividend-act
CCL Training Page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/184
Follow Citizens' Climate Lobby on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CitizensClimateLobby
Twitter: https://twitter.com/citizensclimate
Saturday Nov 09, 2019
Saturday Nov 09, 2019
Solving climate change — and saving civilization as we know it — will require a major systemic shift in our culture. Andrew Hoffman maintains that we are in a societal moment akin to a new era of enlightenment. He joins us to talk about the system-level changes to our thinking needed in the anthropocene and the role of business in the great rethinking of our economy. Hoffman is the Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. He has published 16 books, including:
Helpful Links:
CCL November Action Sheet: https://cclusa.org/actionsheet
The Next Phase of Business Sustainability
Friday Nov 08, 2019
Friday Nov 08, 2019
Are you curious about what to expect about the November Lobby Day or have a question about any final details? Join CCL Project Specialist Morgan McCue and CCL National Outreach & Partnerships Coordinator Taylor Krause for a final walk-through of the who, what, and where for the November Lobby Day to help you prepare for what to expect with the schedule, logistics, and details.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
Pre-conference Preparations (2:21)
Your Meetings (5:08)
November Lobby Day Schedule (16:45)
Getting To The Hill (27:41)
Submitting Meeting Minutes (32:42)
Presentation slides: http://cclusa.org/logistics
Training Page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/272
Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/citizensclimatelobby
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/citizensclimate/
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!
Friday Oct 25, 2019
Friday Oct 25, 2019
Join Adeline DeYoung, CCL Legislative Assistant, as she walks through this year's June Meeting Analysis results as well as how you can use it in a meeting with a Member of Congress, the media, potential endorsers, and the larger community.
This annual analysis covers CCL's 528 meetings with members of Congress and their staff in June each summer. Additionally, the CCL June Meeting Analysis reports paved the way for the creation of the Frequently Raised Topics resource we use to prepare for meetings with members of Congress or their staff.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
How was this done? (3:30)
What were the most frequent topics? (9:23)
Change of annual trends (13:38)
Other Frequently Raised Topics (and where to find them) (15:57)
Assessing Engagement (21:11)
Presentation Slides: http://cclusa.org/2019-june-analysis
Training on CCL Community: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/271
Frequently Raised Topics Resource: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/248
Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/citizensclimatelobby
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/citizensclimate/