The Climate Minute

Two big ideas: The Climate Minute

No matter who becomes president, global action on climate requires cooperation between the US and China. Spending trillions of dollars on a Green New Deal here in the US requires us to reshape our financial structures. Think about it.

Forecasting a stormy election season: The Climate Minute

Complacency about the normalcy of our upcoming election is a danger. From Covid pandemics to mail delays, political dirty tricks and Russian interference, the run up to our election will be turbulent.  On top of that, we should be ready for an election night that is inconclusive, with the count of mail ballots taking many days.  Manipulative narratives promoted during that interval and the possibility of “technically legal” but norm-breaking shenanigans are dangerous. We must be psychologically prepared.

A roadmap of our own: The Climate Minute

As the Massachusetts Climate Roadmap legislation slowly advances on Beacon Hill, we take stock of lessons learned with Craig Altemose of The Better Futures Project. He thinks that climate activists need their own roadmap to traverse the halls of the statehouse. An important take-away: the House should reform its ‘rules’ to allow for public transparency of how bills are treated as they go (or don’t go) through the process of becoming law.  

New climate legislation on Beacon Hill: The Climate Minute

Climate legislation moved forward in the Massachusetts legislature recently. Both the House and the Senate have passed slightly different versions of a bill. We talk about what is included and left out of these bills with Tim Cronin of  Climate XChange.  

Representative John Lewis (1940-2020): The Climate Minute

John Lewis’ life is an inspiration to all Americans. As racial justice and climate justice become nearly synonymous,  we try to draw lessons. Also, the recent mind-boggling corruption in Ohio’s energy policy-making teaches us still other lessons. Listen in.

A shift in our politics? The Climate Minute

As the campaign enters its final three months, we look at the climate policies and implications of the candidates. The choice is yours.

The path beyond gas: The Climate Minute

With the coal industry nearly dead, the battle for the future is between renewable energy (like solar and wind) and natural gas. In electricity generation, that battle will turn on the availability of 'energy storage' systems like large-scale batteries to provide power at peak demand. The good news is a court ruling will allow the storage market to grow nationwide and 'million mile' batteries are on the horizon. But what about the gas we use to heat our homes? States are moving to find ways to replace the leaky gas infrastructure we have, and fresh ideas abound.

Grampa, what was a butterfly? The Climate Minute

Human life is short, geological time is long. It is easy for humans to adapt and accept the losses due to climate change without even noticing. How do we take notice? What should we do?

The threat of climate change to pregnant women of color: The Climate Minute

The increase in temperature associated with climate change is a threat to pregnancies and the pollution associated with fossil fuel use compounds that danger. Disadvantaged communities suffer these effects more than others, and so pregnant women are at particular risk. A new report details the findings. Our psychological processing of the pandemic shutdown leaves us still wondering about a ‘wellness economy’, where GDP is not the driver of all our effort. This may be a good thing for a world fighting climate change.Listen in and then head to "MassClimateAction-dot-org-slash-blog" for the hot links to what we talked about!

Clouds may warm us but 90% renewables by 2035 is cool: The Climate Minute

Clouds may seem simple but new calculations reveal an unexpected heating contribution. OTOH, we also learn that renewables are a better bet than ever. Listen in and then head to "MassClimateAction-dot-org-slash-blog" for the hot links to what we talked about!