The Climate Minute

Reading the leaves: The Climate Minute Podcast

This week we discuss phenology (whatever that is) Massachusetts polls and cool things to do with MCAN this summer. Listen in.

Make Infrastructure Green Again! The Climate Minute

Listen in as we suggests some tiny little improvements to the Adminstration's ideas on national infrastructure.

A long term and equitable price on carbon: The Climate Minute Podcast

We have two topics of interest today: Carbon pricing bills and the June 13th Lobbying Day . Massachusetts has two new bills that promote a gradually rising price on carbon. “Carbon price” is a buzzword that puts a monetary price on carbon pollution, or emissions from burning fossil fuels. Essentially, it is a “dumping fee” for putting pollution into the air. Though the phrase “gradually rising price” can be off-putting, the bills incentivize people to become more carbon neutral – a way of doing well by doing good.

People’s Climate Mobilization: How’d we get from there to here? The Climate Minute Podcast

The People’s Climate Mobilization will happen on April 29th in DC and cities across the country. As this big day draws near, it is worthwhile tracing the history of public protests dedicated to climate issues. From the original ‘Step It Up’ in 2007 to the 2014 March in NYC, the people power of climate marches keeps growing. Listen in as we discuss.

The nitty-gritty of 100% clean energy: The Climate Minute Podcast

The US currently generates about 5% of its power by clean technology. What happens when our country gets to 70% clean energy? Imagine the year is 2045 and a week-long blizzard across the entire Midwest buries all the PV? Where does the solar power come from? Academics working to get us to 100% clean energy see a need for methods to ‘manage’ the intermittency of renewable energy. Do we need to ‘save’ nuclear power plants? Dave Roberts says we should not worry too much about these questions, but push hard for more renewable energy, right now. Listen in as we discuss this interesting aspect of the necessary and inevitable move to a decarbonized future.

Executive disorder: The Climate Minute Podcast

The mal-Administration our country, lead by our Russophile 45th President, has issued an Executive Order attempting to eliminate efforts to address climate change. The historical ramificaitons of these destructive moves are yet to be written, but they are real and damning. We discuss the content and consequences of the what we know now. Listen in!

The mysterious case of Wayne’s emails: The Climate Minute Podcast

Through either malice or ignorance, the duly elected President of these proud United States continued his mindlessly destructive assault the environment. By approving the KXL pipeline, he has re-ignited a controversy that will simmer for years. His disappearing Secretary of State was shown to have used (and mysteriously deleted) his private email which used the romantic name “Wayne Tracker.” On the other hand, we see India declare the Ganges a person, and discuss whether “Lord of the Flies” or “Grapes of Wrath” capture the tenor of the times. Listen in.

Gorsuch is “void for vagueness” : The Climate Minute Podcast

From President Cheetoh’s approval of the KCL pipeline to his plans attacking climate programs, there is plenty to discuss. Also, the Senate heads for a showdown over the Gorsuch nomination, but you can still get bus tickets to the DC rally on 4/29. Hang in there!

Think globally, resist locally: The Climate Minute Podcast

MCAN’s Local Environmental Action Conference was held on March 5th at Northeastern University. Kandi Mossett was the morning keynote speaker, and presented a powerful image of the destruction fracking has wreaked damage on Native American Communities. For her part, Lois Gibbs was living a normal life in upstate New York until “she discovered that her neighborhood sat atop a toxic dump containing 21,000 tons of buried chemical waste, the infamous Love Canal.” In one of the breakout sessions, Carol Oldham discussed MCAN’s offering to help activist begin the process of finding out where they can help their towns become greener. Listen in!

Scott Pruitt’s betrayal of the EPA, scientific integrity and the future: The Climate Minute Podcast

In a statement that can only be considered an insult to the very concept of truth and scientific integrity, Scott Pruitt, the new leader of the EPA, said the following about carbon dioxide “I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see,” This denial of the scientific output of the EPA, based on his personal opinion and narrow ideology is an outrage. His extreme views may influence decisions on California’s right to pursue green initiatives.
Scott Pruitt will only be brought to heel by political pressure from Congress, who will themselves only respond to direct communication from their constituents. Check the reading list to find your Member of Congress. A short phone call is all it takes.