The Climate Minute

The Zero Carbon Renovation Fund

Massachusetts must renovate 500,000 homes in the next seven years if we want to meet our climate goals. How to accomplish this enormous task? We speak with the Interim Executive Director of MCAN to learn about an elegant proposal- the Zero Carbon Renovation Fund- that would jump-start a commercial market to meet the challenge.

Senior voices say “Stop the Money Pipeline”

America’s senior citizens hold most of the wealth and have released most of the carbon. Now some of those seniors are calling for change, by demanding big banks stop financing fossil fuel expansion. Recently ‘Third Act' led a day of protest in Boston at Chase and Bank of America to call for divestment from fossil fuels. We talks to some of the marchers.  Check our showpage at massclimateactiondotorg/blog for the hot links.

#StopCopCity

Plans to build a police training facility (AKA Cop City) in Atlanta’s Weelaunee urban forest, over local protests, encapsulates many issues of racial, environmental and climate justice.  We get an update on why ‘Cop City’ is important, why you should care, and what you can do about it from two climate activists.

Reducing the climate impact of health care

Providing health care in the US generates about 8% of our annual carbon emissions. That is a big number! We were joined by the Sustainability Program Manager at a hospital in Boston We discuss how hospitals are working to reduce their carbon impact.

”Fixing the Grid” through transparency at ISO-NE

We talk to the campaign manager of the “Fix the Grid” effort about a recent rally for clean energy.  “The people who run our regional electric system, called ISO-New England, are keeping us hooked on fossil fuels and costing residents money. And the worst part is, we ratepayers who fund this whole system have no seat at the table! They make their decisions behind closed doors, without any accountability. We're calling on our new Governor Maura Healey to demand reform from ISO-New England” 

From flood plains to climate grief

In this Making Sense of Climate episode we were joined by the Town of Franklin Conservation Agent and as you’ll hear, we had a great discussion. We go from flood plain, to the water cycle, to dealing with climate grief..

The Clean Heat Report is a breath of fresh air

The Clean Heat Commission report presents a bold vision for how to go about the task of decarbonizing buildings, from homes to skyscrapers, here in Massachusetts. We get the perspective of an expert working on the issues.

Making clean energy accessible to everyone

A person’s FICO score shouldn’t prevent them from being able to lower their energy bills and being a part of climate crisis solutions. We talk to the Founder and CEO of the Capital Good Fund, a non-profit working to create solutions to overcome the financial barriers that prevent people from transitioning renewable energy.

Tools for a new democracy

Don’t despair over our stalemated politics. Our guest asks “What if, instead of fighting over politics, diverse groups of citizens could create an inspiring vision of the kind of system we want – and then come together and create it?”  Listen for the new ideas in her book on how to bring clashing views into synthesis and progress.

The Clean Heat Report: a “consequential thing”

A landmark MA government report called for significant changes to help reduce CO2 emissions from the use of home heating fuels. For example, the report details the need to plan for a transition away from gas utilities in the coming years. We caught up to the Conservation Law Foundation’s Vice President for Massachusetts to learn more.