The Climate Minute

Baker’s Executive Order sets a clean energy path: The Climate Minute Podcast

Governor Baker signed an Executive Order to set policy for the state related to global warming. It promises emissions targets for the year 2030 and 2040, and focuses on transportation as the next big area for reductions. The Order comes in a year that has seen two major Supreme Judicial Court rulings favoring climate action, the passage of the Omnibus Energy bill, and Baker’s own effort to make RGGI stronger. These are all good signs, a credit to climate activists, and a warning that we must maintain the pressure to fulfill the promise of these decisions.

Did something big just happen at Standing Rock? The Climate Minute Podcast

A series of very important events happened very quickly on the Dakota plains last week.  After a high profile guard-dog attack on the alliance of Native American activists, a Federal judge rejected the tribe’s legal claim. But almost immediately, the Obama Administration moved to stop pipeline construction. Two days later, an arrest warrant was issued for one of the journalists covering the story.  What does this all mean? Can we even tell yet? Listen in as we try to unpack some of the implications of this tumultuous week.

Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog.
Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.
Thanks for listening.
…Ted McIntyre

From sunny day flooding to a new California law: The Climate Minute Podcast

The reality of climate change was apparent last week in reports on rising sea levels, the climate-related drivers of the Baton Rouge floods and even human caused earthquakes in OK. On the other hand MA has a new port to assist in wind turbine installation, and CA passed historic and ambitious climate regulations. Listen in!

Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog.
Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.
Thanks for listening.
…Ted McIntyre

Can a river be a person? The Climate Minute Podcast

The pipeline destruction of the Dakota plains became the scene of violence this week, with haunting images recalling both the massacre at Wounded Knee and Bull Connor’s dogs. At the same moment, New Zealand gave ‘personhood’ rights to a national park. Can we combine this sense of collective ownership (did the Indians really ‘sell’ Manhattan Island?) with the private property rights that allow us to risk poisoning the Missouri River?  Listen in!

Progress in RGGI and Paris: The Climate Minute Podcast

Massachusetts’ Governor Baker proposed a 5% per year decrease in the carbon emissions allowed under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and the President goes to China to jointly sign the Paris Agreement. We discuss.

Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog.
Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.
Thanks for listening.
…Ted McIntyre

What’s the fair way to distribute carbon revenues? The Climate Minute Podcast

Recently, the enormously influential Pope Francis made a strong call for climate action, going so far as to say “To till too much, to keep too little, is to sin.” For Roman Catholics, the Pope’s words have a profound impact. For Climate Hawks, this question can be re-phrased to ask about the best way to distribute revenue from a carbon pricing system like California’s cap and trade or New England’s RGGI or even a carbon tax. Is it better to promote electric cars for those who can afford them, or to provide mass transit and energy efficient homes to the poor? Easy questions with hard answers, but we discuss. Listen in.

Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog.
Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.
Thanks for listening.
…Ted McIntyre

Mining the moon? The Climate Minute Podcast

In September, NASA will launch a mission to visit an asteroid and return with a sample of rock. This presages the arrival of space mining. This raises the question: what does the drive to exploit the environment say about human nature? Is mining an insignificant asteroid in deep space driven by the same impulse to that allows us to dump carbon into a seemingly  limitless atmosphere? Should humans learn to tame these responses, or are they the parts of our nature that will save us? Listen in!

Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog.
Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.
Thanks for listening.
…Ted McIntyre

From Block Island to Dakota: The Climate Minute Podcast

Following the SJC’s decision against the pipeline tax, the utilities have pulled out of the Access Northeast pipeline project. That is good news, but raises the question of what happens next in the fight against new fossil fuel infrastructure. The Dakota Access pipeline fight looms large in this context.  One the other hand, there are now several examples of clean energy breakthroughs. Listen in as we discuss.

Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog.
Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.
Thanks for listening.
…Ted McIntyre

Should we declare war on global warming? The Climate Minute Podcast

Bill McKibben has written a provocative article arguing that our society must adopt a war mentality to address climate change.  Is he right? Exactly who or what would we fight? Listen in for a discussion.
Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.
Thanks for listening.
…Ted McIntyre

A court ruling stops the pipeline tax-and maybe the pipeline! The Climate Minute Podcast

A court ruling ends the plan to finance new natural gas pipelines by means of a ‘tariff’ on electricity bills. This is a victory for the Massachusetts consumer and for clean energy, especially since it will become much harder to build this kind of decades-long-lived fossil fuel infrastructure. Listen in as we discuss the implications of this important decision.

Check out live  links at our blog, http://www.massclimateaction.org/blog.
Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.
Thanks for listening.
…Ted McIntyre