The Climate Minute

We all live in Flint-The Climate Minute Podcast

Scott Pruitt’s EPA withheld a report about poisonous chemicals in drinking water, and then barred CNN and AP reporters from a meeting about it. Plus the “jerks at FERC” want to ignore the greenhouse gases from pipeline content, Exxon wants permission to cook it’s books on monitoring methane leaks, and Gina takes a potshot at Bill, or did she? The answers to your worries? Vote in November.

Being a nuisance when it counts: The Climate Minute Podcast

School walkouts driven by the Parkland tragedy are an inspiration to climate hawks. It is good to keep in mind that the Florida high school’s namesake, Marjory Stoneman Douglas , was an early environmental champion who was instrumental in the protection of the Everglades. She was also one of the first to connect environmental concerns to social concerns like civil rights and the woman’s movement. Environmental Justice has become more and more important to the climate movement, so it deserves more discussion.

Egregious neglect of care and concern: The Climate Minute

Listen in as we discuss the efforts by NYC (and maybe LA?) to try to recoup money from Exxon for climate damages.

A modern-day Constitutional convention? You mean for real? The Climate Minute Podcast

This week, we discuss two significant sleeper issues that will influence climate policy for a long time to come, and a few local initiatives for Massachusetts residents. Charlie Pierce highlighted the first understated, but very important, issue in a report for Esquire. A right-wing movement is pushing state legislatures to approve the idea of holding a new constitutional convention to rewrite the constitution. The convention would be open and would focus on the balanced budget amendment. Twenty-eight states have signed on to this campaign; thirty-four are needed to pass an amendment to the constitution. There is a possibility that if the movement can gain those last six states, it could create stringent regulations that limit the government’s ability to act on climate change.
Another issue of concern is that Mitch McConnell is intent on loading the federal bench with right-wing conservatives who are light on experience but heavy on ideology. These are very young lawyers who will be in these lifetime appointments for decades. Having a federal bench replete with judges that are subservient to right-wing philosophies will make it very difficult for environmental laws to succeed.
Massachusetts listeners, please be on high alert and make calls to your state representative about the following critical local issues. There is a bill before the MA legislature that would eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to assist cities and towns in making regulations to protect air and water quality. Additionally, the Baker Administration released a statement indicating that he feels no political risk by opposing a carbon tax. MA climate hawks can help the movement away from fossil fuels by reminding him that natural and fracked gas should not be part of our energy portfolio.

Amazon+Boston=Green? The Climate Minute Podcast

Eversource is reported to have manipulated natural gas markets, restricting the use of existing pipelines even as they have argued that we need to build more pipelines. What gives? At the same time, Boston is vying for the prize of Amazon’s new headquarters. What would the arrival of another corporate behemoth mean for the clean and sustainable development of our city? Listen in as we contemplate the implications!

When is it time to discuss climate? The Climate Minute Podcast

Question: What do the Las Vegas shooting and this season’s hurricanes have in common? Answer: It is always too soon to discuss the ‘politics’ until it is too late to bother. The common refrain to ‘be sensitive to the victims’ following disasters needs to be challenged. In the immediate aftermath of these events, we can and should focus on the causes and possible responses. One way to do that is to propose bold new ideas, and allow them to move to the mainstream of our national discussion. Listen in!

Twenty five corporate scoundrels: The Climate Minute Podcast

This week we have three main topics: the CDP Worldwide (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) report that twenty-five fossil fuel companies are responsible for over half of the carbon pollution in the air since 1988; the actions that utilities are taking against renewable energy; and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Henry David Thoreau.

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.

Voices from the People’s Climate Mobilization:The Climate Minute Podcast

April 29, 2017 was the day of the People’s Climate Mobilization. It was a great day, with 150 to 200,000 people marching in DC and even more around the country. We had the good fortune to chat with people of all kinds, students from Salem State University, activists from California and Utah as well as concerned folks from all over. Listen in to just a few of the thousands of committed citizens in DC last Saturday.

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.