How to Save a Planet

Latest Episodes:

Is Biden’s Jobs Plan a ‘Skinny Green New Deal’? May 13, 2021

Show notes

The Biden Administration's American Jobs Plan is billed as an "infrastructure" package. But it's also something else: the most ambitious climate plan a U.S. president has ever proposed. So what's in it? And how can we make sure this plan avoids the fate of the last big climate bill (hint: it didn’t go well)? We talk to an architect of the Green New Deal and one of our favorite energy policy experts — and then Alex and Ayana make a terrifying phone call.

Guests: Leah Stokes, Julian Brave NoiseCat

Take Action: Call your members of Congress!

As Ayana says, this is "a once in a lifetime opportunity to pass comprehensive, ambitious federal climate policy.” And as Dr. Leah Stokes said in our episode, now is the time! So call your members of Congress! If Alex and Ayana can do it, so can you!

Don’t know who your member of Congress is? No problem!

You can find out who your representative is here: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

This site has information on your senators: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

You’ll find phone numbers for members’ D.C. offices on their websites — or just call the Capitol switchboard! They can connect you directly with the office of your representative or senator: (202) 224-3121

Tips for calling:

Make a plan! Jot down some notes to remember what you want to say.
Introduce yourself and tell them you’re a constituent! Let them know that you’re a voter in their district — and your opinion matters.
Tell them why you’re calling: It’s crucial that Congress take serious action on climate change this year to meet the U.S. target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
Ask for something specific! Maybe: I’m really excited about the American Jobs Plan, and I think it’s really important to pass a strong clean electricity standard to get us on the path to 100% clean power / I love the idea of a Civilian Climate Corps and Congress should fully fund it / It’s really important to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles / Choose your own climate priority! Maybe it’s kelp farming...
Leave your contact information. That’s it! You did it!

Learn More

Want to learn more about the American Jobs Plan? You can find the White House fact sheet here.
Want to learn more about clean electricity standards? Our guest this week, Dr. Leah Stokes, laid out her vision along with Sam Ricketts of Evergreen Action in a Vox article: This popular and proven climate policy should be at the top of Congress’s to-do list: The case for a national clean electricity standard.
You can find their full report advocating for a national clean electricity standard here: A Roadmap to 100% Clean Electricity by 2035 .
And you can hear more from Leah on her podcast, A Matter of Degrees.
We also talked about the clean electricity standard in Party Like It’s 2035.
Want to learn more about the Green New Deal? We told the story of the Green New Deal in our episodes How 2020 Became a Climate Election and The Green Wave.

If you take an action we recommend in one of our episodes, do us a favor and tell us about it! We’d love to hear how it went and what it felt like. Record a short voice memo on your phone and send it to us via our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode.

Check out our Calls to Action archive for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Rachel Waldholz. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis and Anna Ladd. Our intern is Ayo Oti. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music from Emma Munger.

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Presenting: No Place Like Home May 07, 2021

Show notes

This week, we’re sharing some wisdom from Sherri Mitchell. Sherri is an Indigenous rights attorney, author, activist, and contributor to the book Ayana co-edited, All We Can Save. In this conversation, which originally aired on the podcast No Place Like Home, Sherri speaks about indigenous knowledge, prophecy and Mother Earth. We’re excited to share it with you.

No Place Like Homeis hosted by Mary Anne Hitt and Anna Jane Joyner. You can listen to other episodes of their podcast on Spotify, or wherever you listen.

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Listener Mail: Is Renewable Natural Gas a Scam? Apr 29, 2021

Show notes

It’s listener mail time! This week, we’re digging into a mysterious email one listener received from their utility about renewable natural gas. Can natural gas actually be renewable, or is this just a marketing scheme? We also take a look at Venn diagrams sent by listeners after our episode, "Is Your Carbon Footprint BS?" to see what kind of climate actions you’ve got planned!

Calls to Action

Check to see if your city has a building electrification effort you can support – the Building Electrification Institute has a list of some here.
Check out Environment America’s resources for electrifying your college campus.

Learn More

Read the World Resources Institute’s report and blog post on renewable natural gas.
Read Earthjustice and the Sierra Club’s report on renewable natural gas.
Read the LA Times’ editorial on SoCalGas and Californians for Balanced Energy Solutions.
Read this article about gas industry trade groups paying Instagram influencers to post about how much they looooove gas stoves.
If you want to see what kinds of policies and marketing campaigns your utility may be supporting, you can see if they’re a member of the American Gas Association or American Public Gas Association.

Check out our Calls to Action archive for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Send us your ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Anna Ladd The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis and Rachel Waldholz. Our intern is Ayo Oti. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music from Emma Munger. Special thanks to our guests this week, Tom Cyrs and Matt Vespa.

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Where’s Our Climate Anthem? Apr 22, 2021

Show notes

Social movements are often bolstered by anthems, songs that help unite people and remind them of what they are fighting for. In this episode, we take a look at one of the most famous anthems in US history. We ask what lessons it holds for the climate movement. And we investigate: does the climate movement already have an anthem? Reporter Kendra Pierre-Louis scours the charts to find what’s out there and brings the best (and worst) contenders to hosts Alex and Ayana. In the process, we talk to a climate ambassador who also happens to be a global rap superstar, Mr. Worldwide. Plus, Ayana drops a few bars.

Special thanks to our guests, Dr. Shana L. Redmond, Greg Camp, and Pitbull

Take Action

If music is your thing, try your hand at making a climate anthem for your own climate organizing efforts.
Not musical? Bookmark our Calls to Action archive and challenge yourself to do at least one action each month! Tell us, which action will you take first? Tag us / tweet us at @How2SaveAPlanet

Learn More

Explore on Spotify the (almost) full list of climate songs that Kendra uncovered. You can find the list here, but some of the songs contain adult language. A clean version of the list can be found here.
Read Dr. Redmond's book, Anthem: Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora.
Look at Kendra's earlier story on climate change and music

This episode was produced by Kendra Pierre Louis. Our reporters and producers include Rachel Waldholz and Anna Ladd. Our intern is Ayo Oti. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music from Emma munger and Peter Leonard. Our fact checker this week is Claudia Geib. Special thanks to Liz Fulton, Rachel Strom, Whitney Potter and Alyia Yates.

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The Fight to Stop Oil Pipelines: "For Water. For Treaties. For Climate." Apr 15, 2021

Show notes

This week, we’re talking about oil pipelines. From the fight against Keystone XL to Standing Rock, pipeline protests have been central to the climate movement in the U.S. But they’ve always been about more than just the climate -- they’ve also been a battle for Indigenous rights, demanding that Native American people and Tribes should have a say over what happens in their historic territories. This week, we look back at how pipeline protests have transformed climate activism in the U.S., and we go to the front lines of the latest protests, where organizers are fighting, in their words, “For water. For treaties. For climate.”

Guests: Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Joye Braun, Jenni Monet, Jamie Henn and Tara Houska.

Learn More

For more about Tara and her work, you can:
Check out the Giniw Collective on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Watch Tara’s TED Talk: The Standing Rock resistance and our fight for Indigenous rights
You can find more information, including ways to get involved from home, here: https://linktr.ee/stopline3
You can find out about the divestment campaign aimed at companies that fund fossil fuel infrastructure here: https://stopthemoneypipeline.com/

Further Reading

You can read or listen to Tara’s essay in the anthology co-edited by Ayana, All We Can Save
Check out the ongoing reporting on Line 3 from Minnesota Public Radio and Indian Country Today. There’s also great reporting from The Guardian, and Emily Atkin at Heated .
Read Louise Erdrich’s essay about Line 3 in The New York Times

Check out our Calls to Action archive for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Send us your ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail form. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

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Presenting: Stolen Apr 08, 2021

Show notes

This week, we’re sharing a Spotify Exclusive from another Gimlet podcast, Stolen: The Search for Jermain. In 2018, a young Indigenous mother named Jermain Charlo left a bar in Missoula, Montana, and was never seen again. After two years and thousands of hours of investigative work, police believe they are close to solving the mystery of what happened to her. Stolen goes inside the investigation, tracking down leads and joining search parties through the dense mountains of the Flathead Reservation, while examining what it means to be an Indigenous woman in America.

Next week we’ll be back with an episode of How to Save a Planet that takes you to the front lines of a pipeline protest.

In the meantime, check out our Calls to Action archive for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Send us your ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

How to Save a Planet is reported and produced by Rachel Waldholz, Kendra Pierre-Louis and Anna Ladd. Our intern is Ayo Oti. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music from Emma Munger.

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Presenting: Outside/In Apr 01, 2021

Show notes

It's one of the most important Supreme Court cases you may never have heard of: Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency. The ruling held that the U.S. government could regulate greenhouse gases. Today we’re sharing the wild backstory of this critical Supreme Court case, from a podcast we love,“Outside/In,” from New Hampshire Public Radio. If you don’t believe a legal case in all its intimate details can be riveting, take a listen.

And be sure to check out all the other great episodes from Outside/In.

We'll be back next week with a new episode of How to Save a Planet. In the meantime, check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Send us your ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

How to Save a Planet is reported and produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Rachel Waldholz and Anna Ladd. Our intern is Ayo Oti. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music from Emma Munger.

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The Beef with Beef Mar 25, 2021

Show notes

A quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture and land use – and a big portion of those emissions come from producing meat. Adopting a plant-based diet is one of the biggest steps an individual can take to reduce their own carbon footprint. So, should we all stop eating meat? Or is it more complicated than that? This week, we take a tour through the bodily functions of cows, millions of acres of corn, and the hidden policy that shapes the American food system to answer that question once and for all.

Guests: Marco Springmann, Tom Philpott and Matthew Hayek

Calls to Action

Sign up to track the latest U.S. Food & Agriculture bills, and contact Agriculture Committee members (House and Senate) about supporting a climate-friendly Farm Bill.
Contact the places you eat regularly about providing beef-less options – maybe it’s the cafeteria at work or school, or a community gathering space. Meatless Monday has resources for institutions that want to provide more climate-friendly meals.
Get involved with a local organization fighting food insecurity, a mutual aid group, a community garden, or a co-op. We also talk about mutual aid in our Unnatural Disasters episode!

Learn More

Read the World Resources Institute’s report on Creating a Sustainable Food Future.
Read this study about regenerative methods in beef production.
Read this study about red seaweed reducing methane in beef production.
Check out this data visualization on land use in the U.S.
Listen to the Science Vs. episode on vegan diets.

Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Send us your ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Anna Ladd. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Rachel Waldholz and Felix Poon. Our intern is Ayo Oti. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music from Emma Munger.

Update 4/13/21

An earlier version of this episode incorrectly said that the regenerative practices described by researcher Paige Stanley require more than twice as much land as we already use for grazing. While it is true that this regenerative grazing method requires more land to produce the same amount of beef that is conventionally grazed and later fed at a feedlot, there is a trade off – regenerative grazing would result in more healthy soil that sequesters carbon, and less cropland growing corn that releases it. The episode has been updated.

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Is Your Carbon Footprint BS? Mar 18, 2021

Show notes

We're tackling a sibling debate: Do your individual actions matter when it comes to climate change? Or is it all about big, systemic change? In this episode, we break down both sides of the argument. We lay out the actions that have the biggest impact on your carbon footprint – and then ask if there's a better way to think about our individual role in climate change.

Guests: Katharine Wilkinson, Anthony Leiserowitz and Steve Westlake

Calls to Action

Draw your Climate Action Venn Diagram – what are you good at? What is the work that needs doing? What brings you joy? Post your Venn diagram to social media (Twitter / Instagram) and tag us @How2SaveAPlanet.
Looking for a job? Climatebase has a jobs directory and organizations directory that can be filtered by Project Drawdown sectors and solutions.
Check out the How to Save a Planet Calls to Action document. All of our episode Calls to Action can be found there.
Talk to people about climate change, but don’t be annoying about it! For tips, listen to our episode, Trying to Talk to Family about Climate Change? Here's How, and read the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication’s Attaining Meaningful Outcomes from Conversations on Climate.

Learn More

Check out Project Drawdown to learn more about the Drawdown Framework, and to see their Table of Solutions that breaks down solutions by sector(s) and their impact on reducing heat-trapping gases.
Listen to related How to Save a Planet episodes – Party Like It’s 2035, Trying to Talk to Family About Climate Change? Here’s How, and Are Electric Cars Really Better for the Climate?
Listen to the climate podcast A Matter of Degrees, co-hosted by Dr. Katharine Wilkinson and Dr. Leah Stokes.
Check out the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication to learn more about the widespread support for climate policy solutions in America, and other research.
Check out the research paper that provides a comparison of emissions reductions from various individual actions.

If you take an action we recommend in one of our episodes, do us a favor and tell us about it! We’d love to hear how it went and what it felt like. Record a short voice memo on your phone and send it to us via our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode.

Special thanks to our guests: Katharine Wilkinson, Anthony Leiserowitz and Steve Westlake.

This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Felix Poon. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Rachel Waldholz and Anna Ladd. Our intern is Ayo Oti. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music from Emma Munger.

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Solving a Rooftop Solar Mystery, and What’s a Nurdle? Mar 11, 2021

Show notes

If you put a plastic bag in a bin outside your grocery store - will it really end up being recycled? Are some utilities trying to sabotage the solar industry? We've got answers to these questions and more incredible info about kelp (we are glad you love it as much as we do!) If you have a burning climate-themed question, send us a voice memo to via our Listener Mail Form!

Guests: Tatiana Homonoff

Calls to Action

Find a drop off location for the plastic bags collecting under your sink by visiting PlasticFilmRecycling.org (and where possible, refuse new plastic bags and bring your own)
Look up if your city or state has a plastic bag ban or tax legislation in the works through PlasticBagLaws.org and share your thoughts with your representative(s)
Register for the The Climate Reality Project free virtual training centering ecojustice in climate leadership to engage with climate change on a broader level

Learn More

Listen to our original episode about recycling on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts
Listen to 99% Invisible’s episode on China’s National Sword policy to learn more about the plastic recycling market
Home or business owner? The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has a Homeowners guide to going solar, as well as a calculator that can help you estimate the costs of going solar
North Carolina State University's Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency can help you figure out what solar incentives and tax credits are available where you live If you want to learn more on the policy side, the National Conference of State Legislators has a Solar Policy Toolkit that covers fees (and incentives), net metering (it's under rates), and financing among other topics

Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. And if you take any of the actions we recommend, tell us about it! Send us your voice message, ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

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