The Climate Pod

Latest Episodes:

Jeffrey Sachs On Ending The Russia-Ukraine War May 18, 2022

Show notes

This week, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs joins the show to give his thoughts on the international diplomacy he says is needed to end the Russia-Ukraine War. In April 2022, Professor Sachs and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network issued a statement calling on the United Nations Security Council to increase diplomatic efforts to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine. Professor Sachs also explains how this war has diverted resources and attention away from solving the climate crisis at a time when the world can't afford not to transition to a more sustainable future.

Check out Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs

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As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group. Check out our updated website!

Further Reading:

The U.S. pledged billions to fight climate change. Then came the Ukraine war

Fighting For A Global Plastics Treaty (w/ Christy Leavitt and Christopher Chin) May 11, 2022

Show notes

This is Part Four of our four-part series, Waves of Change, in collaboration with Oceana. In March, at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) in Nairobi, world leaders and representatives from UN Member States endorsed a historic resolution to End Plastic Pollution. By 2024, leaders will create an international legally binding agreement to fight the plastic problem with a global treaty. So what exactly is this treaty and what should it include? Christy Leavitt, Oceana's Plastics Campaign Director, joins the show to explain the efforts and why it was pursued. Then, Christopher Chin, Executive Director of the Center for Ocean Awareness, Research, and Education (COARE), joins the show to take us behind the scenes of negotiations and help us understand what comes next as details of the legal binding agreement are hammered out.

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Plastic Production Is Poisoning Nearby Communities (w/ Yvette Arellano and Christy Leavitt) May 04, 2022

Show notes

This is Part Three of our four-part series, Waves of Change, in collaboration with Oceana. This week, we shift our focus from offshore drilling to the devastating impacts that plastics and plastics production facilities are having on communities around the world. First, we speak with Yvette Arellano, the founder and Executive Director of Fenceline Watch, a Houston-based organization dedicated to the eradication of toxic multigenerational harm on communities living along the fenceline of industry. Then we speak with Oceana's Plastics Campaign Director, Christy Leavitt, about the health impacts of plastics and what Oceana is doing to stop plastic pollution.

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Love Canal: The True Story Of An Environmental Disaster (w/ Keith O'Brien) Apr 29, 2022

Show notes

In his new book, Paradise Falls, New York Times bestselling author Keith O'Brien details the true story of a working-class neighborhood in western New York that is suddenly confronted with a wide-spread environmental crisis in the late 1970s. O'Brien joins the show to discuss how he researched his book, why he wanted to revisit this story that made national headlines for years, how the tragedy that unfolded almost 50 years ago is still incredibly relevant today, and what we can learn from the ordinary people in western New York that took on the responsibility to become environmental heroes to fight for justice in their community.

Buy Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe

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Environmental Justice Impacts of Offshore Drilling (w/ Dr. Gabriella Meltzer and Earthjustice's Chris Eaton) Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

This is Part Two of our four-part series, Waves of Change, in collaboration with Oceana. This week, we examine how offshore drilling for oil disproportionately impacts Black and Brown communities living near the coasts and what can legally be done to prevent future disasters. First, we speak with Dr. Gabriella Meltzer about the environmental justice impacts of oil spills and climate-fueled weather disasters and how the health of children in those communities are impacted by facing multiple fossil fuel-driven catastrophes in their lifetimes. Then, Chris Eaton, a senior attorney with the Oceans Program at Earthjustice, joins the show to talk about the legal strategies his organization has employed to help environmental justice organizations sue governments and businesses in order to protect their communities from fossil fuels.

Check out Dr. Meltzer's papers:

Adverse Physical and Mental Health Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Among Gulf Coast Children: An Environmental Justice Perspective

The Effects of Cumulative Natural Disaster Exposure on Adolescent Psychological Distress

Environmentally Marginalized Populations: the perfect storm for infectious disease pandemics, including COVID19

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Preventing the Next Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster (w/ Healthy Gulf's Cynthia Sarthou, Oceana's Diane Hoskins, and Vipe Desai) Apr 20, 2022

Show notes

Introducing a new four-part series, Waves of Change, in collaboration with Oceana. Over the next four weeks, we'll explore the climate, economic, and environmental justice impacts of offshore drilling and plastics.

12 years after the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, fossil fuel companies are drilling deeper than ever before off of America's coasts. Lawmakers seem to have learned little from the oil rig explosion that killed 11 people and spilled more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf over 87 days. However, today's guests are pushing regulators and businesses to do more to prevent the next offshore oil disaster.

Cynthia Sarthou is the Executive Director of Healthy Gulf, which is focused on protecting the Gulf and everyone and everything that calls the Gulf home.

Diane Hoskins is Oceana's Campaign Director focused on stopping offshore drilling.

Vipe Desai is serial entrepreneur dedicated to protecting the ocean and coastal communities by sitting on the boards of organizations like Lonely Whale and AltaSea.

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Intersectional Environmentalism (w/ Leah Thomas) Apr 15, 2022

Show notes

In her brilliant new book, The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet, activist and eco-communicator Leah Thomas put forth a helpful introduction to understanding the intersection between environmentalism, racism, and privilege. She joins the show this week to talk about the book, how she first got inspired to study environmentalism, how her activism took off with post championing "Environmentalists for Black Lives Matter," and why the climate and environmental movements desperately need to improve with an intersectional approach to action and justice.

Read The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet

Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/

Dr. Marshall Shepherd Explains The Extreme Weather Gap Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

As a warming planet makes extreme weather worse, some communities are more vulnerable and less capable to react than others to hurricanes, heat waves, floods, fires, and more. Dr. Marshall Shepherd describes this as the "Extreme Weather Gap", and he joined The Climate Pod to discuss the systemic inequities that have led to the disproportionate impacts of climate-worsened weather. Dr. Shepherd also discusses his incredible career, why the murder of George Floyd motivated him to write a book on justice, and the work he and his colleagues are doing to help cities adapt to the effects of urban heat islands.

Dr. Marshall Shepherd is the Director of the University of Georgia's Atmospheric Sciences program, where he is also the Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences. He previously held the position of President of the American Meteorological Society.

Read "The Race Awakening of 2020"

Listen to Weather Geeks

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Climate Citizen: Preserving Biodiversity And Restoring Nature Apr 07, 2022

Show notes

This is Part Four of our four-part series, Climate Citizen, in collaboration with Global Citizen. This week, we look at the critical need to preserve biodiversity, protect natural ecosystems, and leverage nature-based solutions for decarbonization. To discuss this topic, we have three amazing guests. First, Dr. Stephanie Roe, the World Wildlife Fund's Global Climate & Energy Lead Scientist and Lead Author of the third installment of the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report, joins the show to discuss the report and the current state of global biodiversity concerns. Then, Max Almeida, a program project manager at the Center For Environmental Peacebuilding, where he is responsible for the partnerships and projects going on in Brazil, joins the show to discuss the impacts of deforestation and desertification, and ongoing issues with biodiversity loss and land degradation in Brazil. Finally, Dr. Will Turner, Senior Scientist and Senior Vice President For Natural Climate Solutions at Conservation International, joins the show to discuss big solutions that we can tackle with nature-based strategies and what can be accomplished in the near-term and for decades to come.

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About Global Citizen

Global Citizen is the world's largest movement of action takers and impact makers dedicated to ending extreme poverty now. With over 10 million monthly advocates, our voices have the power to drive lasting change around sustainability, equality, and humanity. Global Citizen posts, tweets, messages, votes, signs, and calls to inspire those who can make things happen to act — government leaders, businesses, philanthropists, artists, and citizens — together improving lives. By downloading the Global Citizen app, Global Citizens learn about the systemic causes of extreme poverty, take action on those issues, and earn rewards with tickets to concerts, events, and experiences all over the world. Global Citizens have taken over 28.4 million actions since 2009. Today, these actions, in combination with high-level advocacy work, have led to over $35.4 billion being distributed to our partners around the world, impacting 1.09 billion lives in the fight to end extreme poverty. Check out Global Citizen's Climate Work and follow on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

New IPCC Report on Mitigation of Climate Change (w/ Lead Author Dr. Paulina Jaramillo) Apr 04, 2022

Show notes

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) latest report, Mitigation of Climate Change, provides an update on the planet's current trajectory for global warming, the failings of governments to live up to their climate promises, and the solutions that need to be rapidly implemented to drastically reduce emissions and limit future warming. This is part three of its Sixth Assessment Report.

Dr. Paulina Jaramillo joins us to discuss the report and the section of the report which she was the Coordinating Lead Author, the decarbonization of transportation.

If you haven't already, listen to our conversation here with IPCC lead author Dr. Ed Hawkins on part one of Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. And be sure to check our interview with Prof. Jörn Birkmann on part two of the Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Impacts, Adaptations, and Vulnerability.

Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/