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Latest Episodes:

Introducing: Degrees: How To Green Any Job Aug 07, 2023

Show notes

This week, we’re running an episode of Degrees: Real talk about planet-saving careers, from our friends at the Environmental Defense Fund.

This episode is part of a new miniseries called “The Year of the Climate Job,” hosted by EDF Innovation Director Daniel Hill.

Each episode provides the best advice from movers and shakers in the green careers landscape. They share creative, practical ways to land a job and build a career in climate work.

In this episode, Drawdown Labs Director Jamie Beck Alexander is pushing for every company on the planet to fight climate change. How? By harnessing the power of employee voices to change systems for the better from the inside.

A new season of Degrees launches in September. Right now, there are new and emerging green job opportunities in nearly every industry.

Degrees is the podcast for climate career inspiration and job advice.

Make sure you check out other Degrees episodes about how the green jobs transformation is shaping the future.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Degrees home

EDF Green Jobs Hub

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Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

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Essay: Shiny Things Aug 02, 2023

Show notes

This week:

How to be excited about the future, explained.

Plus, the news:

🌊 The tipping point for the Atlantic Ocean
👶 An RSV shot for babies
🥕 Examining the “N” in SNAP
🤖 Profiting from AI tools
And more!

Here's What You Can Do:

Donate to the Institute for Policy Studies to help turn transformative policy ideas into action.
Join a Ride Spot Challenge by committing to replace car trips with bike rides. Biking is an easy way to lower your emissions and be part of the climate solution, even if you just start at one trip a week.
Get educated about parking reform, which has the potential to impact climate change, equity, and housing.
Be heard about climate change by helping Climate Cabinet elect candidates that give a shit about drafting legislation to combat the climate crisis.
Invest in the world’s natural capital with ReGen.

News Roundup

Health & Medicine

Yes, heat can be fatal. But it also has a plethora of non-fatal health consequences on both the body and the mind
Infants can now get a preventative shot for RSV, which is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the US
A new analysis is skeptical that Biden’s Justice40 program will fix the racial gap in air quality
Literally go and touch some grass. It’s scientifically proven to be good for you.

Climate

Extreme heat is a key issue in UPS contract deals
Differing theories of decarbonization could create rifts in climate coalitions and derail progress
Federal regulatory agencies are starting to (think about) cracking down on dubious carbon offset programs
Changes in the Atlantic Ocean are definitely not great, but exactly when we hit the tipping point of totally fucked is hard to predict

Food & Water

What’s the price of water scarcity? The finance industry doesn’t know
The “N” in SNAP is complicated
The companies that make ultra-processed food should be held accountable for the damage they are doing to the health of their customers
Some states are starting to step up and help families feed their kids with Child Tax Credits

Beep Boop

No one is exempt from the impacts of climate change. Not even artificial intelligence.
It’s time to start thinking about how AI creators intend to profit from it
Cigna Healthcare used algorithms to deny health insurance claims, prompting a class action lawsuit
iOS users can easily manage prescription drug treatment plans with the new “Medicine Cabinet” tool

Get more:

Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at https://www.importantnotimportant.com/
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Take a nap you deserve it

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Introducing: Living Change: A Quest for Climate Leadership Jul 31, 2023

Show notes

This week, we want to tell you about Andrea Learned’s podcast: Living Change: A Quest for Climate Leadership.

In season one, Andrea interviews local leaders living the change they want to see reflected in their communities, from John Bauters and Alex Fisch on the west coast to Barbara Buffaloe in Missouri.

But she also goes beyond city leaders to find corporate and media professionals leading the way – from CFO’s to Emmy award winners. The conversations highlight how their personal values integrate into their work.

There are some really interesting stories here – we enjoyed it so much we’re highlighting her conversation with Mark Gamba in our feed.

Mark Gamba’s path into local politics in Oregon is uniquely “Living Change.”

As a professional nature photographer seeing climate change on the landscape in real-time, he had all the motivation he needed to run for Mayor of Milwaukie, Oregon.

Biking for transportation around town, and working to make it safer for anyone else who wants to do it, has become part of his brand.

For local political leaders across the country, Mark’s inspiring journey – and the way he shares it in this episode – is an aspirational model.

Links:

Subscribe to Living Change
Produced by Larj Media

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INI Book Club:

Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

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Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

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Essay: Haggling Over The Future Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

This week:

This week: Are car dealers the devil? And why?

Plus, the news:

🇨🇳 Can we build a green economy without China?
🦆 Bird flu, explained
🇷🇺 Russia quits the Black Sea grain deal
🤖 A.I. journalists
And more!

Here's What You Can Do:

Donate to Grid Alternatives, an organization building community-powered clean energy solutions that advance economic and environmental justice.
Volunteer your school or workplace to participate in the EPA’s Clean Air in Buildings Challenge.
Get educated about leasing an EV with electrek’s cultivated list of Factory Lease offers.
Purchase fresh produce from your local farms with GrownBy (and if you’re a farmer, starting selling on the app).
Invest in a better world with Impact Assets, and ensure your philanthropic dollars are making a measurable difference.

News Roundup

Health & Medicine

It’s time to get serious about bird flu
How long Covid is impacting the Global South
Family homelessness is on the rise, and the Federation of Scientists is crowdsourcing for national policies to increase housing supply. Submit your idea here.
Tornado damage to Pfizer plant will likely lead to long term shortages of medicine great great

Climate

Why the impacts of climate change are escalating so quickly
A new registry could make carbon removal more accessible, and more trustworthy, maybe?
China’s role in America’s green economy
What the warming planet means for the future of pathogens and diseases

Food & Water

Vegan (ahem, plant-based) diets result in 75% less emissions, water pollution, and land use 🤝 🫘👩‍🌾
Manufacturing silicon chips requires a shit ton of water
Russia has quit its grain deal with Ukraine — originally made to avert a global food crisis — and will target commercial ships in the Black Sea
School lunches are now free in six states

Beep Boop

Bots are grabbing students personal data when they complete online assignments. We shouldn’t do this?
Google is testing a new A.I. tool that can write news articles
Secretaries of State are getting ready for AI-fueled disinformation during the 2024 campaign
Facebook messages could be used in a Nebraska abortion case

Get more:

Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at https://www.importantnotimportant.com/
Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Take a nap you deserve it

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⚡️Electrify Everything: What Does The Pace of Progress Look Like? Jul 24, 2023

Show notes

Sure, we've got to electrify everything, including 1 billion machines by 2050. But where are we now and how do we get there?

That's today's big question, and my guest is Cora Wyent from Rewiring America.

Cora is the Director of Research at Rewiring America, where she's conducting research and analysis to enable rapid electrification of everything in the economy.

Prior to joining Rewiring America, Cora completed her PhD in physics at Caltech, where she studied new materials for ultra thin solar cells and performed techno economic analysis of new photovoltaic and carbon capture technologies.

Before that, she received her bachelor's degree in physics from the beautiful UNC Chapel Hill.

If you're new here, you should know this is another in our continuing series on electrifying every building and car in America, including your home, whether you own it or whether you rent.

We've partnered with the best in the business at Rewiring America to understand where we need to all go on the whole, what we can do, and how you can get started on your own journey.

And of course, to unlock an easier path for everyone else.

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Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

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INI Book Club:

The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

Read Rewiring America's Pace of Progress report
Follow Cora and Rewiring America on Twitter
Read our series with on home electrification with Rewiring America, including our product recommendations, guide to IRA, and home electrification prep guide
Listen to our home electrification Q&A episode
Use the Watt Diet Calculator
Renters! Read our Renters Guide to Home Electrification

Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett
Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Advertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

Essay: Farm to Table Jul 19, 2023

Show notes

This week:

How can we better protect farmworkers?

Plus, the news:

A free online summit for eco-anxiety from RITA
A new era for Alzheimer’s treatments
Inflated prices of packaged food
Saving lives with better weather forecasting

Here's What You Can Do:

Donate to the Food Chain Workers Alliance, a coalition dedicated to improving working conditions for workers in every stage of food production, and to the Native CDFI Network to improve access to capital and credit for Indigenous farm workers.
Volunteer to build a climate resilience hub so your community can better respond to extreme heat events and other disasters.
Get educated about how to protect yourself and your community from heat and other extreme weather.
Be heard about building heat-resilient communities and share the Heat Action Platform tool and U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit with your city officials.

News Roundup

Health & Medicine

Cost Plus Drugs is utilizing strategic partnerships to improve affordability and accessibility of prescription drugs
Pregnant? The Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act says that your boss now has to accommodate you. Here’s everything you need to know.
FDA approval of lecanemab begins a new era of Alzheimer’s treatment
18 million doses of the first-ever malaria vaccine are rolling out in 12 African countries

Climate

Despite growth in renewables, global emissions from the energy industry are 👏 still 👏 rising 👏 . We can, and must, do better.
How to prepare for and survive during a black out in extreme heat
Join the Resilience in the Anthropocene free online summit from Aug 8-10 to discuss eco-anxiety and climate distress with leaders from frontline communities.
If you’ve (however reluctantly) made the transition to Threads, start rebuilding your following list with these climate solutions experts.

Food & Water

Food industry giants are responsible for plastic pollution (and “compostable” alternatives might not be much better) and need to be held accountable
Some cities are leaving toxic lead pipes in the ground
Need one more reason to prioritize fresh food? Inflation is still causing packaged food prices to soar
A plant-based diet shouldn’t stop you from enjoying a tasty little ice cream treat

Beep Boop

Investing in better weather forecasting could save lives
The U.K.’s Online Safety Bill could cause a greater risk to online safety by undermining encryption
AI could be used to tackle superbugs, but also cause a rise in misinformation ok have a nice weekend

Get more:

Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at https://www.importantnotimportant.com/
Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Take a nap you deserve it

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Transit For A Habitable Planet Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

Why the hell is America's public transportation so terrible?

That's today's big question, and my guest is Nicholas Dagen Bloom.

He's the author of the subtly titled new book, the Great American Transit Disaster. Nicholas is a professor of urban policy and planning at Hunter College. He's the author of a bunch of books including Public Housing That Worked, The Metropolitan Airport and How States Shaped Post-War America. He's also the co-editor of the prize-winning Public Housing Myths and Affordable Housing in New York.

This new book, the Great American Transit Disaster (out now) is a deep dive into how we got here, and the overwhelming evidence that transit divestment was a choice rather than destiny, with a lot of actors involved.

The willful divestment over the past 100 years to purposefully build out our car culture today drives a full third of our greenhouse gas emissions.

Undoing it won't be an easy or simple task.

But the good news is, there are multi solving opportunities everywhere for not only less racism and fewer emissions, but for more and better housing everywhere, for better and more plentiful, safer transportation options, and for healthier bodies and minds.

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Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

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INI Book Club:

The Great American Transit Disaster by Nicholas Dagen Bloom
Walkable City Rules by Jeff Speck
Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

Connect with Nicholas and follow more of his work
Read David Zipper's Bloomberg piece on Nick's book, and follow David's other transit work

Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett
Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Advertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

Essay: Why I Don't Eat Animals Jul 11, 2023

Show notes

This week:

Why don’t I eat animals?

Plus, the news:

Carbon capture is (mostly) BS
Narcan vending machines save lives
The vertical farming boom doesn’t have enough power
Hacking EV charging stations
And more!

Here's What You Can Do:

Donate to the Food Animals Concerns Trust to advocate for raising food producing animals in a healthy and humane manner.
Volunteer with the Environmental Voter Project to turn out more environmental voters for elections at every level.
Get educated about climate-friendly food with this municipal guide from Friends of the Earth, a blueprint for your town to reduce meat consumption, costs, and associated pollution deaths.
Be heard about reproductive freedom and urge Congress to protect abortion access on a federal level.
Invest in tech companies supporting global decarbonization.

News Roundup

Health & Medicine

“Dementia Villages” could be the future of home care
Narcan vending machines are saving lives in the opioid epidemic
The risk of dying from breast cancer has dropped dramatically since the 90s, which is great. Meanwhile, maternal mortality rates have more than doubled in some states, which is decidedly NOT great
Big Pharma is suing the federal government over Medicare provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act

Climate

Farmworkers are especially vulnerable to extreme heat. A low-tech solution could save lives.
I’m obsessed with Pique Action’s new YouTube series “Unf*cking The Planet.” Watch their latest video on why carbon capture is mostly bullshit (right now), but still necessary
And, some Good News: U.S. truck-makers are phasing out diesel trucks in California 🤝

Food & Water

The vertical farming boom is facing some growing pains (you’re welcome)
Plant-based is the new vegan, especially in marketing

Beep Boop

A lack of standards in EV charging stations poses a hacking risk that could impact drivers, and the power grid
Congress failed to regulate Big Tech. Here’s how it happened.
The French are allowing police to remotely activate phone cameras and microphones

Get more:

Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at https://www.importantnotimportant.com/
Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Take a nap you deserve it

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How To Live A Happy Life Jul 10, 2023

Show notes

How can we live happier lives?

That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Marc Schulz, the co-author with Dr. Robert Waldinger of “The Good Life: Lessons From the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness”

They're the most recent generation of co-directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest study of happiness ever conducted. Marc is the Associate Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and the Sue Kardus PhD 1971 Chair in Psychology at Bryn Mawr College, where he also directs the data science program. And previously, he chaired the Psychology Department and Clinical Development Psychology PhD program at Bryn Mawr.

Now, look, how can we lead happier lives is obviously nuanced, complicated question.

But I don't think it'll surprise you that almost 90 years of data from this study has shown that well-nourished relationships inside and outside the home are a major key, if not, the major key to what you might call a happy life.

It's not money, it's not work or any of these things -- it's the people we relate to.

What can 90 years of comprehensive research teach us about protecting and nourishing our most important relationships in times of radical change?

Whether that's about having kids or about climate change, this is the most important thing.

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Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

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INI Book Club:

The Good Life: Lessons From the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

Connect with Dr. Schulz and keep up with his work
Watch Robert Waldinger's Ted Talk

Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett
Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Advertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

Essay: Life, Liberty, and Solar Panels Jun 30, 2023

Show notes

This week:

Texans have a huge opportunity to get even MORE liberty — from the sun.

Plus: Diabetes is expected to double, the state of carbon removal, A.I. detection tools, future

pandemic prepping, BEES?!, and more

Here's What You Can Do:

⚡️ It’s getting hot out there. Direct your city officials to the Heat Action Platform Policy Tool to explore existing heat adaptation solutions for your community.

⚡️Thinking of becoming a nurse? Bless you, and thank you. Here are some resources including FAQs about education requirements, salary, and benefits.

⚡️ Representation in books helps kids build self-esteem and increase self-acceptance. Find kid-affirming books for your family or classroom with a ColorPop Book bundle.

⚡️ Defend rights to digital privacy all over the world by donating to The Electronic Frontier Foundation.

⚡️ Align your money with your values by finding a financial institution near you with sustainable banking services.

News Roundup

Health & Medicine

Scientists are engineering microbes to benefit our health and the environment
A new research model is allowing researchers to gain new insights into human embryonic development
The number of people with diabetes is expected to double by 2050 — to 1.3 billion people
Our terrible health care system, explained by a nurse

Climate

Extreme heat will result in $1 billion in health care costs this summer alone
How you can prevent power outages during a heat wave
UK ad regulators are clamping down on greenwashing
Understand the current state of carbon removal (and the need to regulate it) with these fun charts
Can we blame heat and wildfires on the jet stream?

Food & Water

3M is paying out a $10.3 billion settlement for contaminating public water supplies with toxic forever chemicals
Beekeepers are keeping US honeybee colonies “relatively stable” after nearly half of colonies died last year
How real people are being impacted by cuts to the food safety net
Refilling rivers is beyond what rain can provide. Here’s the case for desalination

Beep Boop

Your drugstore is telling Facebook when you buy sensitive items online, like Plan B or an HIV test
Experiencing online harassment? The Supreme Court isn’t going to do anything about it
Do A.I-Detection tools really work?

COVID

When should you get your next COVID booster?
The EU has made a deal with Pfizer to stock up on vaccines to prepare for future pandemics
The pandemic has been linked to a surge in children and youth with diabetes

Get more:

Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at https://www.importantnotimportant.com/
Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Take a nap you deserve it

Advertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

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