The Defender

Meet the Wisconsin native who is foraging 100% of his food. What was the last thing you foraged? Maybe some ramps, or morels? But what about your salt, oil, even toothpaste? On this episode, meet the Wisconsin native who is setting out to prove that he can not only survive for an entire year eating only food he has foraged, but he can also help show the true connection to nature most of us have been missing.   Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Robin Greenfield, Sustainability Advocate, Ashland Wis. native Resources for You: robingreenfield.org Food Freedom: A Year of Growing and Foraging 100% of My Food Robin Greenfield YouTube Channel Defender Episode 57: Wisconsin's Forbidden Fruit        

Don't look at the gas plant behind the curtain! If you feel like tech companies and energy utilities are gaslighting you with their assurances that AI data centers won't hurt our environment, you're probably right.  In this episode, how AI is causing a fossil fuel boom in Wisconsin and the lawsuit just filed to try and stop it.  Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guests:  Katie Nekola, General Cousnel, Clean Wisconsin Ciaran Gallagher, Climate & Air Manager, Clean Wisconsin Resources for You: Petition: Take A Stand Against Unchecked Data Center Development New Analysis: Data Center Water Consumption Will Be Far Higher Than Tech Companies Claim Analysis: Two approved AI data centers in Wisconsin will use more energy than all homes in state combined PSC approves plan to power AI data center with gas plants  

You may have heard, Wisconsin needs more power and we need it fast. In the next few years, AI data centers will cause an unprecedented surge in energy demand across our state. There are already large expensive new powerplants being built to help meet that demand with more to come. But the big question is, will Wisconsinites be left shouldering the cost? In this episode, the shocking energy needs of AI, why our power companies are rolling out the red carpet, and the lasting environmental and economic harms that could be left in the wake. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Tom Content, Citizens Utility Board (CUB) Resources for You: Citizens Utility Board Data Centers Page Petition: Take A Stand Against Unchecked Data Center Development New Analysis: Data Center Water Consumption Will Be Far Higher Than Tech Companies Claim Analysis: Two approved AI data centers in Wisconsin will use more energy than all homes in state combined PSC approves plan to power AI data center with gas plants  

What if you could make a difference in the fight to protect our environment by doing nothing at all? In this episode, why fall is the perfect time to be lazy - for the planet. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Elizabeth Braat, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources  Resources for You: Wisconsin Bumble Bee Brigade Episode 43: The hidden pesticides that could be lurking in your pollinator garden Neonic Pesticides and their Impact      

The amazing story of one Wisconsin food that was banned, burned, disappeared from our plates - and the comeback that's being helped along by solar farms.  Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Lily Hislop, Savanna Institute Resources for You: Black Currants: A once-forbidden fruit Farming for the Future: Charting a course for a new food system Black Currant: Ribes Nigrum

A Clean Wisconsin analysis shows just two approved data centers in Wisconsin will use more power than all the homes in our state combined. More than the generation capacity of the Point Beach nuclear plant, the single-largest source of power in Wisconsin. And that leaves a lot of people are wondering, where is all this leading us? What will it mean for Wisconsin's precious water resources, our land, our energy bills? And why is it so hard to find out? In this episode, an in-depth conversation on the secrets of data centers. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Michael Greif, Midwest Environmental Advocates Resources for You: AI data centers in Wisconsin will use more energy than all homes in state combined Large Wisconsin data center tax breaks make benefits unclear MEA Takes Legal Action to Compel City of Racine to Disclose Data Center's Projected Water Use PSC approves plan to power AI data center with gas plants, bringing 1,200 MW of new, dirty power to southeast Wisconsin  

There is no question we are living through a stressful, often overhwelming time. So if you're feeling hopeless, especially in the face of the climate crisis, no one could blame you. But there is no better place to find hope – than in other people. How you can joing people from all walks of life in Sunday, Sept 28 to take a stand for our climate right here in Wisconsin. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Heather Allen, Policy Director, Elevate Resources for You: Wisconsin Climate March Sunday Sept. 28, Madison, Wisconsin

Yes, there are 150-million reasons to listen to this episode. Because Wisconsin has $150 million dollars in federal funding to help make our homes warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, healthier, more efficient. All the things. A look at two little-known programs that survived the big Federal cuts and are ready to be used by you. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guests: Dylan Crye, Home Energy Rebates Program Manager, Focus on Energy Joe Pater, Dir. Office of Energy Innovation, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin Resources for You: Focus on Energy Watts Up Wisconsin - Focus on Energy podcast Home Energy Rebates Help Wisconsinites Save Big    

How much would you pay to swim in a clean lake? How much to take a breath of fresh, clean air? To fish in a pristine stream? You may not ever think about that, but there is somebody who does -- a lot. On this episode, meet the professor who's working to understand the economic value of a clean environment. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Dan Phaneuf, Professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics, Unversity of Wisconsin Resources for You:  Clean Wisconsin: Fighting for Clean Water

The Environmental Protection Agency is quickly getting out of the protection business. And no where is that more clear than its new plan to get rid of the Endangerment Finding, the landmark legal and science determination that climate change hurts people and that the EPA has the responsibility to do something about it. On this episode a look at why the EPA is now insisting climate pollution won't hurt you, and what walking back the endangerment finding could mean for Wisconsin. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Clean Wisconsin General Counsel Katie Nekola Resources for You: Take Action: Tell the EPA not to rescind the Endangerment Finding  

Livestock farmers in Wisconsin are getting excited about solar! MG&E's Tyto solar project is home to about 13,000 solar panels, 30 acres of thriving plants, and a flock of happy sheep. Amy takes a behind-the-scenes look at the solar energy project where 145 hungry sheep are hard at work this summer.  Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guests: John Armstrong, manager of renewable engineering, Madison Gas and Electric Beau Stafford, Wiscovery Farms Resources for You: Supporting Solar in Wisconsin Episode 40: Surprising Environmental Impacts of Solar in Wisconsin Analysis: Solar produces 100 times more energy per acre than corn grown for ethanol      

In the long, never-ending struggle to protect our environment, it can be easy to feel helpless, powerless. Maybe nothing underscores that feeling more than trying to stop a big foreign oil interest from building a pipeline across your state. But there is something you can do to speak out against the Line 5 oil pipeline. And it's fun! Amy looks at the Move People Not Oil campaign. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Jacob Ahrens-Balwit, Strategic Communications Manager, Clean Wisconsin More Resources for You: Enbridge Line 5 Blasting Area Photos (Instagram) Move People Not Oil - Take the pledge and more information Latest on Line 5

If you are feeling afraid to click on news stories every time a decision gets handed down by the US Supreme Court, you're not alone. But some recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions are bringing much-needed good news in the fight to protect our environment. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Evan Feinauer, Clean Wisconsin attorney Resources for You:  Episode 29: Trump's threat to safe water (and how WI can fight back) Episode 24: What Trump 2.0 means for our environment  Episode 20: Supreme Court power grab

Northern Wisconsin is home to Lake Superior, to beautiful streams and wetlands, to thousands of acres of mesic forests--and to a 72-year-old oil pipeline called Line 5. Now the foreign oil company, Enbridge, that owns and operates the line is pushing to blast and trench its way across northern Wisconsin to build a reroute. Amy gets the latest on legal action to stop it. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guests: Clean Wisconsin attorneys Brett Korte and Evan Feinauer Resources for You: Information on Line 5 What Line 5 means for me (video) Clean Wisconsin News: Sign up for Line 5 updates and more

Milwaukee is at the center of what the federal government calls an "Area of Concern." A place where so much toxic water pollution and environmental degradation have happened over the course of more than a century, that it needs special attention and funding to get cleaned up.  But how do you confront and begin to heal the collective harms of legacy pollution? Of decades of injustice that is still happening? Amy talks with Shalina S. Ali about how that process can start with art, with creativity, with channeling the mixture of emotions—the joy and pain—that comes with working toward change. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Shalina S. Ali, Co-Executive Director, TRUE Skool Resources for You: Area of Concern Community Advisory Commiteee TRUE Skool Summer Park Jam Peace Park & Garden Mural Unveiling  

The Big Beautiful Budget will have some ugly consequences. In this episode, why the fallout from Trump's budget will include bigger bills, toxic emissions, and yep - more risk of blackouts. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Ciaran Gallagher, PhD, Energy & Air Manager, Clean Wisconsin Resources for You: Join Clean Wiscosin's Action Network  

Have you ever wondered what it's like to stand next to a wind turbine? You're about to find out. In this epsiode, Amy meets 2nd generation Wisconsin farmer Jerry Cigelske at his Columbia County farm to talk about about why cows, grass and windmills have been the key to keeping his family on the land. Host: Amy Barrilleaux  Guest: Jerry Cigelske, Columbia County farmer Resources for You: Wisconsin-grown clean energy Showing up for Wind in Wisconsin Cows in the Woods: What it takes to create a silvopasture

If you are a regular listener, you have heard of neonicotinoids, a class of neurotoxins used on food crops all over the state and country. And it turns out, neonics are hurting a lot more than pollinators - like fish, birds, small mammals and potentially people. On this episode, what we know about the impacts of neonic pesticides on our bodies and how to limit exposure. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Kayla Rinderknecht, Population Health Fellow, Clean Wisconsin Resources for You: Episode 43: The hidden pesticides that could be lurking in your pollinator garden Episode 33: Wisconsin's bees are acting weird. Here's why. Neonicotinoids and their Impact Episode 23 Neurotixins on Our Plates Neonicotinoids and Human Health

You never know when a life-changing moment is going to come. For Sarah Savage, owner of Tend Native Plants, it came when she picked up a book about pollinators. Amy meets Sarah at her small plant nursery in Blue Mounds, Wis., to talk about the hidden pesticides that could be lurking in our gardens and how to make sure the flowers we buy are truly pollinator-friendly. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Sarah Savage, Tend Native Plants Resources for You: Tend Native Plants Episode 33: Wisconsin's bees are acting weird. Here's why. Neonicotinoids and their Impact Episode 23 Neurotixins on Our Plates Neonicotinoids and Human Health Expert Speakers Series: Wisconsin Neonic Forum  

What's it going to take to make clean energy Wisconsin's new normal? It helps to have a bunch of fresh-faced new college graduates ready to take on the world. UW Platteville has a 100% placement rate for graduates in Sustainability and Renewable Energy Systems. Hear from Renee Stram who just got her diploma--and a job--about her optimistic take on fighting climate change. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Renne Stram, UW Platteville graduate Resources for You: UW Platteville Sustainability & Clean Energy Systems program Supporting Solar in Wisconsin Stop Wasting our Wind Local environmental impacts of solar in Wisconsin Defender Episode 4: Solar vs Corn for Ethanol--which land use produces the most energy?