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We often hear the expression we dont negotiate with terrorists, but what happens if the terrorists control all three branches of government? This week on Sea Change Radio, we talk to David Kieve, the president of EDF Action, an offshoot of the Environmental Defense Fund that focuses on public policy and political advocacy. We try to unpack some of the more deleterious policies of the current administration with a focus on rising energy prices and take a brief look at the landscape of Big Conservation.
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We often hear the expression we dont negotiate with terrorists, but what happens if the terrorists control all three branches of government? This week on Sea Change Radio, we talk to David Kieve, the president of EDF Action, an offshoot of the Environmental Defense Fund that focuses on public policy and political advocacy. We try to unpack some of the more deleterious policies of the current administration with a focus on rising energy prices and take a brief look at the landscape of Big Conservation.
While diverting the flow of a river is a practice that people have been engaging in for about 5,000 years, dams are far from harmless. Like many human inventions, dams have been known toperpetuate economic hierarchies, rob communities of essential resources, and wreak havoc on ecosystems.This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to Amy Bowers Cordalis, an attorney who has a new book out:The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Familys Fight To Save A River And A Way Of Life.It tells the story of her legal crusade to tear down the Klamath River dam and help restore the river to its natural state. A UN Champion of the Earth Laureate, Cordalis, recounts the history of the construction of four dams at the headwaters of the Klamath" a move that constricted the river's flow, killed hundreds of thousands of salmon, and choked the lifeblood of the Yurok Nation in Northern California. She led the appeal that resulted in the decommissioning of the structures, ultimately ensuring the removal of the dams in 2024, and marking the largest successful dam removal project in world history. Join us to hear the story of a true climate activist and to better understand what it took to actuate change.
While US political news is certainly more than depressing these days, its always nice to get a healthy reminder of the many good things that are happening around us. This week on Sea Change Radio we speak to Inside Climate News Science Reporter Bob Berwyn as he prepares to cover next months COP 30 conference in Brazil. We look at some of the more positive developments on the biodiversity and rewilding fronts, examine the effectiveness of some recent policies to help animal populations like seabirds and gray wolves bounce back, and talk briefly about what to expect from the upcoming COP 30 conference.
Is Americas love affair with billionaires actually an abusive relationship? This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to author Chuck Collins whose new book, Burned By Billionaires, helps us better understand why having so many ultra-wealthy individuals in this country has a deleterious effect on society. We discuss what Collins calls the idolatry of wealth, look at examples of billionaires harming the environment and the public good (such as in the explosive growth in the private aviation sector), and then break down some practical ways to help solve the problem.
Have you ever thought about how random it seems that gold is worth, well, its weight in gold? This weeks guest on Sea Change Radio,Gustav Peebles, is an anthropologist and monetary policy expert at Stockholm University. He has not only wondered about the way human beings assign value to a particular element on the periodic table, he has pondered what it would look like if we we applied precious valuation to an element that really matters for our own survival, like atmospheric carbon. In his new book, co-written with Benjamin Luzzatto, The First and Last Bank: Climate Change, Currency, and a New Carbon Commons, Peebles lays out a novel, scalable way not to just dole out carbon credits, but to actually monetize the conservation of carbon waste. We discuss the fundamentals of a possible carbon banking system, and talk through just how such a concept might roll out.
Studies have shown that international economic aid can be an important component of a developing countrys economy, but that too much aid can actually be harmful, undermining local enterprise and other indicators of independence. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Shannon Fernando, the founder and CEO of Alabaster International, a small nonprofit with some big plans to make a significant impact in the Global South. We look at her organizations model, learn about the promising African staple crop enset, and discuss the challenges of trying to provide short-term assistance to vulnerable populations while also setting the table for long-term economic health.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 34 million households across America are energy insecure. TheSolar for All programwas set to provide funding to 60 entities that planned to create or expand existing low-income solar programs and would have enabled 900,000 households nationwide in disadvantaged communities to utilize solar energy to reduce their home energy bills. And yet, the current iteration of the EPA recently announced that the Solar for All Program's funding of $7 billion is being terminated. This week on Sea Change Radio - we speak to a solar executive whose organization has had its Solar for All funding rug pulled out from under it. Erica Mackie, the co-founder and co-CEO of the solar nonprofit, GRID Alternatives, joins the program to give us an overview of the services that her organization provides and to discuss the impact of the EPAs recent decision.
You may have been getting ready to leave the house recently and noticed on your phone that the air quality was going to be less-than-ideal that day. There are a lot of people and technologies behind that seemingly simple process. This week on Sea Change Radio we speak with the CEO of IQAir North America, Glory Dolphin Hammes to learn about her company's history, its AirVisual product and the evolving field of air quality monitoring. We discuss how crowd sourcing works to give us a clearer picture of air quality, the challenges of getting the word out to the public about unsafe air, particularly in underserved communities, and look at the impact of recent EPA rollbacks.
This week on Sea Change Radio, the second half of our discussion with journalist Nathan Tankus as we continue to try to get a better grip on whats happening at the Federal Reserve Bank. To quote a recent piece by former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, control over the Fed gives Trump more tools for extortion. With control over interest rates, he can get Americas biggest corporations and the worlds biggest nations to bend to his will. In this part of the conversation with Tankus, we talk a bit more about the attempted firing of Federal Reserve Board governor, Lisa Cook, the historical importance of the Feds independence and ponder why Wall Street continues to shrug off all of this unsettling economic news.
The Federal Reserve is supposed to be a non-political entity that, with a steady, measured hand, sets interest rates and economic policy in the United States. But, as we are seeing time and time again under this current Administration, absolutely nothing is sacred. If there are levers of power in reach, they will be tested by this authoritarian regime. This week on Sea Change Radio, the first half of our two-part conversation with Nathan Tankus, a journalist and the President of Notes on the Crises, who's been covering the Fed closely for many years. We hear about the history of the Federal Reserve, learn why its independence is pivotal, and discuss the recent attempts by the Trump Administration to fire the Fed's first Black woman governor, Lisa Cook, for the flimsiest of reasons.
Just because we live in an age of science, marked by mobile computing, space exploration, and robot cars, doesn't mean that people don't still hold firm to beliefs with no scientific basis whatsoever. Case-in-point: rhinos are dying out, due primarily to a human appetite for the supposed healing power of their horns, even though these horns have been shown to have no medicinal properties and may even contain substances toxic to humans. Rhinoceros horns consist of keratin, a dense protein found in human hair and fingernails, but puzzlingly they're worth more by weight than gold. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Mongabay senior contributing editor Jeremy Hance about the plight of two extremely rare breeds of Indonesian rhinoceros. We discuss efforts being taken to track and preserve them and take a close look at poaching and the brisk trade in illegal rhino horns.
In the 1970s, coal fueled over half of the U.S. electric grid. Today, that number has dipped below 10%. This week on Sea Change Radio we speak with journalist and author, Bob Wyss, whose new book Black Gold: The Rise, Reign and Fall of American Coal, provides an important retelling of the history of coal in this country. We look at the market forces that shaped coals rise, its devastating impact on the environment and human health, and talk about the ludicrous but dangerous attempts by the current Administration to prop up coal even as its on life support.
This week we dip into the Sea Change Radio archives to re-explore two discussions about charitable giving. First, we speak with Tyeshia Ty Wilson, the Director of Engagement at a nonprofit called Philanthropy Together whose mission is to advance charitable giving that is people-centered and equitable. We learn all about giving circles, how her organization facilitates them, and the importance of Black-led collective giving. Then we turn our attention to learn more about the financial instrument known as a donor advised fund or DAF, from journalist Alex Kotch. We examine the role of DAF fiduciary sponsors, particularly big investment firms like Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab and explore the question of who should be held accountable when a donor advised fund facilitates donations to red-flagged hate groups.
A recent Gallup poll found that, as is often the case early in a Republican presidency, Democratic Party affiliation has increased over the past few months, giving Democrats an edge. Paradoxically, the same poll shows the Democratic Party to be quite unpopular at the moment, particularly among Democrats themselves. This week on Sea Change Radio, we welcome John Stoehr of The Editorial Board back to the program to talk about the sad state of American politics. We focus much of this wide-ranging discussion on strategies that Democrats should employ to wrestle away the authoritarian grip that the MAGA right currently has on this country. We touch upon the real-world impacts of kitchen-table economic issues created by tariffs, and look at how Dems should be fighting GOP redistricting schemes.
Looking at energy policy under the current administration is a depressing exercise - the reconciliation bill of 2025 passed by the Republicans on July 4th, is a windfall for the oil & gas industry and devastating for renewables. Over 4.5 million homes with solar panels already installed, for example, are losing tax credits and other subsidies. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Sean Gallagher, the Senior Vice President of Policy at the Solar Energy Industries Association, also known as SEIA, about the effects this newly signed legislation will have on the solar industry. Keeping in mind that our conversation with Gallagher preceded the bill's passing, we discuss the current state of solar and where it's headed, and learn about the work of SEIA. Then, we dig into the Sea Change Radio archives and hear an excerpt from our interview with Paul Bierman, a geoscientist at the University of Vermont, as he talks about Greenland's melting ice sheet.
Sometimes seemingly intractable problems are not as impossible to solve as one might think. A case in point is the hole in the ozone layer which was largely resolved by the fluorocarbon-banning policies that stemmed from the 1987 Montreal Protocol. Over the years, we have spoken with one of the key crafters of this historic treaty, Durwood Zaelke, a couple of times on Sea Change Radio and this week we talk with Daphne Wysham, whose organization, Methane Action, is working with Zaelke and others to figure out a way to reduce methane emissions from the atmosphere. We discuss the existential threat humans face by emitting all of this methane, look at some of the barriers and possible solutions to the problem and learn about the Methane Emergency Brake campaign that Wysham and Zaelke helped create.
Proponents of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 often point to the relatively low prices in the industry today as proof that deregulation was a success. But this weeks guest on Sea Change Radio, Bill McGee believes that the connection is specious at best, and that advocates are making the mistake of confusing cause and effect. McGee, a consumer advocate in the aviation sector and a senior fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project, shares his perspective about the long-term problems created by airline deregulation, explains why it often gets credited for saving the industry when it shouldnt, and looks at how sustainability is not a big enough factor in the way that airline prices are determined.
What does naming and re-naming streets, buildings, airports, and even bodies of water say about us as a people? Whether a name inspires, entertains, or haunts us, theres power in assigning words to people, places, and things. We can see it unfolding right before our eyes with the current US administration renaming key landmarks. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to Deirdre Mask, the author of The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power. We learn about the history of attributing names and numbers to roads and houses, look at how important seemingly obvious innovations like zip codes are, and discuss the socio-political impact of things named after confederate leaders.
One of the powers that we have as consumers is to vote with our dollars, or exercise our right to choose one brand over another. Boycotts and other awareness campaigns can pressure a company to conduct business differently. An area where consumers do not generally have that power is mining. Mining operates with little direct business-to-consumer transactions, and with minimal transparency. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Andrew Kaminsky, a journalist for Triple Pundit, to learn more about the mining industry. We look at the environmental impacts of extracting various minerals, discuss how mining companies are changing the way they operate, and examine a promising model in Canada where mining companies are partnering with indigenous communities in the region.
In recent years Americans have suddenly begun paying attention to what Korea has to offer culturally: from K-Pop to television dramas, to mouth-watering Korean barbeque. But how many people know about Korea's climate innovations and policy? This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to Hansae Song who works with the South Korean-based nonprofit, Solutions For Our Climate. We get a summary of Koreas involvement in fighting climate change, look at the countrys energy grid, and discuss South Korea's recent decision to stop subsidies for biomass fuel. Then, we dig into the archives to learn a little bit more about biomass, also known as wood pellets, from Mongabay contributor Justin Catanoso.
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