The Climate Minute

The policy details of the Green New Deal are still in the early, unformed phase. One interesting question is the wisdom of implementing a carbon tax. Should climate hawks spend political capital on a great idea that may new be realized, or focus on other more achievable steps like massive investments in clean energy. Where does the money come from? Should the House constrain itself with a “PayGo” policy? Listen in.

The long running Sunday morning talk show “Meet the Press” dedicated a full hour to a bona-fide discussion of climate change. Where does this fit into the critique of the media as complicit in suppressing honest communication? Also, is there reason in the dark time for ‘conditional hope’ that we can get ahead of the climate problem? Listen in.

The crystal ball in our podcast studio says that the Green New Deal is 2019’s topic to watch. Listen in as we discuss why!

2018 brought a continuous barrage of news for the Climate Hawk. What did it all mean? What were the lasting bits? Our rearview mirror says that the recognition of real-time climate effects was the big takeaway. Does that lead to grief or hope? And what it hope? Listen in.

Gary Rucinski’s campaign slogan “Make Climate History” worked on a lot of levels. He ran for Congress in the Massachusetts 4th Congressional District with a goal of being “..the kind of dedicated and knowledgeable voice for climate action our country needs.” Listen in for a real life case study of a candidate for Congress in the 2018 election. Win or lose, a little bit of climate history was made here.

Today is our esteemed colleague, D.R. Tucker’s final regular podcast with the show as he moves onto other work. Thus, it is not to be missed! D.R. has been a rock for the show and is unfailingly knowledgeable and upbeat. Conversations with him are always fun! Listen in as we discuss how history is repeating itself, with Ryan Zinke stepping down as Secretary of the Interior only to usher in a potentially more damaging successor. We also dive into a Circuit Court that quoted The Lorax in their decision, the final reports from the COP 24 in Katowice, Poland, and review Chris Hayes’ and Dave Roberts’ recent podcast on the epistemic crisis in America. Tune in to find out more.

MA clean energy policy is paying off. Commitments to renewables, made years ago, resulted this week in a 405M$ auction of off-shore wind leases. Today, decisions are being taken to support clean transportation options that we will enjoy in the future. These are the fruits of determined work by Climate Hawks. Listen in!

David Brooks uses art to express what words cannot. But in our interview, he eloquently highlights the difficulty in perceiving climate change. His "Permanent Field Observations" Exhibit at the Storm King Art Center is both an adventure and a powerful way to connect with the long tail of anthropogenic climate impact.

We debrief on recent happenings at COP24 in Poland. A Swedish high-schooler who instigated a worldwide strike, spoke to the session. The US was mocked for touting the benefits of fossil fuel, and condemned for denying the acceptance of a scientific report. A leading US official literally ran away from Amy Goodman rather than answer questions. On the other hand, the Sunrise movement has gained momentum on Capitol Hill. Listen in!

Gary Rucinski joins us to discuss the “Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act” aka EICDA, which was recently introduced in the US Congress. Listen in as we explore this plan to ‘put a price on carbon.’

George HW Bush famously pitted the “White House effect” against the greenhouse effect. How did he do, ultimately? One of Bush’s actions resulted in the current COP24 in Poland. That meeting is under a cloud of coal dust. What’s up with that? Bernie Sanders held a live stream town hall on climate. Did they pull punches on the media? Listen in to find out.

On today’s show, we revisit the green new deal and the Sunrise Movement. We take a deep dive on the best path toward decarbonization - will a carbon tax be enough? Or do we need more robust government intervention? Tune in and let us know what you think in the comments. Bonus: Ted has tucked a Moby Dick reference in your stocking. Check it out.

The National Climate Assessment (aka the NCA) was released on Black Friday. Ironically this allowed more media coverage of the dire message. Why do we have this report? What does the report say? How should we think about it? Listen in as we put this report in context and try to understand the implications.

Join us for Part 2 of our interview with artist Jenny Kendler as we discuss how she uses her work to inspire climate action. We explore biochar, "re-storying" the narrative of capitalism, clarion calls, and climate book recommendations. Featured links: www.jennykendler.com and www.stormking.org photo credit: Clayton Hauck for The Chicago Reader

Stephen Murphy describes himself as an "Eco-Artist" and uses scrap material he finds near his home on the island of Antigua to create artistic pieces that are original, authentic and inspired by the culture of the Caribbean. Needless to say, finding a way to make the cast away materials of our world into something beautiful is a lesson we can apply in many ways. Listen in!