2 Degrees Out West

Tahlia Bear is the Indigenous Peoples Engagement Manager at WRA. Her work focuses on building relationships with Tribes, identifying ways we can support one another and making sure that Indigenous voices are always heard.

In this episode, we discuss some of the challenges facing Tribes in the context of climate change and beyond. We chat about Tribal sovereignty, regional energy markets, Tribal utilities and more.

Tahlia is an enrolled member of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and she is also half Navajo. During our conversation, Tahlia speaks about her Navajo family living in Northern Arizona and how her aunt only recently got electricity in her home. Lack of water and electricity in rural Indian Country is still a major issue and one that is often overlooked in the conservation and environmental justice space.

Further Reading

• Check out the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority website to learn more about this Tribal utility
• Learn more about Tribes that are directly affected by climate change and rising sea levels
• Visit the Western Navajo Fair
• Take a look at the NPR coverage on Senegal and climate refugees
• Read more about Tribal Nations in the United States
• Bookmark Indian Country Today as your Indigenous Peoples news source
• Learn how the ghost town of Empire, NV was revitalized by a new mining operation in 2016
• Become a sponsor of 2 Degrees Out West
• Check out the full podcast blog page here

Love the show and the climate solution work we're doing every day with Western Resource Advocates? Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West p

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with suggestions on topics and interviewees at [email protected].
• Tweet us @wradv or DM us @westernresourceadvocates.
• Create a 40-sec clip sharing "What you like about the West" and send it to us at [email protected] to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water, and people of the West today!

Thanks for listening. Let's all work together to keep the West wild.

We asked the WRA community to submit Little Love Letters to the West to celebrate the West and our new brand launch. In this episode, we talk with WRA president, Jon Goldin-Dubois about the new brand, the future of WRA, and his favorite part of the West. We've also included nine of the Love Letters we've received from various staff members, board members, and supporters of WRA.

Further Reading

• Read all of our Love Letters to The West
• Listen to Jon Goldin-Dubois's 2 Degrees episode about trail magic
• Learn about how climate change is affecting the West
• Plan a trip to one of Jon's favorite places - Utah - Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument | Bureau of Land Management (blm.gov)
• Check out Javelina, the brand agency that helped us develop our new look
• Help WRA create more climate solutions in the West
• Visit the podcast blog page

Love the show and the climate solution work we're doing every day with Western Resource Advocates? Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water and people of the West today!

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with suggestions on topics and interviewees at [email protected].
• Tweet us @wradv or DM us @westernresourceadvocates.
• Create a 40-sec clip sharing "What you like about the West" and send it to us at [email protected] to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water, and people of the West today!

Thanks for listening. Let's all work together to keep the West wild.

Western Lands Manager, Brittany Fallon, has channeled her love for New Mexico and the environment into a career championing climate solutions in the Land of Enchantment. She loves river rafting on the Chama and snowshoeing with her dog Cooper whenever she's not fighting for our Western Lands.

In this episode, we learn about The Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund, a bill Brittany has worked on for over 5 years. This bill will create permanent funding for 10 programs that help protect New Mexico and support outdoor equity in the Cactus state.

Further Reading

• Learn more about the New Mexico Outdoor Equity Fund
• Email your legislator about the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund
• Learn more about the Together for Brothers program
• Email [email protected] if you are a school interested in participating in the Speaker's Academy
• Check out all of the programs that would benefit from the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund
• Visit the podcast blog page for photos and more information

Love the show and the climate solution work we're doing every day with Western Resource Advocates? Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water and people of the West today!

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with suggestions on topics and interviewees at [email protected].
• Tweet us @wradv or DM us @westernresourceadvocates.
• Create a 40-sec clip sharing "What you like about the West" and send it to us at [email protected] to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water, and people of the West today!

Thanks for listening. Let's all work together to keep the West wild.

Who is affected every day by traffic smog and trucks?  On this episode, we chat with proud Las Vegas native, Jermareon Williams, WRA's newest government affairs manager for the state of Nevada. Find out more about Vegas, Medium and Heavy Duty Vehicles, pollution, and how we can stop it in this storytelling-style podcast from Western Resource Advocates.

Further Reading

• Read more about Medium and Heavy Duty Trucks and the Electrification Coalition
• Download WRA's paper on Nevada's MHV electrification 
• Listen to more of Dan Bindschedler's Music
• Check out the American Lung Association's State of the Air report
• Learn more about disparities in pollution exposure in the U.S. in this article from the University of Washington 
• Read more about school closures because of wildfire smoke in Reno, NV
• Check out and subscribe to Jermareon's Youtube Channel full of gaming and tv reviews
• Visit the podcast blog page for photos and more information

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with suggestions on topics and interviewees at [email protected].
• Tweet us @wradv or DM us @westernresourceadvocates.
• Create a 40-sec clip sharing "What you like about the West" and send it to us at [email protected] to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water, and people of the West today!

Thanks for listening. Let's all work together to keep the West wild.

Join us for a journey to the Black Rock Desert with Stacey Wittek the executive director of The Friends of Black Rock High Rock. This Northern Nevada national conservation area is best known for land speed records, emigrant trails, rocket launches and Burning Man. Find out what else the Black Rock Desert holds in this storytelling-style podcast from Western Resource Advocates.

Further Reading

• Learn more about ancient Lake Lohantan
• Learn what Western Resource Advocates is doing to fight climate change in Nevada
• Check out the environmental ghost town of Cheshire, Ohio that Stacey documented
• Baba Yaga’s House made by Jessi and friends is currently at Fly Ranch near the Black Rock NCA.
• Learn more about the BLM, Bureau of Land Management, and what they do to support the West
• Get a copy of Jessi’s favorite book about the Black Rock Desert
• Need a good movie for your winter evening? Check out Nomadland, a film about the Nevada mining town of Empire near the Black Rock NCA
• Watch Big Medicine, the Black Rock Desert Mini-Documentary
• Visit our podcast blog page to see photos and more information

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with suggestions on topics and interviewees at [email protected].
• Tweet us @wradv or DM us @westernresourceadvocates.
• Create a 40-sec clip sharing "What you like about the West" and send it to us at [email protected] to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water, and people of the West today!

Thanks for listening. Let's all work together to keep the West wild.

The Colorado River is the hardest working river in the West, providing water for over 40 million people, 5.5 million acres of agriculture, 20 federally recognized tribes, and vibrant wildlife across seven states and two countries. It is essential for the lives and livelihoods of communities across our region – and it is in crisis. In this latest episode, we dove into the threats facing the Colorado River, what they mean for Western communities, and how we can and must take action to update management and protect this vital water source for the next 100 years to come.

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with suggestions on topics and interviewees at [email protected].
• Tweet us @wradv or DM us @westernresourceadvocates.
• Create a 40-sec clip sharing "What you like about the West" and send it to us at [email protected] to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water, and people of the West today!

Thanks for listening. Let's all work together to keep the West wild.

From ongoing megadrought, dangerous ground-level ozone pollution and heat waves, and increasing frequent catastrophic wildfires to erratic, devastating floods, communities across the West are experiencing the impacts of climate change right now, in real time. The impacts of the climate crisis are no longer a looming threat in the distant or even near future, they are now a present reality, and are being disproportionately felt by Western communities in the US. With the Colorado River reaching critically low levels, unseasonable and catastrophic winter wildfires burning through suburban communities, worsening air pollution in many of our major cities, and more, it is clear we need to take action to adapt and make our communities more resilient to the worsening effects of climate change now. Western resource advocates is working across our organization and throughout our region to help bolster community resilience to these impacts, and to protect our air, land, water, and wildlife—and sustain the lives and livelihoods of the West. To understand how WRA is working with communities to create and increase resilience against climate change, we spoke with WRA’s Western Lands Senior Policy Analyst Rachael Hamby, Water Policy Analyst John Berggren, Senior Climate Policy Analyst Meera Fickling, and Senior Clean Energy Policy Analyst Alex Routhier for our latest episode of our Climate Nexus series. Want to know how your community can adopt policies to help increase resilience against these escalating threats? Then you won’t want to turn away from this one...

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with suggestions on topics and interviewees at [email protected].
• Tweet us @wradv or DM us @westernresourceadvocates.
• Create a 40-sec clip sharing "What you like about the West" and send it to us at [email protected] to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water, and people of the West today!

Thanks for listening. Let's all work together to keep the West wild.

Clean air is essential for a healthy quality of life for our region. Breathing in fresh air and enjoying our region’s abundant outdoor natural beauty is what some of us love most about calling the West home. But contrary to the idyllic image that might conjure up, many of the states across the Interior West are home to some of the nation’s worst air quality.  Although we might often think of carbon dioxide, also known as CO2, when we talk about climate pollution and the need to reduce emissions to tackle climate change, many of the sources that contribute to the climate crisis also produce harmful, even toxic, air pollution that is impacting our communities. The exhaust generated from burning fossil fuels to power our cars, planes, trains, homes, industries, and office buildings all carries with it both a detrimental impact for our climate, and a potentially lethal impact for our communities.  For the second episode of our Climate Nexus series, we speak with WRA’s Utah-based general counsel and air quality expert Joro Walker, WRA’s Transportation Electrification Policy Analyst Deborah Kapiloff, and WRA’s former Senior Managing Attorney in Nevada Cameron Dyer to explore the connection between the transportation sector and burning fossil fuels, the air we breathe, and our goals to act on climate.Take action to protect clean air in Utah:https://westernresourceadvocates.org/action/protect-clean-air-and-public-health-in-utah/Support advancing clean cars across the West:https://westernresourceadvocates.org/action/stand-with-wra-in-advancing-clean-cars-in-the-west/Support WRA's work to protect clean air and transition to clean energy for our region:https://westernresourceadvocates.org/donate/donate-now/

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with suggestions on topics and interviewees at [email protected].
• Tweet us @wradv or DM us @westernresourceadvocates.
• Create a 40-sec clip sharing "What you like about the West" and send it to us at [email protected] to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water, and people of the West today!

Thanks for listening. Let's all work together to keep the West wild.

At WRA, we are working to drive on-the-ground solutions to climate change to advance clean energy, protect air, land, water, and wildlife—and sustain the lives and livelihoods of the West. And across the West, we know that almost every aspect of our lives is being impacted by the effects of climate change. From water scarcity and ongoing drought, to catastrophic wildfire and dangerous air quality levels. We know that these challenges, however distinct, are not isolated from each other. From 33 years of experience, we know crafting effective solutions to address climate change and meet our science backed emissions reductions goals requires a complex, collaborative, and multifaceted approach. To look at where those issues and our work to address them intersect, we're launching the Climate Nexus series for our 2 Degrees Out West podcast. This series will dig into the ways that pressing environmental challenges and the causal factors of climate change overlap, as well as the ways in which our staff at WRA are working together and combining their expertise to drive innovative solutions and getting results. For this first conversation, I spoke with Stacy Tellinghuisen and Ellen Howard Kutzer of WRA’s Clean Energy Program, as well as Bart Miller and John Cyran of WRA’s Healthy Rivers Program, about how our work to cut harmful emissions from Western coal plants and transition our region to a zero-carbon economy has the potential to help keep more water flowing through rivers and streams. Confused about how those two connect? Let’s check it out....Support WRA's work to drive on-the-ground solutions to climate change! Donate today!https://westernresourceadvocates.org/donate-now/

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with suggestions on topics and interviewees at [email protected].
• Tweet us @wradv or DM us @westernresourceadvocates.
• Create a 40-sec clip sharing "What you like about the West" and send it to us at [email protected] to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water, and people of the West today!

Thanks for listening. Let's all work together to keep the West wild.

Protecting our clean air, healthy rivers and lakes, and natural landscapes to ensure a healthy, livable future are goals that we can seemingly all agree on. However, for decades, the work to achieve those goals and the professions that pursue them have traditionally been seen as male dominated spaces. At Western Resource Advocates, we want to celebrate some of the incredible women on our staff, and in the conservation community that have worked to break the mold and build a more inclusive conservation movement. For this episode, WRA’s Operation’s Associate Haley Howard takes over as guest host as we celebrate Women’s History Month. In this edition of our 2° Out West Podcast, we spoke with some of the Women of Western Resource Advocates, including our new board member Yadi Sanchez, executive director of Poder Latinx, about their paths to working in conversation and the women who have inspired them both in the environmental field and right here at WRA. They also share their advice for young women looking to work in conservation, sustainability, and to address climate change.

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with suggestions on topics and interviewees at [email protected].
• Tweet us @wradv or DM us @westernresourceadvocates.
• Create a 40-sec clip sharing "What you like about the West" and send it to us at [email protected] to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• Become a sponsor of WRA and the 2 Degrees Out West podcast. Show your support for the land, air, water, and people of the West today!

Thanks for listening. Let's all work together to keep the West wild.