The Climate Minute

This week we discuss phenology (whatever that is) Massachusetts polls and cool things to do with MCAN this summer. Listen in.

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This week, we interviewed Mariah Tinger, co-author of the book, Protecting the Planet: Environmental Champions from Conservation to Climate Change, winner of the Green Book Festival’s 2017 Best General Non-Fiction Book Award.

Climate change is often associated with predictions of dire calamities. But in the past, heroic individuals have stepped forward to meet even the most ominous ecological challenges. This book tells an inspirational story--a story both of pioneering environmentalists who raised our collective consciousness regarding nature's value and heroes of today who are working to secure a sustainable future.

In this father and daughter collaboration, Mariah Tinger and Budd Titlow tracked down fifty of the nation’s most interesting climate change experts and wrote Protecting the Planet: Environmental Champions from Conservation to Climate Change to illuminate featured heroes’ lives and work. The heroes’ stories include hate mail, death threats, jail sentences, venomous spider bites and fantastic adventure. They also tell of beautiful moments that inspired their passion, love that keeps them hopeful and the exciting new solutions that are on the horizon. The text is uplifting, inspiring and highlights what the reader can do to join the effort.

Protecting the Planet brings climate change to the public in a digestible and optimistic way, pulling readers in through the connection to people. Part of the book includes a study and presentation of the leadership characteristics of past environmental champions. In today’s podcast, Mariah highlights characteristics of persistence, singleness of purpose, and devotion to nature from some of the books heroes including Harriet Lawrence Hemenway, William Temple Hornaday, John James Audubon, Howard Clinton Zahniser, as well as contemporary heroes such as Bill McKibben and James Balog. We have much to be inspired by from these individuals who maintained hopefulness for environmental issues despite pushback, rejection, and political hurdles.

Tinger and Titlow’s book also includes comprehensive background on climate science and a section devoted to things we can all do as citizens for climate action. We highly recommend their book for your reading enjoyment and as an excellent reference for your home libraries.

Protecting the Planet: Environmental Champions from Conservation to Climate Change (Prometheus Books ISBN: 9781633882263) is available on Amazon in hardcover and eBook versions and can be ordered through all major booksellers as well.

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How should a Climate Hawk deal with the madness of our times? Listen

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Scott Pruitt twists the truth, misusing statistics to suggests a growth in coal jobs. But cities like Pittsburg are leading the way in fighting for clean energy. Listen in!

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The US exit from Paris has sparked a backlash. Many states are banding together to meet the agreement's goals. What does it m ean to be "Paris Compliant" and how do we comply? Listen in.

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Listen in as we suggests some tiny little improvements to the Adminstration's ideas on national infrastructure.

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We have two topics of interest today: Carbon pricing bills and the June 13th Lobbying Day . Massachusetts has two new bills that promote a gradually rising price on carbon. “Carbon price” is a buzzword that puts a monetary price on carbon pollution, or emissions from burning fossil fuels. Essentially, it is a “dumping fee” for putting pollution into the air. Though the phrase “gradually rising price” can be off-putting, the bills incentivize people to become more carbon neutral – a way of doing well by doing good.

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DAPL activists were the target of military style counter-terrorism methods at Standing Rock and elsewhere, conducted by the TigerSwan security company. Is this even legal? (And why are these organizations obsessed with Secret-Agent-007-James-Bondian names for their sad little enterprises?) On a happier note, a young woman named Juliana has frightened three big oil groups. At first they asked to be named defendants in the “Our Children’s Trust” lawsuit, but now that they might have to answer questions before God and the internet they’ve developed cold feet. Listen in.

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In a shameful, unconscionable, historically damaging decision the Trump administration will pull the US out of the Paris Accord. Listen in as we process this unfortunate news and try to figure out how to react.

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Work on the Paris Accords continues with meetings in Bonn this week. Even though Governor Baker supports the US remaining, the question will be decided by our Tweeter-in-Chief. Will his demons or better angels prevail? Perhaps more importantly, will our leadership here in Massachusetts embrace a carbon price? The answer depends on you.

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