In this episode, how a small Wisconsin community stood up to one of the most powerful companies in the world… and won. And what we can all learn from their fight.

Host: Amy Barrilleaux

Guest: Prescott Balch, Village of Caledonia resident

Resources for You:

Stop Unchecked Data Center Development (petition)

AI Data Center Energy Demand Analysis

AI Data Center Offsite Water Withdrawals

On this episode a look what could be sprayed on food and farm fields all around us - plus a bit of Wisconsin history that offers some hope as we confront a new batch of toxic chemicals.

Host: Amy Barrilleaux

Guest: Sara Walling, Clean Wisconsin Water & Agency Program Director

Resources for You:

Under the Lens: What we know about PFAS in Wisconsin's Water

Nitrate pollution's impact on Wisconsn's health and economy

Neonicotinoid pesticides and their impact

Episode 43: The pesticides that could be lurking in your pollinator garden

Episode 33: Wisconsin's bees are acting weird. Here's why.

Episode 29: Trump's Threat to Safe Water (and how WI can fight back!)

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