The Defender

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

How much would you pay to swim in a clean lake? How much to take a breath of fresh, clean air? To fish in a pristine stream? You may not ever think about that, but there is somebody who does -- a lot.

On this episode, meet the professor who's working to understand the economic value of a clean environment.

Host: Amy Barrilleaux

Guest: Dan Phaneuf, Professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics, Unversity of Wisconsin

Resources for You:

Clean Wisconsin: Fighting for Clean Water

The Environmental Protection Agency is quickly getting out of the protection business. And no where is that more clear than its new plan to get rid of the Endangerment Finding, the landmark legal and science determination that climate change hurts people and that the EPA has the responsibility to do something about it.

On this episode a look at why the EPA is now insisting climate pollution won't hurt you, and what walking back the endangerment finding could mean for Wisconsin.

Host: Amy Barrilleaux

Guest: Clean Wisconsin General Counsel Katie Nekola

Resources for You:

Take Action: Tell the EPA not to rescind the Endangerment Finding

Livestock farmers in Wisconsin are getting excited about solar! MG&E's Tyto solar project is home to about 13,000 solar panels, 30 acres of thriving plants, and a flock of happy sheep.

Amy takes a behind-the-scenes look at the solar energy project where 145 hungry sheep are hard at work this summer.

Host: Amy Barrilleaux

Guests: John Armstrong, manager of renewable engineering, Madison Gas and Electric

Beau Stafford, Wiscovery Farms

Resources for You:

Supporting Solar in Wisconsin

Episode 40: Surprising Environmental Impacts of Solar in Wisconsin

Analysis: Solar produces 100 times more energy per acre than corn grown for ethanol

In the long, never-ending struggle to protect our environment, it can be easy to feel helpless, powerless. Maybe nothing underscores that feeling more than trying to stop a big foreign oil interest from building a pipeline across your state. But there is something you can do to speak out against the Line 5 oil pipeline. And it's fun! Amy looks at the Move People Not Oil campaign.

Host: Amy Barrilleaux

Guest: Jacob Ahrens-Balwit, Strategic Communications Manager, Clean Wisconsin

More Resources for You:

Enbridge Line 5 Blasting Area Photos (Instagram)

Move People Not Oil - Take the pledge and more information

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