This week on the show, regular hosts Bella Isaacs, Aurora Aparicio, and Ed Waisanen break down how the ongoing government shutdown is affecting the environment, legislation that passed during former Governor Rick Snyder’s final days in office, and new Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s first couple executive actions. They also do a hair check in, figure out where exactly the term “lame duck” comes from, and talk about their most treasured gifts from the holiday season.
Justice, Economics, and the Environment Walk into a Bar… A Conversation with Dr. Sam Stolper
Many Americans hear the word “economics” and quite literally start to talk business: bulls and bears, stocks and bonds, revenues and profits—you know the drill. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, though, economics is “a social science concerned chiefly with description and analysis of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.” For Dr. Sam Stolper, this meaning rings especially true when it comes to distribution. Sam is an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), where he researches and lectures on the intersecting issues of economics and environmental justice, particularly as they apply to how the impacts of energy use and production are distributed. Continue reading Justice, Economics, and the Environment Walk into a Bar… A Conversation with Dr. Sam Stolper
Inside COP 24 with Alexa White
Ever wonder what actually goes on at an annual international climate change conference? Alexa White doesn’t. That’s because she’s attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (UNFCCC-COP) not once, but twice. She attended the 2015 talks in Paris, France and the ones that were held this month in Katowice, Poland. White is a second-year Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Ph.D. student. She was sent as a representative of the University of Michigan’s student delegation, organized by SEAS Professor Avik Basu. Continue reading Inside COP 24 with Alexa White
Young, Strong Voices from the Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Catherine Garton is not only a microbiology, applied statistics, and energy science & policy buff. She’s also the founder of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) chapter at the University of Michigan. The student group is part of a larger nonpartisan grassroots organization that aims to “build the political will for a livable world” by advocating for climate change solutions. Specifically, they support the implementation of a Carbon Fee and Dividend policy. Garton, a sophomore, founded the campus chapter only recently, but the umbrella organization has been active for over a decade and oversees 1,300+ chapters internationally. This week, co-hosts Logan and Heena talked with Catherine Garton and Lena Swirczek, another CCL student activist who is also involved in the University of Michigan’s Sustainable Living Experience, a sustainability-focused community at Oxford Houses on campus. Continue reading Young, Strong Voices from the Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food
Where did you collect your most recent grocery haul? Try to remember the items you hastily organized on the conveyor belt at check-out. Now, where did all those come from?
1,500 is an important, if rarely recognized, number; it’s the average number of miles that produce travels on its way from an industrial farm to your dining room table. That is, unless you tend to shop for your produce locally.
Argus Farm Stop (or, “Argus,” if you’re familiar) is a business amalgam that can best be described as half “indoor farmers market” and half “hipster coffee shop/bakery.” The store features a cornucopia of produce, meat, and dairy grown by over 200 local farmers, 90% of whom are located within a 10 miles radius. Continue reading Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food
How did the Environment Fare in the Midterms?
On today’s show, the IHIH gang share their hot takes on what the recent midterm elections mean for the environment moving forward. Bella breaks down a special millage proposal in her native Ingham County that protects certain farmlands and open spaces against urban development, and the Ann Arborite in the room (Ed) shares his thoughts on the city’s passage of Proposal A, which nixes Mayor Christopher Taylor’s deal with Chicago-based developer Core Spaces in order to turn the city-owned Liberty Lot into an urban green space.
Heena tells us about problems that some University of Michigan students had at the polls after registering with TurboVote in the weeks leading up to the election, and the whole crew updates listeners on several environmentally-focused proposals nationwide that were discussed on our October 26th show, including Florida’s Amendment 9, which conveniently bans both offshore drilling and indoor vaping, and Colorado’s Proposal 112, which would have required energy companies to drill farther away from private homes, schools, and hospitals.
You can find links to some of the other measures we covered in today’s show below:
“Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble” Author Stephen Jenkinson
On today’s show, we bring you a conversation between regular host Ed Waisanen and Stephen Jenkinson, author, teacher, storyteller, spiritual activist, and farmer. His most recent book, “Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble,” considers North America’s paradoxical relationship with elderhood as the region’s population continues to age yet fails to integrate intergenerational wisdom into its cultural consciousness during a time marked by a changing climate and sociopolitical unrest.
Stephen Jenkinson will be coming to the Eastern Michigan University’s Student Center in Ypsilanti as part of his “Nights of Grief and Mystery” tour. You can find out more about Jenkinson on his website.
Plugging-in to Solar Energy
Returning champions Meg, Logan, and Aurora discuss local ballot initiatives across the U.S. including carbon emissions fees in Washington, proactive water pollution prevention in Montana, fish protections in Alaska, a Floridian combo bill that intertwines vaping and off-shore drilling, and more! As an added bonus, the crew unveils their Halloween costumes for this year—and Aurora’s is quite chilling.
Also, Logan conducts his first interview with Chris Bowman, a graduate student at Michigan. Check out more details below:
Over the summer, Chris Bowman served as an intern for the Rocky Mountain Institute, a prestigious Colorado-based nonprofit that brands itself as a ‘think-and-do’ tank. There, he got plugged-into distribution grid work with solar energy cooperatives, of which there are just under 1,000 in the U.S. Specifically, Bowman focused his efforts on expanding and hastening the transition to renewable energy via market forces.
This fall, Bowman is back at Michigan continuing his graduate education as a proud, “Erber.” The Erb Institute is a dual-degree program through which students earn an MBA from the Ross School of Business as well as a master’s from the School for Environment and Sustainability over the course of three years. Bowman joined the program to gain a deeper understanding of the business, economics, and politics that set the stage for renewable energy markets to perform successfully. He speaks with fervor regarding the broadening transition to photovoltaics and renewables as our host Logan investigates a wide spectrum of topics, from front-of-the-meter generation to greater moral imperatives.
IPCC & Carbon Neutrality
The temperature rises in the studio as Climate Blue experts Sam Basile and Tim Arvan give their hot takes on the recent IPCC report. Basile, a founder and former director of Climate Blue, is now a PhD candidate in Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan. Arvan is the current director of Climate Blue and an ambitious student in the Program in the Environment and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics departments. Climate Blue is a student organization at the University of Michigan that sends an observer delegation to the annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (UNFCCC-COP) climate talks.
A significant news item brought to the table by co-host Logan is a surprising environmental commitment made by University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel. Listen as Bella, Logan, Ed and Heena take a closer look!
Find out more about Climate Blue here, like them on Facebook, or email climateblueannarbor@gmail.com.
Mayan Power and Light
On Friday, hosts Ed, Bella, and Logan interviewed John Barrie and Monika Goforth in an effort to “shed some light” on the inner machinations of the Mayan Power and Light Program (MPL). The MPL co-founders discuss the origins and motivations for creating the program, which include a desire to contribute to the green economy and create businesses within small communities in Guatemala. Breaks from the show feature Aurora and Tex’s top picks for solar-themed songs.
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