This week on Sea Change Radio, we are talking with civil rights lawyer Steve Phillips, the author of Brown is the New White and the host of the Democracy In Color podcast. He lends his expertise as we discuss what it will take for Democrats to regain control of the Senate, analyze races in Texas, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine and Arizona, and tear apart the Democratic establishment’s long-held belief that in order to win, the party must focus persuasion efforts on white, moderate Democrats.
Most environmentally minded folks agree that our shopping habits need to be significantly curbed for the good of the planet. And many often turn to the virtues of efficiency as one answer – on the surface, it certainly seems to make sense to strive for more efficient use of resources. But is the goal of efficiency the right one? On the heels of the Christmas shopping season, what better time to revisit our 2018 Sea Change Radio discussion with Kris De Decker. The founder of Low Tech Magazine, De Decker makes a compelling case for the abandonment of efficiency as the barometer for planetary stewardship. He proposes we use the simpler, but perhaps more painful objective of sufficiency and argues that pursuing greener, more efficient methods and technologies is, more often than not, a fool’s errand. De Decker maintains that the human appetite for comfort, growth, and acquisition tends to turn efficiencies into increased consumption, and that the only way to truly fight climate change is for all of us to recognize that enough is, well, enough.
On the heels of being impeached by the House of Representatives, Donald Trump unsurprisingly created a diversion, having a key Iranian General assassinated by US drones. But as tensions in the Middle East mounted, the price of oil somehow remained relatively steady. Why was this the case? This week on Sea Change Radio, we talk oil with energy expert Daniel Dicker. We discuss the current state of global oil markets, learn the important differences between sweet and sour crude, and examine Dicker’s contention that the best thing for the environment would be much higher oil prices.
As we embark upon a new decade, many of us are contemplating ongoing environmental challenges and what may be in store for the earth in the decade to come. Fortunately, there are some excellent journalists out there with their fingers on the pulse, whose mission is to uncover environmental news both alarming and inspiring. This week on Sea Change Radio we are checking in with Bob Berwyn, an Austrian-based environmental journalist who writes for Inside Climate News and is in the midst of a three-month tour of the western United States and Mexico. Berwyn discusses the fragile ecosystems west of the Rockies, tells us about permaculture in Oaxaca, and examines the ethical dilemmas that both skiers and ski resorts are facing as the planet warms and snowfall becomes less consistent.
What makes a great leader? This week on Sea Change Radio, we are honored to have Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin here to give us her take on that question. Goodwin’s book, Leadership in Turbulent Times, just released in paperback, re-examines four US presidents she has studied in the past: Abe Lincoln, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. She discusses the contrast between these presidents’ leadership and the behavior of the current grifter-in-chief, puts today’s impeachment proceedings in historical context, and hypothesize about how past presidents might have addressed momentous issues like climate change and election tampering. Then, we dig into the Sea Change Radio archives and listen to Rebecca Vallas, a Vice President at the Center for American Progress, talk about the Trump administration’s absurd claims that poverty and hunger are now things of the past in this country.
Whether or not we use the name Green New Deal to describe a set of aggressive long-term policies that will help humanity in the fight against climate change, most rational people agree that the status quo is completely unacceptable. The potential of a Green New Deal is that it could pave the way for some great minds to devise concrete proposals for reducing greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with one of those great minds, Ramez Naam, a futurist and technologist who’s crafted his own sort of Green New Deal. We delve into the nuts and bolts of Naam’s proposal and the problems it’s trying to solve, as he makes the case for why we may actually see bipartisan support for such a proposal.
Those who attended the 25th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP25 in Madrid this past week were hopeful that it would deepen the commitment of the world’s largest greenhouse gas-emitting nations to fighting climate change. Unfortunately, attendees left Spain disappointed. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to Tzeporah Berman, the international program manager for Stand.earth who attended the conference. Berman provides insight into why the conference broke down, what it means for the climate change movement, and how the 2020 US election will influence next year’s summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
For many, along with all that good cheer, the holidays bring a bunch of food-related conundrums: what to bring to the pot luck, what to eat and not eat at the company party, what gifts to buy for our culinary-focused friends and family, and how to be ecologically responsible without compromising taste. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with a food expert who can help solve these holiday food puzzlers. Gigi Berardi is a professor of food studies and geography at Western Washington University. Her new book, FoodWISE lays out ways to make better decisions about what we eat. We discuss the differences between frozen and canned foods, take a look at “Big Organic,” and examine how the food industry’s misuse of the word “healthy” has warped its meaning.
Has it ever struck you as odd how white evangelicals in this country consistently and enthusiastically back a president with a verifiable history of strikingly lewd behavior? From multiple divorces to bragging about grabbing women by the genitals, from public affairs with porn stars to the suggestion that he’d like to date his own daughter, the man’s moral compass swings wildly away from due North. The evangelical right is historically famous for linking personal morality with fitness to govern. They attacked Bill Clinton unmercifully, for example, for his extra-marital concerns in the 1990s. But when it comes to Donald Trump, white evangelicals seem willing to reconsider this linkage, supporting him in record numbers. What’s behind this mysterious hypocrisy? This week on Sea Change Radio we speak with Editorial Board Founder and Publisher John Stoehr, a journalist who spent his childhood among white fundamentalist Christians. He applies his insights and posits that an authoritarian cosmology and nihilism about the environment enable white evangelical Christians to abandon the Golden Rule in favor of the Orange Menace.
Can you imagine how hard it must be for legislators to know where to focus their energies? The problems that require reform and improved public policy are vast and varied. But as this week’s guest explains, there’s really nothing more important than ensuring clean air and water. Today on Sea Change Radio, we speak with California Assemblymember Phil Ting about his efforts to promote recycling and cleaner cars. We look at the impediments to systemic change, breakdown his proposals, and talk about the amount of political capital required to advance the most fundamental components of life on earth: clean air and water.
This week on Sea Change Radio, we are talking with civil rights lawyer Steve Phillips, the author of Brown is the New White and the host of the Democracy In Color podcast. He lends his expertise as we discuss what it will take for Democrats to regain control of the Senate, analyze races in Texas, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine and Arizona, and tear apart the Democratic establishment’s long-held belief that in order to win, the party must focus persuasion efforts on white, moderate Democrats.
