Chinese Air Quality + Ekoru Search Engine

Looking for some good news as we enter yet another week of sheltering-in-place? Perhaps you feel like doing a Google search to discover an upside to the slow down? As this week’s first guest on Sea Change Radio, Liz Kimbrough, notes, there are no true silver linings from this pandemic. But if you squint hard enough, it’s possible to catch a glimmer of light at the end of this scary, dark tunnel. Kimbrough, a writer for the online environmental journal, Mongabay, takes us through some of her recent reporting. First, we discuss the impact that global economic stagnation is having on our air quality and then we look at efforts that are being taken to protect the 1000 or so mountain gorillas that remain on earth from contracting COVID-19. After that, we speak to Ati Bakush about his company Ekoru, a Malaysian-based search engine that runs on water power and donates 60% of its revenues to ocean conservation. After learning about Ekoru, perhaps you’ll feel like switching out your default search engine before you run that search for good news!

Matt Haney: COVID Contingencies

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Over the years, we’ve learned from countless sustainability experts that in the climate change fight it makes sense for humans to live more densely and efficiently. Now, however, in the midst of a global pandemic, we recognize that density may have other ramifications. This week on Sea Change Radio, we dive into the Covid-19 planning policy weeds with San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney. Haney has been an outspoken advocate for more equity in this city now famous for its extreme wealth divide, so the impact of this crisis and the shelter-in-place order on those living on the margins is of particular interest to him. We discuss his work with local hotels to shelter people experiencing homelessness, the struggle to develop smart policy responses to a situation in constant flux, and what can be done to protect seniors, small, local businesses, and gig-economy workers.

Rebecca Vallas: Erasing the Hierarchy of Humanity

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Corona Virus Disease 2019, also known as COVID-19, is spreading, and threatening the lives of the physically vulnerable, including the elderly and people with a variety of preexisting conditions. In response, businesses, cities, and states are shutting down. The entire San Francisco Bay Area, the economic engine for much of California and the rest of the country, has been ordered to “shelter in place,” and other areas are considering similar measures. That means countless restaurants, retail outlets, and small businesses are closed. This approach should stop the spread of the disease, but what other impacts will it have? Specifically, what will it do to the economically vulnerable? Today on Sea Change Radio we are talking about poverty with Rebecca Vallas, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. We discuss the potential repercussions of pandemic policy on wage workers, distinguish between a booming stock market and authentic economic health, and talk about the plight of people truly living on the margins like prisoners and the homeless. Finally, we examine the faint possibility of a silver lining, in the way some politicians are proposing economic relief in response to this global crisis.

What The Truck? Vehicle Expert Jim Motavalli

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Did you know that the three best selling vehicles in America are all pickup trucks? This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with auto expert Jim Motavalli about the truck craze which is now well into its third decade. He helps us understand how, in this era of eco-vehicle innovation, gas guzzlers still rule the day in the USA. Then we discuss the latest developments in the electric vehicle space, examine the phenomenon that is Tesla, and talk about ways that car-owners may reduce their carbon footprints.

Steve Almond: How To Take Back the White House in 2020

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What can all the money in the world buy you? Thanks to the Beatles, we already know it’s not love, but could it perhaps buy you the most powerful office in the world? We may have an answer to this question as early as Super Tuesday, as one of the wealthiest humans on the planet attempts to buy the US presidency. This week on Sea Change Radio, we talk to author Steve Almond about the state of the Democratic primary. He offers his perspective on what we should be learning from Mike Bloomberg’s political ads that presently blanket our nation’s air waves, how the age of Trump changes the way that people view the field of presidential hopefuls, and what Democrats need to do if the nominee ends up being someone other than their favorite.

Community Builders: Leo Woodberry + Donnel Baird

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This week on Sea Change Radio, we continue to honor the contributions of African Americans to the environmental movement by revisiting discussions with two individuals who are making a difference in very different ways. First, we hear from the Reverend Leo Woodberry who’s building an inter-faith coalition to fight climate change. Then, we speak to Donnel Baird about his company, BlocPower, which helps green building efforts in communities of color and eases access to capital for minority-owned businesses.

Science Profile: Health Physicist Hattie Carwell

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Close your eyes and imagine a physicist. What does this person look like? Was it a white guy? Well, if it was, you might be guilty of reaffirming stereotypes, but you wouldn’t be wrong statistically speaking. According to the American Institute of Physics, less than 1% of American physicists are women of color. This week, we sit down with one such rarity: groundbreaking physicist Hattie Carwell. She helps us understand what the specialty of health physics encompasses, talks about the museum she co-founded showcasing African Americans in science, and recounts her extraordinary story of achieving renown in the scientific community in the face of racism and sexism.

Andrew Winston: Sustainability in 2020

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In optometry 2020 means normal visual acuity. But what will 2020 mean for the rest of us in the coming year? What sustainability trends might take flight as we close out the second decade of the new millennium? This week on Sea Change Radio, we take a glimpse into the future with author, speaker and corporate sustainability consultant, Andrew Winston. We discuss the need for decreased consumerism in the fashion industry, the coming boom in water technology, and how the specter of the November election looms over it all.

Steve Phillips: How Democrats Take the Senate in 2020

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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.