How to Save a Planet

In this episode, the hosts delve into the environmental impact of electric vehicles versus gas cars, addressing a couple's dilemma. They discuss the affordability and enjoyment of electric cars, highlighting listener engagement and promoting test drives. The episode emphasizes manageable solutions for addressing climate change and the importance of collective action for reducing emissions.

When it comes to climate change, it can feel like our future hangs in the balance of this presidential election in the U.S. But how much does the president really matter? And how can climate action move forward regardless of who wins? This week, Alex and Ayana talk with Abigail Dillen of Earthjustice about fighting for climate in the courts. Then, we speak with Benji Backer of the American Conservation Coalition about changing the climate conversation among conservatives.  Call to action: Make sure all the votes are counted! Help safeguard the democratic process by signing up for updates from a new coalition called Protect the Results. Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. And if you take any of the actions we recommend, tell us about it! Send us your voice message, ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Special thanks to our guests: Benji Backer and Abbie DillenThis episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Felix Poon. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Rachel Waldholz and Anna Ladd. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music by Emma Munger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Delve into the history of climate change with a focus on Exxon's shift from renewable energy to fossil fuels. Explore the origins of climate denial propaganda and the emergence of greenwashing tactics in the 1980s. Uncover how powerful figures influenced public opinion on climate change and the importance of local action in combating environmental issues.

When we think about what’s heating up the planet, we may picture CO2 from smokestacks and tailpipes. But there are other greenhouse gases that are even more dangerous. And some of these are hiding in garages and sheds all over the country. We’re talking about refrigerants. They’re the secret sauce behind how refrigerators and air conditioners keep things cool. But they’re heating up the planet. This week, in collaboration with NPR’s Planet Money, we take a ride with a couple of guys who tackle these climate threats with a pair of extremely high-tech tools: a van, and some cold hard cash. Then, we talk about the climate solution you could be interacting with every time you buy ice cream.Calls to action Find out what refrigerant your local grocer uses at climatefriendlysupermarkets.org. Check out how the big supermarket chains are doing on HFCs using the Supermarket Scorecard. As for your own household fridge, if you're in the market or know someone who is, choose an HFC-free model. Learn more about how to properly dispose of your fridge, freezer, air conditioners, and other such appliances at the end of their useful lives. Of course, you can always call Tim and Gabe to help with disposal too! Check out their work at Tradewater and Refrigerant Finders. Sign Green America’s Cool It! Campaign petition. While you’re there, find a climate friendly supermarket near you and thank them! If you’re a business owner, submit a letter to the Trump Administration asking them to ratify the Kigali Amendment, the international treaty that sets the phase down schedule for HFCs globally. You would be joining many states, major industry refrigerant suppliers, and elected officials from both sides of the aisle. The AIM Act is a bipartisan bill, supported by both the House and the Senate, that effectively would enforce the same HFC phase down schedule as the Kigali Amendment without needing to ratify it – it would cut HFC use by 85% by 2035! However, it’s likely to be vetoed by the current President. So...vote, specifically, #VoteClimate. And when it comes to local candidates those really matter too for things like public transit and composting and bike lines, so please do a little digging of your own on local candidates. Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. And if you take any of the actions we recommend, tell us about it! Send us your voice message, ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.Special thanks to our guests: Tim Brown, Danielle Wright and Gabe PlotkinThis episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by our senior producer Lauren Silverman. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Rachel Waldholz, Anna Ladd and Felix Poon. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music by Emma Munger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From California's crimson skies to smoke so thick along Colorado's front range that sent people indoors for days, this year has been an especially bad one for extreme wildfires. On today's episode, we ask, how did the wildfires get so bad – and what can we do to address them? Call(s) to action Help build fire adapted communities. If you're interested in learning more about the range of small, wonky, zoning-type solutions to reduce pressures driving people to the WUI (pronounced wooie!)and make managed retreat a more palatable option, check out fireadaptednetwork.org, where you can keep track of all the little policy changes that would actually help make a big difference. Prepare Your Home for Fire. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, better known as CalFire, has a great resource to teach you how to prepare your home for wildfire. You can find it at readyforwildfire.org. Learn More about Fires from Bobbie Scopa through the audio stories she tells on her website, Bobbie on Fire Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. And if you take any of the actions we recommend, tell us about it! Send us your voice message, ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.Special thanks to our guests: Bobbie Scopa and Suzy CagleThis episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Rachel Waldholz, Anna Ladd and Felix Poon. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music by Emma Munger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For years, American politicians have failed to take climate change seriously. The 2016 presidential debates didn’t even include a single climate question. Fast-forward four years, and climate change is a major election issue. So how did 2020 become a climate election? This week, how a bunch of outsiders turned the Green New Deal into a national rallying cry — and pushed Joe Biden to adopt the most ambitious climate platform in U.S. history.Want to take action?  Most important: VOTE! Check out Vote.org to make sure you’re registered to vote and find information on polling stations, early voting or absentee voting in your state You can check out the Sunrise Movement and read the THRIVE Agenda  You can read Joe Biden’s climate plan and environmental justice plan (they’re short!) or watch his recent big speech on climate change You can check out the Blue New Deal  Or read the original Green New Deal resolution - again! Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. And if you take any of the actions we recommend, tell us about it! Send us your voice message, ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.Special thanks to our guests: Varshini Prakash, Rhiana Gunn-Wright, Maggie Thomas and Saikat ChakrabartiHow to Save a Planet is a Spotify original podcast and Gimlet production hosted by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Alex Blumberg.This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Rachel Waldholz. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Anna Ladd and Felix Poon. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design, mixing and original music by Emma Munger. Additional music by Peter Leonard, Catherine Anderson, and Billy Libby. Full music credits can be found on our website. Our fact checker this episode is Claudia Geib. Special thanks to Rachel Strom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Republican Party has been almost uniformly opposed to climate action for years – nobody more so than President Donald Trump. But it wasn’t always like this. On today’s episode, we look back at how conservatives came to see the denial of climate science as a kind of badge of honor – and we talk to two conservative activists who are trying to change that.Want to take action?  Check out the American Conservation Coalition and read their American Climate Contract https://www.acc.eco/ You can find more information at republicEN.org and check out their podcast, EcoRight Speaks. https://republicen.org/ You can also read the full memo we mentioned in the episode - the Global Climate Science Communications Action Plan (get ready to be mad) http://www.climatefiles.com/trade-group/american-petroleum-institute/1998-global-climate-science-communications-team-action-plan/ Or listen to the podcast Drilled for a deep dive on the fossil fuel industry’s long misinformation campaign https://www.drillednews.com/podcasts Don’t forget to VOTE! Check out vote.org to make sure you’re registered to vote, find your polling station or get information on absentee ballots in your state.  Want to know more? We have a reading list! Losing Earth by Nathaniel Rich Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes & Eric Conway The Republican Reversal by James Turner and Andrew Isenberg Dark Money by Jane Mayer Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. And if you take any of the actions we recommend, tell us about it! Send us your voice message, ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.Special thanks to our guests: Benji Backer, Bob Inglis, Jay Turner and Andrew IsenbergHow to Save a Planet is a Spotify original podcast and Gimlet production hosted by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Alex Blumberg.This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Rachel Waldholz. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Anna Ladd and Felix Poon. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing for this episode by Sam Bair with original music by Emma Munger. Full music credits are available on our website. Our fact checker this episode is Claudia Geib. Special thanks to Rachel Strom.Thanks to Anthony Leiserowitz for helping us understand some of this history. This episode also relied on phenomenal reporting from a number of places, including the books Losing Earth by Nathaniel Rich, Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Eric Conway, Kochland by Christopher Leonard, Dark Money by Jane Mayer, and the podcast Drilled, hosted by Amy Westervelt.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Black Lives Matter is the largest movement in U.S. history, and it’s had environmental justice as part of its policy platform from the start. In today’s show, Alex and Ayana talk about why the fight for racial justice is critical to saving the planet, and what the broader climate movement can learn from the Black Lives Matter movement.Calls to action Check out the Movement for Black Lives: m4bl.org Read the BREATHE Act: breatheact.org Check out Ayana’s OpEd: Racism derails our attempts to fight the climate crisis Pick up a copy of the book Ayana co-edited, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, which includes an essay by Colette Pichon-Battle. Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. And if you take any of the actions we recommend, tell us about it! Send us your voice message, ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.Special thanks to our guests: Colette Pichon Battle and Maurice MitchellThis episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by our senior producer Lauren Silverman. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Rachel Waldholz and Anna Ladd. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music by Emma Munger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As this summer has made clear: from hurricanes to wildfires, climate change is exposing more of us to extreme weather. This week we hear what it's like to survive a life-changing disaster, get tips on how to prepare — from a disasterologist — and learn why you should never call a disaster “natural.”Call(s) to action Build a go bag or preparedness kit. You can check out www.ready.gov/kit for some tips on how to build your own bag. Remember it's a guide - not a rulebook - so think through what you will really need in a disaster. Kendra packed a spare pair of glasses, just in case, for example.  Create your own disaster plan. The kit is only the first step in disaster preparedness. While building your bag also think through your disaster plan. You can check out ready.gov/plans to think through things like if you had to evacuate what your route would be and where you would go. If you have children, www.ready.gov/kids , helps you incorporate your kids into your disaster planning - which is important because they will be going through this with you. Prepare your home for your disaster. We'll link to specific tips on doing this in the additional reading, but prepping your home for the inevitable increases the odds it will survive. If you're a homeowner it's worth checking out what your insurance policy says. If you are a renter, it's worth getting renters insurance, though it's typically less comprehensive than homeowners insurance.  Find out what your local government and community organizations are doing to prepare for disaster. This is everything from attending meetings that your emergency managers are holding (and if they aren't holding them, why not?) And if you want to go even further consider getting community emergency response team or CERT training. For more info on the climate anthology that Ayana has co-edited, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, and to order a copy, head to allwecansave.earth. It includes poignant essays by Christine Nieves Rodrigues, our own Kendra Pierre-Louis and 40 other women climate leaders. Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. And if you take any of the actions we recommend, tell us about it! Send us your voice message, ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.Special thanks to our guests: Samantha Montano and Christine NievesThis episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Rachel Waldholz and Anna Ladd. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music by Emma Munger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Climate change is a big problem — and we’re going to need a big team to solve it. That means reaching people who might not think of themselves as climate activists. This week, we explore what the climate movement can learn from YouTubers...starting with MrBeast.Sign up for our newsletter here! (gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet)We’ll send you calls to action, must-read articles and other surprises every week when we put out a new episode. In the meantime, check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. And if you take any of the actions we recommend, tell us about it! Send us your voice message, ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode. Want to plant a tree? Here are some treesources:Find the right tree for the place you live with the National Wildlife Federation’s Plant Finder: nwf.org/nativeplantfinderLearn how to plant and take care of your tree: arborday.org/treesSome cities will give you a tree to plant for free! Here are a few:Los Angeles, CA: cityplants.orgDenver, CO: theparkpeople.org/what-we-do/denver-digs-treesPortland, OR: portlandoregon.gov/parks/73498St. Louis, MO: moreleaf.orgPhiladelphia, PA: treephilly.orgFort Worth, TX: fortworthtexas.gov/forestry/free-treesAustin, TX: treefolks.org/free-treesIf you aren’t able to plant a tree, you can adopt one! Take care of a street tree in your neighborhood in these cities:NYC: https://www.nyrp.org/about/programs/tree-giveaway/Miami, FL: https://www.miamidade.gov/global/service.page?Mduid_service=ser1467835324112359Richmond, CA: http://www.groundworkrichmond.org/adopt-a-tree.htmlCambridge, MA: https://www.cambridgema.gov/iwantto/adoptatreeLexington, KY: https://ufi.ca.uky.edu/adopt-a-treeMinneapolis, MN (get a free beer when you adopt!): http://www.brewingabetterforest.com/adopt-a-tree.htmlPinecrest, FL: https://www.pinecrest-fl.gov/our-village/green-initiatives/adopt-a-tree-programsFairview Park, OH: https://www.fairviewpark.org/service-department/adopt-a-tree/Stafford Township, NJ https://www.staffordnj.gov/418/Adopt-A-TreeIf your city has a tree planting program too, send it to us and we’ll add it to the list! Submit via our Listener Mail Form.Send us pictures of you hugging your saplings on Instagram and Twitter @how2saveaplanet.Learn How to Stop a Bird Murdering CatSpecial thanks to our guest: Matt FitzgeraldThis episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Anna Ladd. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Rachel Waldholz and Kendra Pierre-Louis. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music by Emma Munger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices