Last week’s storm gave Boston a little taste of the bitter circumstances in Puerto Rico.  We ask how the island can be rebuilt in a sustainable model, especially with the departure of Whitefish Energy Holdings. On a different island, New Zealand considers offering a home to climate refugees. Back in Boston, we consider the implications of a hurricane in Boston proper. Listen in.

Hard to believe that Hurricane Sandy was five years ago this week. On today’s podcast, we discuss how the devastation from that storm broke the media silence on climate change—and the media seesaw we have been on since then. We celebrate the technical advances in solar and wind power, which have marched forward despite the political obstacles. Ever vigilant toward the continued tragedy in Puerto Rico, we examine the renewable energy access provided to the American protectorate by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla; and dissect the sketchy deal happening with Whitefish Energy Holdings out of Montana. On an optimistic note, we turn toward the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) in Massachusetts and its recent discussions to reduce transportation emissions. Governor Charlie Baker will be holding listening sessions—an excellent opportunity for climate hawks to have their ideas heard!

How should we react to the present and future devastation of climate change, and our President’s abject failure to act? What should we do to maintain our spirit and drive? While we mangle a few quotes on the way, it seems Alice Walker sums it up saying “Activism is the rent I pay to live on the planet.” There are no easy answers, but we discuss. What do you think?

What is the “necessity defense,” why does it matter, and how is under threat? On the flip side, how concerned should we be about the rising popularity of companies using federal racketeering laws to silence opponents?

Eversource  is reported to have manipulated natural gas markets, restricting the use of existing pipelines even as they have argued that we need to build more pipelines. What gives? At the same time, Boston is vying for the prize of Amazon’s new headquarters. What would the arrival of another corporate behemoth mean for the clean and sustainable development of our city?  Listen in as we contemplate the implications!

Hurricane Maria slammed into the island of Puerto Rico, an American protectorate, a few weeks ago. While it is no longer making the top news headlines, the island is still in profound distress. Over fifty percent of the people are without clean water and eighty to ninety percent lack electricity for basic needs, let alone communication via cellphones or news access.

The malevolent administrator of the EPA announced his intent to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan with a different plan that he will dream up at a later date. Listen in as we discuss. 

This week, two heartening events occurred. The Boston City Council approved a plan for the city to buy its power under a ‘community aggregation’ model that will allow the use of green energy. Also, auto behemoth General Motors has committed to an all electric future. Listen in!

Question: What do the Las Vegas shooting and this season’s hurricanes have in common? Answer: It is always too soon to discuss the ‘politics’ until it is too late to bother. The common refrain to ‘be sensitive to the victims’ following disasters needs to be challenged. In the immediate aftermath of these events, we can and should focus on the causes and possible responses.  One way to do that is to propose bold new ideas, and allow them to move to the mainstream of our national discussion. Listen in!

We take a deep dive on a recent controversial article in Nature Geoscience. It suggests that we have more time and thus a more realistic chance of keeping global temperatures in check. While climate deniers are holding the article up as proof that environmentalists exaggerate the concern over climate science, it turns out—the concern and urgency is still very real.