sea change radio

As The World Burns: Talking Oil With Daniel Dicker

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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.

Tzeporah Berman on COP25

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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.

Gigi Berardi: Eating Well, Eating Wisely

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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.

John Stoehr: Evangelicals and the Orange Menace

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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.

Phil Ting: Policies for Clean Cars and Recycling

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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.

Sammy Roth: Salton Sea Lithium

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If you follow tech news, it’s pretty hard to miss stories reminding us of the tremendous potential that lithium-ion batteries have in store for the world – longer times to gaze into our dazzling new smartphones  and longer distances to travel in our cutting-edge electric cars without a charge. And yet, most of us probably don’t think too much about the environmental cost of mining all of this lithium. In Australia and South America where 80-90 percent of the world’s raw lithium comes from, the extraction process is dirty and energy intensive.

Ben Ehrenreich: PG&E and the Nasty Side of Capitalism

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There’s a quote often attributed, perhaps incorrectly, to the great economist John Maynard Keynes that “Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all.” The absurdity of this notion is being played out in real time in the form of smoke-filled air and rolling blackouts in Northern California, courtesy of the state’s largest monopoly, Pacific, Gas & Electric, better known as PG&E.

Helen Mountford: The US Leaves Paris

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For years, climate denialists put forth the narrative that it would cripple the US economy to sign on to international climate agreements like the Kyoto Protocol. They said that other major carbon emitting countries like India and China needed to be on board in order for the US to join. It's clear now, however, that this narrative was always just a smokescreen. The Trump Administration is pulling the US out of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which notably does include India and China, and is an historic accord representing more than 87% of global greenhouse gas emitters.

Carter Rubin: Traffic in Transition

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Do you ever find yourself driving down a familiar street and suddenly encounter an unfamiliar right turn only sign that diverts all traffic off your intended route? The changing landscape of your city’s streets may be disconcerting and inconvenient, but there’s usually a fair amount of thought and intentional planning behind those changes. This week on Sea Change Radio, we learn about how transportation planning can limit car traffic and even improve socioeconomic equity.

Amazon Update With Christian Poirier

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Over the past fifty years, around 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed, according to the World Wildlife Fund, but as this week’s guest on Sea Change Radio explains, with fires and deforestation out of control, the situation could get even worse before we see any significant improvement. We speak to Christian Poirier of Amazon Watch to get a clearer picture of this largely man-made disaster in Brazil. While some steps to control the fires have been made recently by the Brazilian government, rampant deforestation continues unabated.

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