Why Help on Forever Chemicals is Taking… Forever
The Defender
On this episode, some real hope that a bipartisan solution for state PFAS funding is at hand -- and the industry that is coming in at the last minute to try to kill it. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Erik Kanter, Government Relations Director, Clean Wisconsin Resources for You:
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What did the EPA just do?
The Defender
In this episode, how new action from the EPA is undermining one of the most successful environmental laws in US history. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Nick Mailloux, PhD Student, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Resources for You:
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How Caledonia WI Defeated a Data Center
The Defender
In this episode, how a small Wisconsin community stood up to one of the most powerful companies in the world… and won. And what we can all learn from their fight. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Prescott Balch, Village of Caledonia resident Resources for You:
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What to know about PFAS pesticides
The Defender
On this episode a look what could be sprayed on food and farm fields all around us - plus a bit of Wisconsin history that offers some hope as we confront a new batch of toxic chemicals. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Sara Walling, Clean Wisconsin Water & Agency Program Director Resources for You:
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Goodbye Grocery Store?
The Defender
Meet the Wisconsin native who is foraging 100% of his food. What was the last thing you foraged? Maybe some ramps, or morels? But what about your salt, oil, even toothpaste? On this episode, meet the Wisconsin native who is setting out to prove that he can not only survive for an entire year eating only food he has foraged, but he can also help show the true connection to nature most of us have been missing. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Robin Greenfield, Sustainability Advocate, Ashland Wis. native Resources for You:
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Hey Tech Companies, Your Gas is Showing!
The Defender
Don't look at the gas plant behind the curtain! If you feel like tech companies and energy utilities are gaslighting you with their assurances that AI data centers won't hurt our environment, you're probably right. In this episode, how AI is causing a fossil fuel boom in Wisconsin and the lawsuit just filed to try and stop it. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guests: Katie Nekola, General Cousnel, Clean Wisconsin Ciaran Gallagher, Climate & Air Manager, Clean Wisconsin Resources for You:
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Who's Really Paying for Data Centers?
The Defender
You may have heard, Wisconsin needs more power and we need it fast. In the next few years, AI data centers will cause an unprecedented surge in energy demand across our state. There are already large expensive new powerplants being built to help meet that demand with more to come. But the big question is, will Wisconsinites be left shouldering the cost? In this episode, the shocking energy needs of AI, why our power companies are rolling out the red carpet, and the lasting environmental and economic harms that could be left in the wake. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Tom Content, Citizens...
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How to protect the planet by doing nothing
The Defender
What if you could make a difference in the fight to protect our environment by doing nothing at all? In this episode, why fall is the perfect time to be lazy - for the planet. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Elizabeth Braat, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Resources for You:
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Wisconsin's Forbidden Fruit
The Defender
The amazing story of one Wisconsin food that was banned, burned, disappeared from our plates - and the comeback that's being helped along by solar farms. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Lily Hislop, Savanna Institute Resources for You:
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Data Center Secrets
The Defender
A Clean Wisconsin analysis shows just two approved data centers in Wisconsin will use more power than all the homes in our state combined. More than the generation capacity of the Point Beach nuclear plant, the single-largest source of power in Wisconsin. And that leaves a lot of people are wondering, where is all this leading us? What will it mean for Wisconsin’s precious water resources, our land, our energy bills? And why is it so hard to find out? In this episode, an in-depth conversation on the secrets of data centers. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Michael Greif, Midwest Environmental...
info_outlineMany farmers are choosing to integrate solar panels into their fields. Now a new analysis shows that decision can impact a lot more than energy costs and the climate. Putting solar panels on conventional farmland can actually change the environment where those panels are located--for the better.
Host: Amy Barrilleaux
Guest: Dr. Paul Mathewson, Clean WIsconsin
Resouces for You:
Integrating solar into conventional farmland can restore soil health, provide habitat for native pollinators and improve water quality by reducing sediment and fertilizer runoff into nearby waterways.
According to Clean Wisconsin’s Solar Farm Impact Analysis:
- Solar farms that replace conventional row crops like corn and soybeans reduce sediment and phosphorus pollution runoff into nearby lakes, rivers and streams by 75-95%.
- When deep-rooted, perennial vegetation is planted among the panels, solar farms can increase soil carbon sequestration by 65%, and improve overall soil health.
- Planting perennial vegetation among the panels also improves wildlife habitat compared to existing cropland, including a 300% improvement in habitat quality for pollinators, which are in steep decline.
- Solar farms produce 100 times more net energy per acre than corn grown for ethanol and are a far more efficient use of land. To meet net-zero carbon emissions, Wisconsin only needs about 200,000 acres of land for solar, or about 15% of the 1.5 million acres of land currently devoted to ethanol production in our state.
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Analysis: Solar farms produce 100 times more energy than corn grown for ethanol