Cool Solutions: Stories of climate action from the bottom up

We need all hands on deck for this climate emergency and we don't mean just changing what you buy. We tell stories about people coming together for clean energy, sustainable food, zero emission transportation, and more.

The Battle for a Climate Friendly Farm Bill 08/15/2023

The Battle for a Climate Friendly Farm Bill This year's Farm Bill will determine whether US agriculture cuts its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. Republicans want to divert $20 billion away from agricultural climate solutions. Farmers who've adopted these practices say they increase soil carbon and climate resilience. We hear stories from farmers about compost, cover crops, prescribed grazing, and more. Sustainable agriculture advocates Renata Brillinger of the California Climate and Agriculture Network and Erik Kamrath from the Union of Concerned Scientists advise us what to tell our Congresspeople. (It's simple). /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/27754920

This Is My Home: Women whup petrochemical giant 07/09/2023

This Is My Home: Women whup petrochemical giant The David who fought Goliath had two sisters. This is the modern day story about two women taking on a giant. They started alone, standing up against a huge multinational petrochemical corporation, and won. Diane Wilson, a fisherwoman from Seadrift Texas, won the largest ever penalty in a citizen clean water lawsuit, defending her bay from plastic pollution. Sharon Lavigne of St James Parish, Louisiana, stopped the same company, Formosa Plastics, from building the largest petrochemical plant in the world in her small Black community. This is an updated story first broadcast in 2021 /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/27408783

Reviving Repair 06/11/2023

Reviving Repair When we fix what we have, we reduce emissions, and strengthen communities. 80% of the carbon pollution from our laptops, cell phones, and appliances is embodied carbon, emitted before we even open the box. A return to repair means changing our culture and challenging corporate monopoly. We have stories about a repair cafe in Chicago and a coalition of Minnesota techies and farmers who overcame corporate lobbies to win passage of the nation's strongest Right to Repair law. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/27108213

Decarbonizing Based on Need, not LEED 05/11/2023

Decarbonizing Based on Need, not LEED 80% of the buildings that will be here in 2050 are already here, producing 30% of our greenhouse gas emissions. Uber sustainable new construction is cool, but the big carbon reductions will come from electrifying old buildings. Chicago plans to retrofit 80,000 homes in the next 7 years. A research collaboration between the city, community organizations, a utility, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is working out a plan that will minimize emissions, maximize justice and lower peoples' energy bills. The results convinced me that, at least in Chicago, it's far better to eliminate fossil fuel heating in lots of homes than to spend the same amount of money completely decarbonizing a lesser number. We need to do it all eventually, but this is the way to make big change fast. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/26809944

Out of Gas, In with Justice 04/11/2023

Out of Gas, In with Justice A pilot study replacing gas stoves with induction stoves in a public housing building in the South Bronx did the expected and decreased indoor air pollution. Two unexpected discoveries were the popularity of the induction stoves and that the building's old wiring could only deliver enough juice to replace stoves in a fraction of the apartments. Replacing all the gas stoves with induction stoves and the building's broken boiler with heat pumps will require an expensive electrical upgrade. To avoid those costs in the future, NYCHA used its purchasing power to get manufacturers to build heat pumps which use less electricity, plug into 110 outlets and install easily in their buildings' windows. Contributors: Story: Annie Carforo, Michelle Feliciano, Vlada Keniff, Mary Rivera, Angela Morales Music: Scott Holmes, Kevin McLeod, Maarten Schellekins, Jason Shaw, and Jahzzar /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/26505018

An E-bike Loaves and Fishes Tale: From 13 bikes to 13,000 03/11/2023

An E-bike Loaves and Fishes Tale: From 13 bikes to 13,000 "When I read in 2020 that Colorado ran a pilot program to give away just 13 e-bikes, I scoffed. What difference could that possibly make? Now I have to eat my bike helmet." - Wendy Ring, Cool Solutions Producer and Host. Turns out that mini-pilot laid the foundation for Denver's wildly successful e-bike program by proving that e-bikes cut car trips and emissions and that low income folks want to ride them. Denver's program became the model for a statewide program. That "e" also stands for equity, as removing economic barriers to bikes builds pressure to address unsafe streets in low income neighborhoods. Guests: Christian Willis, Colorado Energy Office Rachel Hultin, Bicycle Colorado Frieda Mitchell & Darnell Robinson, Can Do CO participants Mike Salisbury Denver Office of Climate Action Sustainability and Resilience Ash Lovell, People for Bikes /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/26196249

Throwing Shade: Some crops thrive under solar panels 02/11/2023

Throwing Shade: Some crops thrive under solar panels With growing conflicts over solar development on farm land, dual use may provide middle ground and enough income to help small farmers keep farming. That's how Byron Kominek found himself putting a solar garden on one of his hay fields and hosting teams of agrivoltaic researchers. Colorado farmers Byron Kominek and Liza McConnell and Jordan Macknick, head of agrivoltaic research at the National Renewable Energy Lab, find some crops grow better and use less water with solar shade than in direct sun. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/25896519

Community Owned Solar 01/15/2023

Community Owned Solar Meet a retiree in rural OR and a group of millennials in WA who are spreading community owned solar projects across their states. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/25610559

A Garment Worker Victory: Slowing Fast Fashion, Part 2 12/11/2022

A Garment Worker Victory: Slowing Fast Fashion, Part 2 A small group of garment workers, tired of factory wage theft, organized and won passage of a law that makes fashion brands responsible for unpaid wages. Hourly pay went from a shameful $5 an hour to a minimum of $15 an hour. Now a similar bill is going to Congress. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/25287705

It's Getting Hot, Let's Wear Less Clothes: Slowing Fast Fashion, Part 1 11/11/2022

It's Getting Hot, Let's Wear Less Clothes: Slowing Fast Fashion, Part 1 Part One of a mini-series exploring potential pathways to a sustainable garment industry. We explore some routes to slow fashion: restoring regional wool production in Pennsylvania, curbside pickup of used clothes in Massachusetts, second hand clothes, and raising garment worker wages /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/24977664

Citizens Beat Utilities in Battle for Clean Energy 10/10/2022

Citizens Beat Utilities in Battle for Clean Energy A Michigan environmental justice coalition is putting the "public" back in their state's Public Service Commission; closing coal plants, stopping new gas plants, and elevating the welfare of low income communities. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/24646782

Fox in the Henhouse: Getting Oily Hands Off Climate Research 08/05/2022

Fox in the Henhouse: Getting Oily Hands Off Climate Research For decades university departments, liberally lubricated with fossil fuel dollars, have been turning out research that adds a scholarly veneer to the industry's policy agenda. First that was opposing the regulation of oil and gas; now it's promoting carbon capture so they can keep selling their product. Students and faculty are shining a light on fossil fuel infiltration of academia and organizing to ban fossil fuel dollars from climate and energy research. We talk with undergrads and PhD students at Stanford and George Washington University about their research showing how fossil fueled research is skewing climate policy and how they are organizing to stop it. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/23942421

Solar Cooperatives Bridge Partisan Divide 08/05/2022

Solar Cooperatives Bridge Partisan Divide Solar coops bridge the partisan divide, raising panels on rooftops and building a broad movement to transform our energy system. Solar United Neighbors provides the technical know how, community groups do the organizing, and together they're removing the practical and political barriers to a clean energy transition. It's a movement which brings together conservatives and progressives and they're winning battles against powerful utilities. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/23965614

When One Door Closes: Climate action post-SCOTUS 07/10/2022

When One Door Closes: Climate action post-SCOTUS With federal climate policy blocked by Congress and the Supreme Court, we look at opportunities to advance climate action at state and local levels. Caroline Spears explains how the Climate Cabinet uses big data to find pivotal elections and help pro climate candidates win. Nathaniel Stinnett of the Environmental Voter Project explains why state and local elections are a great opportunity for the climate movement to strengthen its political muscle. And we meet Lauren Kuby, who the Climate Cabinet is supporting in her race for the AZ Corporation Commission, which regulates the state's utility monopolies. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/23701235

Irresistible Force Beats Immovable Object: Harvard (finally) Divests 06/11/2022

Irresistible Force Beats Immovable Object: Harvard (finally) Divests What did it take to get the wealthiest university in the world to break ties with the fossil fuel industry? 9 years and the combined force of students, faculty, and alumni engaged in everything from scholarly debate, to civil disobedience, to legal action. In the end, Harvard's divestment was most likely due to fear of having its own reputation besmirched by association with an already stigmatized fossil fuel industry. Students, faculty, and alumni tell their stories. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/23394575

Inter-Tribal Electric Highway Greens Rural Charging Desert 05/11/2022

Inter-Tribal Electric Highway Greens Rural Charging Desert The inter-tribal charging network will connect upper midwest reservations with jobs, opportunities, healing, and each other. Project leaders Robert Blake of Native Sun (Red Lake Ojibwe) and Joseph McNeill of SAGE (Standing Rock Sioux) talk about connections: to environmental and economic justice, clean energy, eagles, dreams, and more. We explore other barriers to rural EV adoption with Matt Fitzgibbon of the Tri States Electrical Cooperative. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/23079932

Clean Trucks Coalition Puts Pedal to the Metal 04/10/2022

Clean Trucks Coalition Puts Pedal to the Metal Activists accelerate states' switch to clean big rigs. A story about the power of coming together and speaking out for climate and justice. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/22743911

Old Docs Take New Patient: The Climate 03/10/2022

Old Docs Take New Patient: The Climate Bill McKibben launches new climate group for seniors. Doctors devoting their retirement years to climate action talk about what motivates them and how they found their place in the movement. Their activities range from registering low income patients to vote to getting arrested over pipelines. Bill McKibben introduces Third Act, a new climate organization for seniors, and explains why this demographic is key to climate action. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/22410326

Farewell to Factory Farms 02/11/2022

Farewell to Factory Farms We talk with former contract farmers for Tyson, Perdue, and Pilgrim's Pride; the founder of a farmers' cooperative that outperforms Big Meat by a mile, and an animal welfare organization turning chicken houses into grow houses. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/22100516

New Year's Pledge Helps Millions Eat Healthier 01/11/2022

New Year's Pledge Helps Millions Eat Healthier Two January diet challenges are remarkably effective at enticing people to try (and keep eating) more plant based meals. A 31 day vegan pledge gives our co-hosts a push to try new things. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/21745895

Got Methane? 12/12/2021

Got Methane? We take a deep dive into dairy digesters: their impact on farms, climate, and communities; and the intersections between Big Gas, Big Ag, and government programs which are driving their proliferation. To get to the bottom of this complex topic, we had to talk to a lot of people. Storytellers: John Hanselman -Vanguard Renewables Natasha Duarte -Composting Association of Vermont Brenda Platt- Institute for Local Self Reliance Mary Beth Kirkham- KSU Professor of Agronomy J Jordan-Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability Rebecca Wolf- Food and Water Watch Mike McCully- The McCully Group Maria Payan -Socially Responsible Agriculture Project. Part 2 of a mini-series within a series on food and agriculture /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/21453959

When in Vermont, Watch Where You Throw Your Apple Core 11/11/2021

When in Vermont, Watch Where You Throw Your Apple Core In Vermont it's now illegal to throw your apple core in the trash. Vermont's Universal Recycling Law aka "the landfill ban" went into effect last year. It cuts landfill methane by diverting food to feed the hungry and the soil, as well as banning other recyclables. How did they do that? How is it going? What does it matter where that apple decomposes? A soil scientist, 2 farmer-composters, the head of Vermont's Food Cycle Coalition and the guy in charge at the state will tell you. Storytellers: Tom Gilbert-organic farmer, Black Dirt Farm Josh Kelly-Chief of Materials Management for Vermont's Department of Environmental Conservation Chuck Wooster, organic farmer, Sunrise Farm Sintana Vergara- Assistant Professor Environmental Engineering, Humboldt State University Natasha Duarte- Food Cycle Coalition, Composting Association of Vermont /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/21136799

Kiss Your Gas Goodbye 10/12/2021

Kiss Your Gas Goodbye An innovative community energy center, cities with natural gas bans, and a crusading HVAC contractor are all on a mission to electrify our homes. To be zero carbon by 2050, we have to start now and retrofit millions of buildings each year. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/20787308

Is Your Money Fueling Wildfires? 09/11/2021

Is Your Money Fueling Wildfires? There's a movement to close accounts at big Wall Street banks and move money to smaller banks with better values. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/20438798

Playing For Answers 08/12/2021

Playing For Answers Most folks don't want to get down and nerdy about climate solutions, but what if we could make it fun? Co host Wendy Ring decides to make a game. She talks with a climate scientist, a professional game designer and a mechanical engineer who are each designing other climate games, to get previews and explore how games could mobilize players into action. Co host Brian Curtis joins a group playing Wendy's game and hilarity ensues. /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/20116601

You Don't Have to be Rich to Drive Electric 07/11/2021

You Don't Have to be Rich to Drive Electric Sliding scale electric car shares and rising numbers of used EVs are making them more accessible. A startup is answering the question: How good is that used EV battery? /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/19775057

When Barricades Don't Spell Safety 06/11/2021

When Barricades Don't Spell Safety Slow Streets barricades triggered trauma in Black East Oakland. Activists get city to address dangerous intersections instead. Brytanee Brown, Marquita Price, Warren Logan /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/19439573

Saving COVID's Car Free Streets 05/11/2021

Saving COVID's Car Free Streets Personal stories from 3 activists fighting to preserve slow and car free streets in San Francisco. A little known federal manual is keeping streets car-centric while pedestrians and cyclists die in record numbers. While activists battle for improvements block by block, Pete Buttigieg has a chance to rewrite the whole book and spur nationwide transformation. So far, he's going with the Trump version. Find out what you can do. Storytellers: Activists Matt Brezina, Peter Belden, and Olivia Gamboa; Mike McGinn of America Walks, and Meredith Glaser of the Urban Cycling Institute /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/19069097

Funding Cool Communities 04/11/2021

Funding Cool Communities 3 stories about the power of community to raise and multiply funding for climate action. A town taxes itself for free transit. Communities crowdfund for composting (and more). A Green Bank spurs 400 MW of solar. Storytellers: Robert Pollin-Political Economy Research Institute, Clark Gilman- Mayor ProTem Olympia WA Ann Freeman Manzanares- InterCity Transit, Abe Salorio- Sustainable CT, Bryan Garcia- Connecticut Green Bank /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/18682292

Land for New Farmers 03/11/2021

Land for New Farmers There's a lot of farmland about to change hands. We can make sure it's distributed fairly to good stewards. This show looks at agricultural land trusts and conservation easements aimed at helping young and under-resourced farmers get access to land, and at the history of Black land loss and the Justice for Black Farmers Act. We also explore an anti trust provision in that land grant bill that would break up consolidation in the meat packing industry. Storytellers: Holly Ripon Butler, National Young Farmers Coalition Suzan Erem, Sustainable Iowa Land Trust Jordan Clasen, Grade A Gardens Farm Michelle Sheehan, Rhode Island Farm Land Access Program Savi Horne, North Carolina Black Land Loss Prevention Project Austin Frerick, Thurman Arnold Project 00:58 Young farmers need land 03:05 Sustainable Iowa Land Trust 10:37 One farmer's SILT story 14:37 Rhode Island buys farm land to save it. 17:23 A history of Black land loss 20:16 The USDA "the last plantation" 22:30 Justice for Black Farmers Act 23:16 Carver and Whatley: Regenerative pioneers 24:18 Breaking up meat packer monopolies /episode/index/show/coolsolutions/id/18277196

Cool Solutions: Stories of climate action from the bottom up

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