Wendy Ring, Climate Radio Producer And Podcaster

"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 …

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 Macknic…

Meet a retiree in rural OR and a group of millennials in WA who are spreading community owned solar projects across their states.

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.

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

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.

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 f…

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 tog…

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 an…

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 bes…

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 o…

Activists accelerate states' switch to clean big rigs. A story about the power of coming together and speaking out for climate and justice.By Wendy Ring

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 organ…

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.By Wendy Ring

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 -Comp…

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 decompos…

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.

There's a movement to close accounts at big Wall Street banks and move money to smaller banks with better values.By Wendy Ring

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 act…

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?

Slow Streets barricades triggered trauma in Black East Oakland. Activists get city to address dangerous intersections instead. Brytanee Brown, Marquita Price, Warren Logan

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 transf…

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 …

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…

Meet the women defending their Texas and Louisiana communities from petrochemical pollution; in the courtroom, on the water, and in the streets.

When Teaneck NJ Girl Scouts saw pictures of birds tangled in plastic bags, they got to work and sparked a movement that led to the strongest state plastic ban in the US. This is an engaging story about how big change happens when local efforts add up; with side trips into the chemistry of plastics, the importance of plankton poop, and comics as a m…

Food hubs are not just for foodies. These homegrown networks provide markets for farmers moving beyond corn,soy, and CAFOs to regenerative modes of farming. This past spring, when supply chains failed, those lifelines kept communities fed. Founders of two Virginia food hubs tell their stories.

How do we turn farming from climate pollution to climate solution? In Part 1 of this mini-series we learn how changes in farming and ranching could remove gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere. A carbon farmer and rancher tell their stories and we begin our search for ways to spread these farming innovations across the country. First we talk with …

You don't need solar panels to be part of greening the grid. Our refrigerators, hot water heaters, and air conditioners can shift energy use to when the sun is shining and decrease the need for fossil fuel.

Climate and science super PACs are a donor's best bet for getting climate leaders elected to public office. While 50% of direct progressive campaign contributions go to waste, these super PACs focus resources where they can do the most good, training and supporting climate candidates. We talk with RL Miller of Climate Hawks Vote, Shaunessy Naughton…

There are millions of Americans who care deeply about climate change but rarely cast their ballots. A home-based army of volunteers is changing that. The Environmental Voter Project and Vote Forward both target and motivate these infrequent voters. Their founders, Nathaniel Stinnett and Scott Forman, explain how this began, why it's working, and ho…

The best way to store more carbon in forests is to stop cutting down big trees. Families own more US forest land than timber companies or the government. A new program pays them not to log their big trees and to help new trees grow.

Reclaim Our Vote volunteers are sending millions of postcards to people purged from voting rolls in recent years, often in error and without their knowledge. NextGen America's young organizers look for ways to find and register young voters online while campuses are closed by the pandemic.

Salt marshes absorb carbon and blunt climate impacts but we must heal them before they can protect us. Local governments, non profits, and volunteers are racing sea level rise to get it done.

Climate conscious cooks turn discards into delicacies.

Future hot streets will fry more than eggs and solutions won't come on their own. Los Angeles is using its streets as laboratories to test out new cool pavements.

Two men treat their fear of climate change by sharing it with their entire cities. They got their towns of Hoboken and Gainesville to declare a climate emergency. We hear the stories of their journeys from anxiety to activism, and explore the psychology of climate apathy and the limits of asking nicely.…

For the 3 out of 4 Americans who can't put solar panels on their roofs, community solar gardens are a way to save money now and be part of building our clean energy future. When Minnesota enacted policy to promote solar gardens, it became the national leader, unleashing 600 megawatts of community solar development, but obstacles persist in parts of…

The solar cooperative movement began with two teenagers going door to door in their neighborhood in Washington DC. Their work grew into a national organization helping neighbors around the country go solar together, and building a grassroots movement for clean energy for all. Solar United Neighbors works alongside community organizations, providing…

Vermont's ultra rural Northeast Kingdom and small towns in Sonoma County California find that fare free is the way to go. It's filling bus seats; connecting residents to jobs, healthcare, education, shopping, and social opportunities; and even enticing drivers out of their cars.

You don't have to be an extrovert to do something big for the planet. Food Rescue US is a smartphone app developed by a pastor and a programmer that harnesses our collective good intentions to solve the difficult problem of food waste. The app connects businesses and farms with food to donate, agencies feeding the hungry, and volunteers into effici…

Health researchers are planting 8000 trees in Louisville, one of the fastest warming cities in the US, in an effort to discover why trees appear to prevent heart disease. We talk with members of the research team from the University of Louisville, the City of Louisville's urban forester, the Nature Conservancy, and Louisville Grows, a local group w…

Our own preconceptions of who is "on our side" and the mistaken idea that we are alone may be one of the biggest obstacles to climate action. That's the big takeaway from this story about how neighbors, longshoremen, small businesspeople, tribes and environmentalists in Washington State got together and stopped a massive oil by rail terminal. Linda…

Story of how residents of South Portland Maine, a town of 25,000, stopped the export of tar sands from their port. We follow the story from a few people in a living room to overflow attendance at city council and the council's vote to ban tar sands and stand firm against Big Oil's lawsuit. Moving testimony by children, grandparents, fishermen and o…

Solar streetlights are hyperlocal clean energy that can help US cities survive extreme weather events and break free of utility monopolies. We visit 3 cities where solar street lights do a fine job lighting the streets, but also do much more. In a struggling rustbelt city, they're a beacon of hope for sustainable development. In a high end housing …

How many people does it take to change what runs a city's light bulbs? In Norman Oklahoma and Hanover New Hampshire, they started with 12 and ended up with everyone. Adrienne Gautier, Janna Horn and Judi Colla talk about organizing "for" instead of "against", and tell how they got their towns to vote unanimously for 100% clean energy. We talk with …

We already have too much parking. Getting rid of requirements to build more is something any town can do. It cuts carbon, boosts business, and helps affordable housing. Here's the story of 2 cities that did it. Matthew Petty, a city councilman in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Nadine Marrero, Director of Planning and Zoning for the City of Buffalo tal…

Transit expansion leads to gentrification so often that some folks have started calling new light rail, the "Gentrification Train". A community land trust in Denver takes land near new stations permanently off the market and turns it into affordable housing. .