Local chapter of Fossil Free Movement at Northern Arizona University
Episode 96: Exploring Rachel Carson’s Life and The Divestment Movement
In this episode of Citizens’ Climate Radio, hosts Horace Mo and Erica Valdez bring together diverse voices to discuss current efforts to address climate change. Horace Mo speaks with Ann E. Burg, a celebrated author known for compelling historical novels for young readers, about her newly published novel, “Force of Nature–A Novel of Rachel Carson,“ which opens a new door for readers to experience the life of Carson, a well-known environmental pioneer in the U.S., by reading her field notes and Ann’s innovative writing.
Erica Valdez discusses the American fossil fuel divestment movement, highlighting the work of younger generations. She has a conversation with Aly Horton, another student taking the initiative to promote the fossil fuel divestment movement on their campus at Northern Arizona University.
In the Resilience Corner, Tamara Staton speaks on mastering the banjo and how this uniquely relates to addressing climate change. Finally, we have a Good News story from Peterson Toscano regarding South Africa’s energy supply.
Ann E. Burg Explores Rachel Carson’s Life
In this episode, author Ann E. Burg dives into her latest work, “Force of Nature.” This novel is inspired by Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking environmental book Silent Spring. It is beautifully illustrated by Sophie Blackall.
After World War II, DDT became a common pesticide in neighborhoods and farms; however, it had dire consequences for ecosystems, entering the food chain and harming various species. This alarming situation inspired Rachel Carson to write and publish her now-famous book, “Silent Spring”, in 1962. Ann E Burg tells us how Carson’s book “explored DDT but also started with a fable for tomorrow. It suggested what life would be like if spring came and no birds were there to sing.”
Ann E. Burg considers Rachel Carson a role model for her scientific rigor and environmental advocacy. Carson’s ability to illuminate the beauty and complexity of nature-inspired Burg to see the world differently. This novel, “Force of Nature,” is not merely a recounting of Carson’s life but an immersive experience of her world. Burg hopes readers will see the world through Carson’s eyes and appreciate the interconnectedness of all life.
About Ann E. Burg
Ann Burg
Ann E. Burg’s debut novel, “All the Broken Pieces,” was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Jefferson Cup award winner, and an IRA Notable Book for a Global Society, among its many honors. Her subsequent novels in verse have garnered multiple awards and starred reviews. “Serafina’s Promise” was named an ALA Notable, a Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner, and an NAACP Image Award finalist. “Unbound“ won the New York Historical Society Children’s History Book Prize, the Christopher Award, and an Arnold Adoff Poetry Honor. “Flooded–A Requiem for Johnstown” was a Bank Street College Claudia Lewis Award winner, a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book (with outstanding merit), and a Junior Library Guild selection. Before becoming a full-time writer, Burg worked as an English teacher for ten years. She lives in Rhinebeck, New York, with her family. To learn more about Ann E. Burg, visit her online at anneburg.com
The Student-Led Drive for Fossil Fuel Divestment
Erica Valdez discusses the fossil fuel divestment movement, highlighting the efforts on her campus, Northern Arizona University (NAU). Climate change is a human-caused phenomenon in which the fossil fuel industry plays a significant role. Erica dives into what divestment is and how it may be one of the most effective steps that institutions can take to slow climate change.
Erica invites Aly Horton, president of Fossil Free NAU, a student-led group demanding complete divestment. Aly explains the club’s efforts and goals to hold the university accountable to its environmental commitments.
Aly and Erica also discuss recent pushback from the university administration. Nevertheless, Fossil Free NAU remains determined to continue its mission because it is just a small chapter of an international movement. Although it may be difficult, many institutions have already divested from fossil fuels. Aly shares inspiring advice to organizers worldwide who are working towards divestment.
Listen Now!
Resilience Corner
For this month’s Resilience Corner, Tamara Staton draws parallels between her desire to master the banjo and the overwhelming task of addressing climate change. When practicing banjo, she faces common emotional barriers like fear, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and information overload. We also face these barriers when we talk about climate change. Tamara discusses why it is important to recognize these feelings, encouraging listeners to embrace imperfections and persistent efforts.
To learn more about building resilience in the face of climate challenges, visit the Resilience Hub. You can also email Tamara at radio @ citizensclimate.org or text or leave a message at 619-512-9646.
Good News!
Peterson Toscano shares a good news story from Limpopo Province, South Africa, where earlier this month he was staying in a game reserve. He reflects on the progress in South Africa’s energy sector since his previous stay, highlighting the severe scheduled power outages known as load-shedding issues caused by unreliable coal-powered plants. He notes that significant changes have occurred since President Cyril Ramaphosa raised the licensing threshold for private power generation, leading to over 1,000 registered renewable energy projects. These projects, primarily solar and wind, are now providing nearly 4,500 megawatts of new capacity, significantly reducing power outages and transforming the country’s energy landscape.
Take a Meaningful Next Step
Each month, we will suggest meaningful, achievable, and measurable next steps for you to consider. We recognize that action is an antidote to despair. If you are struggling with what you can do, visit our Action Page.
Listener Survey
We want to hear your feedback about this episode. After you listen, feel free to fill in this short survey. Your feedback will help us make new decisions about the show’s content, guests, and style. You can fill it out anonymously and answer whichever questions you like. You can also reach us by email: radio@citizensclimatelobby.org
Special Thanks to the following people and groups for the ways they promote us through social media: Robert D. Evans, Pete Marsh, Bill Nash, 1.5, EG Hibdon, Mats Söderlund, Justin D’Atri, and last month’s guest, Rob Hopkins.Earthbased.Soul, FCWC, CCL Alameda, Alaska, and the CCL Young Conservative Caucus.
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Production Team:
- Written and produced by Horace Mo, Erica Valdez, with assistance from Peterson Toscano.
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- Social Media Assistance: Flannery Winchester.
Music is provided by epidemicsound.com
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Read the Transcript
Episode 96: Exploring Rachel Carson’s Life and Our New Divestment Story
SPEAKERS
Erica Valdez, Horace Mo, Peterson Toscano, Aly Horton, Ann E Burg, Tamara Staton,
Horace Mo 00:02
Welcome to Citizens Climate Radio, your climate change podcast.
Erica Valdez 00:08
In the show, we highlight people’s stories, we celebrate your successes. And together we share strategies for talking about climate change.
Horace Mo 00:15
I am your co-host, Horace Mo.
Erica Valdez 00:18
And I’m your other co-host, Erica Valdez.
Horace Mo 00:21
Welcome to Episode 96 of Citizens Climate Radio, a project of Citizens Climate Education.
Erica Valdez 00:28
This episode is airing on Friday, June 28th 2024. Okay, listeners, so this is a very new setup that we’re used to.
Horace Mo 00:39
Yeah we’re both excited because we have completely written, produced, and our hosting this miles episode by ourselves.
Erica Valdez 00:49
Yeah, which is very different, but I’m super excited for it. We have a lot of great things in this episode, Horace. What are you most excited for?
Horace Mo 00:56
Oh wow. I mean, we just have so much great conten covering this episode. But you asked me that question, which one I’m most excited about. It’s going to be my interview with Ann E Berg. The interview is about any Berg’s book, Force of Nature.
Erica Valdez 01:12
Yeah, it’s a great story. I’m really excited to hear it.
Horace Mo 01:14
As usual, you’ll hear from Tamar Staten, who is the host of Resilience Corner.
Erica Valdez 01:20
To finish off today’s episode, I also brought a story about fossil fuel divestment, and how students are organizing and empowering themselves to get their university to divest. Coincidently, I talk a little bit about my group that I was involved in on my university campus, so stay tuned for that. I’m
Horace Mo 01:37
I’m on the same side with you Erica. Go divestment. So stay tuned for Erica’s port.
Horace Mo 01:47
When you hear a book named Silent Spring, who and what we think of right off the bat? For many the image of Rachel Carson will spontaneously pop up in your mind, right? However, we’re not only talking about Silent Spring or the life of Rachel Carson today. Instead, on today’s show, we have a special guest Ann E Berg. She’s a celebrated author known for her compelling historical novels for young readers. Her work explores themes of resilience, just as in the human spirit, making her a beloved voice in children’s literature. I met with Anne to talk about her recently published book Force of Nature. It is a verse novel that presents Rachel Carson’s view of the world and nature. Ann told me about DDT and how its effects inspired Rachel Carson to publish one of the most recognized environmental books Silent Spring.
Ann E Burg 02:56
During World War Two, there was a pesticide known as DDT that was used by the military to keep disease from spreading, that when the war was over. They brought that pesticide to neighborhoods and backyard gardens to get rid of bugs and to get rid of the pests in the farms. The use was so prevalent they were crazy using DDT. What they didn’t realize was that DDT sinks into the soil and lives under the soil. Soon it became part of our food chain, and that meant the worms were digesting it. And soon then the birds were digesting it. And soon, just about when Rachel was starting to think about her book, birds were falling from their nests with their claws splayed. Fish were dying, and it occurred to Rachel that if we didn’t get a grip on this, these species wouldn’t be the only ones to suffer from DDT. She wrote a book called Silent Spring which examines the effect of DDT on life, on nature. The book explained all of that explored DDT, but also started with a fable for tomorrow it suggested, what would life be like if spring came and no birds were there to sing?
Horace Mo 04:25
While the Silent Spring reveals nature’s woes and alerts people to stop using DDT and says she had a different purpose, right a Force of Nature. She wants to allow the audience to experience Rachel’s world through her eyes.
Ann E Burg 04:43
The beauty of Rachel Carson was that she didn’t see us as separate from nature. She sees people, humans, humankind as a part of nature.
Ann E Burg 05:00
Of course, she was sorry to leave the world. She looked to nature and saw that everything leaves the world and comes back in another way that gave her hope. She found her place in nature, she does still live on in her words, and in her thoughts and in the love she had for our planet. In Force of Nature, we’re not reading about Rachel Carson. We’re not learning that she grew up in Pennsylvania, this was the day in 1907. We’re not learning that. We are not learning about her. And we’re not learning about her world. We are experiencing her world. It was my way of experiencing the world through Rachel’s eyes, and through her experiences. And in this case, I wanted to say that here was an amazing person that grew up in his sheltered life and went on to change the world.
Horace Mo 06:05
After researching and knowing about Rachel Carson, Ann shared the deep impression that Rachel’s life and the work have left on her as a person, and as a writer,
Ann E Burg 06:15
She is a role model. I mean, she’s a scientist, she’s a writer, she’s an environmentalist, but most of all, she’s a role model for all of us to live our lives that way, and maybe to see the world that way. And maybe if we did see the world that way, we would treat nature and all of her creatures more kindly.
Ann E Burg 06:35
When I looked at life, that way, you see a puddle and you see a puddle, but there’s life teeming in that puddle. It’s like she lit a light in my mind. As beautiful as things are, we don’t know half of how beautiful things are, how beautiful things are in ways that we don’t see. In that way. She awakened something in me that had never existed before. I mean, I didn’t really think of that ever. I didn’t like biology, I didn’t like learning about frogs. There is nothing about that. That appealed to me. But when I saw it through her eyes, the fascination and also the connection she had that we are all connected, she’s changed how I see the world.
Horace Mo 07:22
Lastly, Ann generously read a small section for book to give us a sneak peek of a book and the lubricin optimistic and the inspiring message to the world.
Ann E Burg 07:35
A drop of pond water holds within it an unseen universe teeming with life microscopic creatures, water fleas, water worms and all types of larvae squiggled through the silky threads of underwater plants. There is so much to see and learn.
Ann E Burg 08:01
I would like to tell the whole world that we are lucky to live on such a beautiful place. It is imperative that each of us recognize we’re part of this world. We should take good care of it stop fighting and take care of beautiful planet.
Horace Mo 08:22
That was Ann E Burg reading from her novel Force of Nature. And he’s available wherever you get books, Angel reading force of nature, and I highly recommend you to get a copy of it. You will experience the mystery of nature’s Rachel Carson’s eyes. Learn more about Ann and her other books by visiting her website anneburg.com
Erica Valdez 09:11
Now I’m going to share a story of how students on university campuses are working towards a fossil free future. We know that climate change is a human-caused phenomenon, and that the effects are being felt by communities all over the world. We also hear about an infamous contributor to climate change the fossil fuel industry; although they’re known to be very harmful to the environment, fossil fuels have become a huge part of our lives. It’s not practical for every person to boycott fossil fuels, but there are other ways that we can become less reliant on them. One of these is complete divestment from fossil fuels.
Erica Valdez 09:48
So what is divestment? Simply put, divestment is the opposite of investment. Imagine you have money invested in companies like Shell, Exxon Mobil or Chevron, but you decide you don’t want to invest in them anymore. So you sell your stocks or assets. These companies profit by exploiting natural resources and accelerating climate change. So this movement calls for simply removing yourself as a shareholder in fossil fuel companies and companies that are fossil fuel intensive. Students and Northern Arizona University or any you are organizing and working towards a fossil-free future. Leading the initiative is a club called Fossil Free NAU or FFNAU. This chapter is just a small part of an international divestment movement. I decided to invite my good friend and president of Fossil Free NAU Aly Horton to talk more about the initiative.
Aly Horton 10:50
Fossil Free NEU has been around for several years back in 2014 is when there was the initial movement, which phased out a little bit and has on and off flourished throughout the time at NAU, but within the past two to three years that has been when the movement has really taken off and started to flourish to what it is today.
Erica Valdez 11:14
Ali also explains how and why FFNAU is holding the university accountable, and what actions were taking like drafting a letter to the board of the demands, and getting signatures from the students, staff, faculty and alumni.
Aly Horton 11:27
Fossil Free NAU’s demands of divestment would encourage any you to align their actions with their commitments, especially with their elevating excellence strategy, which includes the effective utilization of our financial resources with an emphasis and environmental stewardship. So with this, we are just encouraging them to actually commit to those commitments and follow through with their actions. Our demands to the NAU Foundation Board include the divestment from the top 200 coal, oil and gas reserve owners evaluate all carbon intensive companies for the existence and quality of a low-carbon transition plan. gather feedback from any use students, faculty, alumni and staff on priorities for socially responsible investment policy. And lastly, disclose endowment holdings and investment policy annually.
Erica Valdez 12:18
Unfortunately, there are also people who are fighting against these efforts this semester as a venue has faced some pushback from powerful administration. I told us a little bit about some recent events.
Aly Horton 12:29
In February Fossil Free NAU began strategizing who we wanted to reach out to to gain support on our letter to the NAU Foundation Board, we decided to reach out to the Faculty Senate of NAU. We had met with them initially in March for about 10 minutes, which resulted in them requesting for us to come back to further our discussion. We came back in April to discuss the letter again with the faculty members and the senators. However, we weren’t given an opportunity really to speak at this engagement they had allotted only 15 to 25 minutes initially on the agenda. However, they allowed the conversation to go over 35 minutes, but unfortunately the first 15 of that was taken by a representative from the NLU Foundation Board, which was unfortunate for us in our time and our voice as students. We were not given time to speak at this event.
Aly Horton 13:28
This event resulted in the Faculty Senate deciding to not sign on to our letter so we began strategizing what we wanted to do. We met later that night after the faculty senate meeting to discuss our actions which resulted in us writing a response to the faculty senate and began organizing to contact the NTU Foundation Board and Investment Committee. We’re hoping that they follow through with their open door policy that they said in that meeting and begin this conversation with us.
Erica Valdez 13:59
The signature would have been a great addition to the letter, but FFNAU is pushing through this challenge and continuing our mission to present the letter to the foundation board and then your future. FFNEU is an example of how groups are taking huge strides towards a fossil free future.
Erica Valdez 14:15
Complete fossil fuel divestment is a very difficult thing to accomplish in higher education or any institution. We may always rely on fossil fuels. But this group, along with countless others show the progress we’re making to become less reliant on them. 1000s of institutions have already divested over $40 trillion. Talk about progress. And in recent years, other universities have demanded for divestment as well, including New York, Boston, Cornell, Harvard, and the whole California State and University of California systems. For those starting divestment movements are facing similar struggles as FF NAU ally shares great advice about how we can keep moving forward and why this is so important.
Aly Horton 14:55
We recognize that staff members need to align with the school those missions safety and analysis of risk to protect their students. But they’re not doing that with their investments. By divesting, they’re taking power away from industries and corporations that are only perpetuating the climate crisis. divestment is an intersectional way to advocate divesting, not only from fossil fuels, but other carbon-intensive companies is protecting our planet in more ways than people realize that’s going to impact not only our generation but theirs and is currently it is currently impacting everyone on the planet. This movement is only growing because of the unfortunate impacts of climate change. Our movement is only going to continue to grow.
Aly Horton 15:41
As long as we continue to outreach, to educate and to be passionate about what we’re doing. I would suggest to new organizers to recognize their passion, look to others for help. And since this movement is intersectional there is so much community to be found in this issue because it overarching every issue and every person on this planet. People just need to realize that find that community and push on.
Horace Mo 16:18
Now it’s time for the resilience corner was Tamra Staden. Hi,
Tamara Staton 16:24
I’m Tamra Staton. CCL’s education and resilience coordinator. And this is resilient climatateering through unexpected Climate Connections. This isn’t a series about weather or science or graphs or data, though I do reference some of those from time to time. Instead, it’s a series about things that help us worry less and act more on climate explored through a lens of playful curiosity. Together, we’ll explore how to enjoy what matters so deeply so that we can be as effective as possible for as long as we’re needed.
Tamara Staton 16:57
Today’s topic is banjos and climate, two seemingly unrelated concepts that I care about deeply. But both of which, at times overwhelming. You and I likely have something in common. We’re both engaged in climate work and we want to do it well. I wonder though, do we also share a love of music, maybe you play an instrument? Maybe you sing, or consider yourself musically inclined in some way. Or maybe like me, you’d love to feel a sense of pride or confidence in your musical ability. Instead, I end up focusing on how I’d like to be better at banjo or taking action on climate.
Tamara Staton 17:44
I would love to be a good banjo player, a great banjo player for that matter. It would be so fun to play Dueling Banjos with my husband on guitar. I dream of kicking it like Kermit in the woods connecting rainbows. Every time I hear banjo in a song, I want to turn it up, Howard, I want to create those sounds, feel my fingers fly, and make people smile and dance. I feel like I’ve been a banjo beginner forever though, dipping every so often into intermediate. I practice my roles. I learned some songs, I get a taste of that competence even and then a dragon of fear and doubt steps in. I think I won’t ever be that good. So it’s really not worth trying.
Tamara Staton 18:25
I worry sometimes that we won’t ever solve climate change, so my actions aren’t going to matter. fear and doubt paralyze me. What are your dragons? What breathes fire into your face and shuts you down? In the face of good intentions? Is it anger? resentment? Overwhelmed? Maybe. There’s so many obstacles in the world hindering progress on climate action. Why do I also end up face-to-face with obstacles inside me? These feelings are common, and no, I’m not the only one. But why do we feel this way? Sometimes. Maybe it’s the scale of the challenge. Both mastering the banjo and tackling climate change are formidable tasks. The enormity of these challenges can make one’s efforts seem insignificant, leading to feelings of helplessness.
Tamara Staton 19:16
It could be perfectionism, the desire to achieve perfection can lead to constant self criticism and fear of making mistakes, which can paralyze progress. It might well be impostor syndrome. This is the feeling that one is not as competent as others perceive them to be leading to self doubt and fear of failure. What about the lack of immediate results? In both cases, results are not immediately visible. This delayed gratification can be discouraging, and lead to doubts about the effectiveness of one’s efforts. And there’s also social comparison. constantly comparing oneself to others who may seem more successful or effective, can amplify feelings of inadequacy and fear this especially true in the world of social media. And no doubt, it may have to do with information overload. With climate change the overwhelming amount of information, and the often dire predictions can lead to paralysis by analysis, and a sense of futility.
Tamara Staton 20:22
Does any of this sound familiar to you? Well, knowing about these underlying causes does not make the dragons go away. It does help to lessen their power over me. It affirms when I’m feeling that learning an instrument like the banjo is challenging. Taking on climate change is massive. I’m gonna mess up sometimes and play the wrong note, I might not see the results right away, and may get overwhelmed by the weight of it all. But that’s because I’m human. It’s normal to feel this way. It’s perfectly imperfect, just like you and me.
Tamara Staton 21:02
So in our next episode, I’ll dive into another set of unexpected Climate Connections. So unexpected, in fact that I’m not completely sure which direction to go.
Tamara Staton 21:12
Do you have any ideas, any Climate Connections you’d like me to dive into? I’m Tamra Staton with Resilience Corner, thank you for listening and for your commitment to progress. To learn more about tools, trainings, and resources for staying strong. Through the climate challenge, check out our resilience hub at CCL usa.org Ford slash resilience. And until next month, remember this, find your passion, let it guide you, and you’ll do amazing things for the world.
Erica Valdez 21:48
Thank you, Tamara, do you have questions for Tamara. She’s very happy to consider your resilience questions, conundrums, and suggestions. Do send an email to radio at citizens climate.org That’s radio at citizens climate.org or text us at 619-512-9646.
Horace Mo 22:08
The resilience corner is made possible with Tamra Staton, education and resilience coordinator for Citizens Climate Education, the resiliency Hub website is CCO usa.org/resilience.
22:48
Hi there I’m Peterson Toscano. And our good news story is from South Africa. Actually, I’m coming to you from Limpopo Province in the north of the country. At the moment, I’m at my in-laws house, which is located right in the middle of a game reserve that was recorded outside but I need to keep my eyes open in case a lion or an elephant passes by. And I am not kidding. Horace and Erica, thank you so much for all the hard work you’ve done on this episode, so that I could travel to be here with my family.
Peterson Toscano 23:23
I arrived in South Africa curious to know how things were going in the energy sector. In June 2020 to two years ago, my husband Glen and I left the country after living here for 18 months. Because not enough energy was generated to supply power to all the homes and businesses in the country. We routinely experienced daily power outages.
Peterson Toscano 23:48
Here in South Africa, they call the scheduled outages load shedding the state run energy company, Eskom turned off the power for a municipality for two hours at a time. Sometimes they did this four times a day. As you can imagine, Eskom became a dirty word. Everyone I knew loaded an app that alerted us when we could expect the power cuts.
Peterson Toscano 24:16
But I hoped that loadshedding would soon become a thing of the past. South Africa is rich in sunshine and wind. Many homes like my inlaws already have solar panels or solar water heaters; wind and solar are the smartest ways to get the country off of the unreliable coal powered energy supply. They need to break away from failing power plants and instead turn to cleaner alternatives to fill in the gaps.
Peterson Toscano 24:45
In 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa made a groundbreaking announcement. He raised the licensing threshold for private power generation from one megawatt to 100 megawatts. This change opened the door for significant private investment in renewable energy projects. Fast forward to today, June 2024, over 1000 private power generation projects have been registered. These projects contribute nearly 4500 megawatts of new capacity. This surge in private power driven primarily by solar and wind energy is helping to reduce the frequency of power outages and lessen the burden on Eskom.
Peterson Toscano 25:34
In fact, in over three weeks here, we have not experienced a single bit of loadshedding. This may be in part because I arrived just during the election season. But even after the elections, the power has stayed on. significant investments in renewable energy are transforming the energy landscape in South Africa and bringing cleaner, more reliable power to homes and businesses across the country.
Peterson Toscano 26:06
Do you have a good news story you want to share from your own community? Let us know about it contact us by email. The email address is radio at citizens climate.org That’s radio at citizens climate.org.
Peterson Toscano 26:31
Over the last month many of you have shared our posts on social media and more people have joined us on social media. Here are some people and organizations that have shown us some love. Thank you to Robert D. Evans, Pete Marsh Bill Nash 1.5, EG Hibdon, Mats Söderlund, Justin D’Atri, and last month’s guest, Rob Hopkins. Earthbased.Soul, FCWC, and CCL Alameda, Alaska, And the CCL Young Conservative Caucus. Thank you so much for reposting and sharing our content with your followers.
Peterson Toscano 27:15
And we welcome some new social media followers. Hello to Mary Francis, Wendy Bayer and Bill Buffington. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and TikTok. We also have a listener voicemail line where you can leave us a message that we could play on the next episode. The number is 619-512-9646 plus one if you’re calling from outside the USA, that number again 619-512-9646. And now back to Erica and Horace and I think I’m about to go for a game drive. See you next month.
Horace Mo 28:08
Thank you for joining us for episode 96 of Citizens Climate Radio.
Erica Valdez 28:13
If you like what you hear, and you want to support the work that we do, visit CitizensClimateEducation.org To learn how you can make a tax-deductible contribution.
Horace Mo 28:23
Here at a Citizens Climate Education will want you to be effective in the climate work you do. So we provide training, local group meetings and many resources. They’re all designed to help you build the confidence and skills needed to pursue climate solutions. Find out how you can learn and grow and connect with others who are engaged in a meaningful work. Visit CCL usa.org. That’s CCO usa.org.
Erica Valdez 28:55
We want to hear your feedback about this episode. After you listen feel free to fill out a short survey. You will find a link to the survey in our show notes or just email me radio at Citizens Climate lobby.org Citizens Climate Radio is written and produced by Peterson Toscano, Horace Moe and Eric about this other technical support from Ricky Bradley and Brett cease social media assistance from Flannery Winchester and moral support from Madeline Para.
Horace Mo 29:21
The music on today’s show comes from epidemicsound.com. Please share Citizens Climate Radio with your friends and colleagues. You can find Citizens Climate Radio wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners suggest program ideas and respond to programs in the Citizens Climate Radio Facebook group from x previously know on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok at climate change podcast. Visit CCL usa.org/radio. To see our show notes and find links to our guests. Citizens Climate Radio. He’s a project of Citizens Climate Education
The post Episode 96: Exploring Rachel Carson’s Life and The Divestment Movement appeared first on Citizens' Climate Lobby.
Episode 96: Exploring Rachel Carson’s Life and The Divestment Movement
Greenhouse Gases
DeBriefed 27 February 2026: Trump’s fossil-fuel talk | Modi-Lula rare-earth pact | Is there a UK ‘greenlash’?
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Absolute State of the Union
‘DRILL, BABY’: US president Donald Trump “doubled down on his ‘drill, baby, drill’ agenda” in his State of the Union (SOTU) address, said the Los Angeles Times. He “tout[ed] his support of the fossil-fuel industry and renew[ed] his focus on electricity affordability”, reported the Financial Times. Trump also attacked the “green new scam”, noted Carbon Brief’s SOTU tracker.
COAL REPRIEVE: Earlier in the week, the Trump administration had watered down limits on mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants, reported the Financial Times. It remains “unclear” if this will be enough to prevent the decline of coal power, said Bloomberg, in the face of lower-cost gas and renewables. Reuters noted that US coal plants are “ageing”.
OIL STAY: The US Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments brought by the oil industry in a “major lawsuit”, reported the New York Times. The newspaper said the firms are attempting to head off dozens of other lawsuits at state level, relating to their role in global warming.
SHIP-SHILLING: The Trump administration is working to “kill” a global carbon levy on shipping “permanently”, reported Politico, after succeeding in delaying the measure late last year. The Guardian said US “bullying” could be “paying off”, after Panama signalled it was reversing its support for the levy in a proposal submitted to the UN shipping body.
Around the world
- RARE EARTHS: The governments of Brazil and India signed a deal on rare earths, said the Times of India, as well as agreeing to collaborate on renewable energy.
- HEAT ROLLBACK: German homes will be allowed to continue installing gas and oil heating, under watered-down government plans covered by Clean Energy Wire.
- BRAZIL FLOODS: At least 53 people died in floods in the state of Minas Gerais, after some areas saw 170mm of rain in a few hours, reported CNN Brasil.
- ITALY’S ATTACK: Italy is calling for the EU to “suspend” its emissions trading system (ETS) ahead of a review later this year, said Politico.
- COOKSTOVE CREDITS: The first-ever carbon credits under the Paris Agreement have been issued to a cookstove project in Myanmar, said Climate Home News.
- SAUDI SOLAR: Turkey has signed a “major” solar deal that will see Saudi firm ACWA building 2 gigawatts in the country, according to Agence France-Presse.
$467 billion
The profits made by five major oil firms since prices spiked following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago, according to a report by Global Witness covered by BusinessGreen.
Latest climate research
- Claims about the “fingerprint” of human-caused climate change, made in a recent US Department of Energy report, are “factually incorrect” | AGU Advances
- Large lakes in the Congo Basin are releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from “immense ancient stores” | Nature Geoscience
- Shared Socioeconomic Pathways – scenarios used regularly in climate modelling – underrepresent “narratives explicitly centring on democratic principles such as participation, accountability and justice” | npj Climate Action
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured

The constituency of Richard Tice MP, the climate-sceptic deputy leader of Reform UK, is the second-largest recipient of flood defence spending in England, according to new Carbon Brief analysis. Overall, the funding is disproportionately targeted at coastal and urban areas, many of which have Conservative or Liberal Democrat MPs.
Spotlight
Is there really a UK ‘greenlash’?
This week, after a historic Green Party byelection win, Carbon Brief looks at whether there really is a “greenlash” against climate policy in the UK.
Over the past year, the UK’s political consensus on climate change has been shattered.
Yet despite a sharp turn against climate action among right-wing politicians and right-leaning media outlets, UK public support for climate action remains strong.
Prof Federica Genovese, who studies climate politics at the University of Oxford, told Carbon Brief:
“The current ‘war’ on green policy is mostly driven by media and political elites, not by the public.”
Indeed, there is still a greater than two-to-one majority among the UK public in favour of the country’s legally binding target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, as shown below.

Steve Akehurst, director of public-opinion research initiative Persuasion UK, also noted the growing divide between the public and “elites”. He told Carbon Brief:
“The biggest movement is, without doubt, in media and elite opinion. There is a bit more polarisation and opposition [to climate action] among voters, but it’s typically no more than 20-25% and mostly confined within core Reform voters.”
Conservative gear shift
For decades, the UK had enjoyed strong, cross-party political support for climate action.
Lord Deben, the Conservative peer and former chair of the Climate Change Committee, told Carbon Brief that the UK’s landmark 2008 Climate Change Act had been born of this cross-party consensus, saying “all parties supported it”.
Since their landslide loss at the 2024 election, however, the Conservatives have turned against the UK’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050, which they legislated for in 2019.
Curiously, while opposition to net-zero has surged among Conservative MPs, there is majority support for the target among those that plan to vote for the party, as shown below.

Dr Adam Corner, advisor to the Climate Barometer initiative that tracks public opinion on climate change, told Carbon Brief that those who currently plan to vote Reform are the only segment who “tend to be more opposed to net-zero goals”. He said:
“Despite the rise in hostile media coverage and the collapse of the political consensus, we find that public support for the net-zero by 2050 target is plateauing – not plummeting.”
Reform, which rejects the scientific evidence on global warming and campaigns against net-zero, has been leading the polls for a year. (However, it was comfortably beaten by the Greens in yesterday’s Gorton and Denton byelection.)
Corner acknowledged that “some of the anti-net zero noise…[is] showing up in our data”, adding:
“We see rising concerns about the near-term costs of policies and an uptick in people [falsely] attributing high energy bills to climate initiatives.”
But Akehurst said that, rather than a big fall in public support, there had been a drop in the “salience” of climate action:
“So many other issues [are] competing for their attention.”
UK newspapers published more editorials opposing climate action than supporting it for the first time on record in 2025, according to Carbon Brief analysis.
Global ‘greenlash’?
All of this sits against a challenging global backdrop, in which US president Donald Trump has been repeating climate-sceptic talking points and rolling back related policy.
At the same time, prominent figures have been calling for a change in climate strategy, sold variously as a “reset”, a “pivot”, as “realism”, or as “pragmatism”.
Genovese said that “far-right leaders have succeeded in the past 10 years in capturing net-zero as a poster child of things they are ‘fighting against’”.
She added that “much of this is fodder for conservative media and this whole ecosystem is essentially driving what we call the ‘greenlash’”.
Corner said the “disconnect” between elite views and the wider public “can create problems” – for example, “MPs consistently underestimate support for renewables”. He added:
“There is clearly a risk that the public starts to disengage too, if not enough positive voices are countering the negative ones.”
Watch, read, listen
TRUMP’S ‘PETROSTATE’: The US is becoming a “petrostate” that will be “sicker and poorer”, wrote Financial Times associate editor Rana Forohaar.
RHETORIC VS REALITY: Despite a “political mood [that] has darkened”, there is “more green stuff being installed than ever”, said New York Times columnist David Wallace-Wells.
CHINA’S ‘REVOLUTION’: The BBC’s Climate Question podcast reported from China on the “green energy revolution” taking place in the country.
Coming up
- 2-6 March: UN Food and Agriculture Organization regional conference for Latin America and Caribbean, Brasília
- 3 March: UK spring statement
- 4-11 March: China’s “two sessions”
- 5 March: Nepal elections
Pick of the jobs
- The Guardian, senior reporter, climate justice | Salary: $123,000-$135,000. Location: New York or Washington DC
- China-Global South Project, non-resident fellow, climate change | Salary: Up to $1,000 a month. Location: Remote
- University of East Anglia, PhD in mobilising community-based climate action through co-designed sports and wellbeing interventions | Salary: Stipend (unknown amount). Location: Norwich, UK
- TABLE and the University of São Paulo, Brazil, postdoctoral researcher in food system narratives | Salary: Unknown. Location: Pirassununga, Brazil
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
The post DeBriefed 27 February 2026: Trump’s fossil-fuel talk | Modi-Lula rare-earth pact | Is there a UK ‘greenlash’? appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Greenhouse Gases
Analysis: Constituency of Reform’s climate-sceptic Richard Tice gets £55m flood funding
The Lincolnshire constituency held by Richard Tice, the climate-sceptic deputy leader of the hard-right Reform party, has been pledged at least £55m in government funding for flood defences since 2024.
This investment in Boston and Skegness is the second-largest sum for a single constituency from a £1.4bn flood-defence fund for England, Carbon Brief analysis shows.
Flooding is becoming more likely and more extreme in the UK due to climate change.
Yet, for years, governments have failed to spend enough on flood defences to protect people, properties and infrastructure.
The £1.4bn fund is part of the current Labour government’s wider pledge to invest a “record” £7.9bn over a decade on protecting hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses from flooding.
As MP for one of England’s most flood-prone regions, Tice has called for more investment in flood defences, stating that “we cannot afford to ‘surrender the fens’ to the sea”.
He is also one of Reform’s most vocal opponents of climate action and what he calls “net stupid zero”. He denies the scientific consensus on climate change and has claimed, falsely and without evidence, that scientists are “lying”.
Flood defences
Last year, the government said it would invest £2.65bn on flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) schemes in England between April 2024 and March 2026.
This money was intended to protect 66,500 properties from flooding. It is part of a decade-long Labour government plan to spend more than £7.9bn on flood defences.
There has been a consistent shortfall in maintaining England’s flood defences, with the Environment Agency expecting to protect fewer properties by 2027 than it had initially planned.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has attributed this to rising costs, backlogs from previous governments and a lack of capacity. It also points to the strain from “more frequent and severe” weather events, such as storms in recent years that have been amplified by climate change.
However, the CCC also said last year that, if the 2024-26 spending programme is delivered, it would be “slightly closer to the track” of the Environment Agency targets out to 2027.
The government has released constituency-level data on which schemes in England it plans to fund, covering £1.4bn of the 2024-26 investment. The other half of the FCERM spending covers additional measures, from repairing existing defences to advising local authorities.
The map below shows the distribution of spending on FCERM schemes in England over the past two years, highlighting the constituency of Richard Tice.

By far the largest sum of money – £85.6m in total – has been committed to a tidal barrier and various other defences in the Somerset constituency of Bridgwater, the seat of Conservative MP Ashley Fox.
Over the first months of 2026, the south-west region has faced significant flooding and Fox has called for more support from the government, citing “climate patterns shifting and rainfall intensifying”.
He has also backed his party’s position that “the 2050 net-zero target is impossible” and called for more fossil-fuel extraction in the North Sea.
Tice’s east-coast constituency of Boston and Skegness, which is highly vulnerable to flooding from both rivers and the sea, is set to receive £55m. Among the supported projects are beach defences from Saltfleet to Gibraltar Point and upgrades to pumping stations.
Overall, Boston and Skegness has the second-largest portion of flood-defence funding, as the chart below shows. Constituencies with Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs occupied the other top positions.

Overall, despite Labour MPs occupying 347 out of England’s 543 constituencies – nearly two-thirds of the total – more than half of the flood-defence funding was distributed to constituencies with non-Labour MPs. This reflects the flood risk in coastal and rural areas that are not traditional Labour strongholds.
Reform funding
While Reform has just eight MPs, representing 1% of the population, its constituencies have been assigned 4% of the flood-defence funding for England.
Nearly all of this money was for Tice’s constituency, although party leader Nigel Farage’s coastal Clacton seat in Kent received £2m.
Reform UK is committed to “scrapping net-zero” and its leadership has expressed firmly climate-sceptic views.
Much has been made of the disconnect between the party’s climate policies and the threat climate change poses to its voters. Various analyses have shown the flood risk in Reform-dominated areas, particularly Lincolnshire.
Tice has rejected climate science, advocated for fossil-fuel production and criticised Environment Agency flood-defence activities. Yet, he has also called for more investment in flood defences, stating that “we cannot afford to ‘surrender the fens’ to the sea”.
This may reflect Tice’s broader approach to climate change. In a 2024 interview with LBC, he said:
“Where you’ve got concerns about sea level defences and sea level rise, guess what? A bit of steel, a bit of cement, some aggregate…and you build some concrete sea level defences. That’s how you deal with rising sea levels.”
While climate adaptation is viewed as vital in a warming world, there are limits on how much societies can adapt and adaptation costs will continue to increase as emissions rise.
The post Analysis: Constituency of Reform’s climate-sceptic Richard Tice gets £55m flood funding appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Analysis: Constituency of Reform’s climate-sceptic Richard Tice gets £55m flood funding
Greenhouse Gases
Cropped 25 February 2026: Food inflation strikes | El Niño looms | Biodiversity talks stagnate
We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter.
Subscribe for free here.
Key developments
Food inflation on the rise
DELUGE STRIKES FOOD: Extreme rainfall and flooding across the Mediterranean and north Africa has “battered the winter growing regions that feed Europe…threatening food price rises”, reported the Financial Times. Western France has “endured more than 36 days of continuous rain”, while farmers’ associations in Spain’s Andalusia estimate that “20% of all production has been lost”, it added. Policy expert David Barmes told the paper that the “latest storms were part of a wider pattern of climate shocks feeding into food price inflation”.
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NO BEEF: The UK’s beef farmers, meanwhile, “face a double blow” from climate change as “relentless rain forces them to keep cows indoors”, while last summer’s drought hit hay supplies, said another Financial Times article. At the same time, indoor growers in south England described a 60% increase in electricity standing charges as a “ticking timebomb” that could “force them to raise their prices or stop production, which will further fuel food price inflation”, wrote the Guardian.
‘TINDERBOX’ AND TARIFFS: A study, covered by the Guardian, warned that major extreme weather and other “shocks” could “spark social unrest and even food riots in the UK”. Experts cited “chronic” vulnerabilities, including climate change, low incomes, poor farming policy and “fragile” supply chains that have made the UK’s food system a “tinderbox”. A New York Times explainer noted that while trade could once guard against food supply shocks, barriers such as tariffs and export controls – which are being “increasingly” used by politicians – “can shut off that safety valve”.
El Niño looms
NEW ENSO INDEX: Researchers have developed a new index for calculating El Niño, the large-scale climate pattern that influences global weather and causes “billions in damages by bringing floods to some regions and drought to others”, reported CNN. It added that climate change is making it more difficult for scientists to observe El Niño patterns by warming up the entire ocean. The outlet said that with the new metric, “scientists can now see it earlier and our long-range weather forecasts will be improved for it.”
WARMING WARNING: Meanwhile, the US Climate Prediction Center announced that there is a 60% chance of the current La Niña conditions shifting towards a neutral state over the next few months, with an El Niño likely to follow in late spring, according to Reuters. The Vibes, a Malaysian news outlet, quoted a climate scientist saying: “If the El Niño does materialise, it could possibly push 2026 or 2027 as the warmest year on record, replacing 2024.”
CROP IMPACTS: Reuters noted that neutral conditions lead to “more stable weather and potentially better crop yields”. However, the newswire added, an El Niño state would mean “worsening drought conditions and issues for the next growing season” to Australia. El Niño also “typically brings a poor south-west monsoon to India, including droughts”, reported the Hindu’s Business Line. A 2024 guest post for Carbon Brief explained that El Niño is linked to crop failure in south-eastern Africa and south-east Asia.
News and views
- DAM-AG-ES: Several South Korean farmers filed a lawsuit against the country’s state-owned utility company, “seek[ing] financial compensation for climate-related agricultural damages”, reported United Press International. Meanwhile, a national climate change assessment for the Philippines found that the country “lost up to $219bn in agricultural damages from typhoons, floods and droughts” over 2000-10, according to Eco-Business.
- SCORCHED GRASS: South Africa’s Western Cape province is experiencing “one of the worst droughts in living memory”, which is “scorching grass and killing livestock”, said Reuters. The newswire wrote: “In 2015, a drought almost dried up the taps in the city; farmers say this one has been even more brutal than a decade ago.”
- NOUVELLE VEG: New guidelines published under France’s national food, nutrition and climate strategy “urged” citizens to “limit” their meat consumption, reported Euronews. The delayed strategy comes a month after the US government “upended decades of recommendations by touting consumption of red meat and full-fat dairy”, it noted.
- COURTING DISASTER: India’s top green court accepted the findings of a committee that “found no flaws” in greenlighting the Great Nicobar project that “will lead to the felling of a million trees” and translocating corals, reported Mongabay. The court found “no good ground to interfere”, despite “threats to a globally unique biodiversity hotspot” and Indigenous tribes at risk of displacement by the project, wrote Frontline.
- FISH FALLING: A new study found that fish biomass is “falling by 7.2% from as little as 0.1C of warming per decade”, noted the Guardian. While experts also pointed to the role of overfishing in marine life loss, marine ecologist and study lead author Dr Shahar Chaikin told the outlet: “Our research proves exactly what that biological cost [of warming] looks like underwater.”
- TOO HOT FOR COFFEE: According to new analysis by Climate Central, countries where coffee beans are grown “are becoming too hot to cultivate them”, reported the Guardian. The world’s top five coffee-growing countries faced “57 additional days of coffee-harming heat” annually because of climate change, it added.
Spotlight
Nature talks inch forward
This week, Carbon Brief covers the latest round of negotiations under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which occurred in Rome over 16-19 February.
The penultimate set of biodiversity negotiations before October’s Conference of the Parties ended in Rome last week, leaving plenty of unfinished business.
The CBD’s subsidiary body on implementation (SBI) met in the Italian capital for four days to discuss a range of issues, including biodiversity finance and reviewing progress towards the nature targets agreed under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
However, many of the major sticking points – particularly around finance – will have to wait until later this summer, leaving some observers worried about the capacity for delegates to get through a packed agenda at COP17.
The SBI, along with the subsidiary body on scientific, technical and technological advice (SBSTTA) will both meet in Nairobi, Kenya, later this summer for a final round of talks before COP17 kicks off in Yerevan, Armenia, on 19 October.
Money talks
Finance for nature has long been a sticking point at negotiations under the CBD.
Discussions on a new fund for biodiversity derailed biodiversity talks in Cali, Colombia, in autumn 2024, requiring resumed talks a few months later.
Despite this, finance was barely on the agenda at the SBI meetings in Rome. Delegates discussed three studies on the relationship between debt sustainability and implementation of nature plans, but the more substantive talks are set to take place at the next SBI meeting in Nairobi.
Several parties “highlighted concerns with the imbalance of work” on finance between these SBI talks and the next ones, reported Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB).
Lim Li Ching, senior researcher at Third World Network, noted that tensions around finance permeated every aspect of the talks. She told Carbon Brief:
“If you’re talking about the gender plan of action – if there’s little or no financial resources provided to actually put it into practice and implement it, then it’s [just] paper, right? Same with the reporting requirements and obligations.”
Monitoring and reporting
Closely linked to the issue of finance is the obligations of parties to report on their progress towards the goals and targets of the GBF.
Parties do so through the submission of national reports.
Several parties at the talks pointed to a lack of timely funding for driving delays in their reporting, according to ENB.
A note released by the CBD Secretariat in December said that no parties had submitted their national reports yet; by the time of the SBI meetings, only the EU had. It further noted that just 58 parties had submitted their national biodiversity plans, which were initially meant to be published by COP16, in October 2024.
Linda Krueger, director of biodiversity and infrastructure policy at the environmental not-for-profit Nature Conservancy, told Carbon Brief that despite the sparse submissions, parties are “very focused on the national report preparation”. She added:
“Everybody wants to be able to show that we’re on the path and that there still is a pathway to getting to 2030 that’s positive and largely in the right direction.”
Watch, read, listen
NET LOSS: Nigeria’s marine life is being “threatened” by “ghost gear” – nets and other fishing equipment discarded in the ocean – said Dialogue Earth.
COMEBACK CAUSALITY: A Vox long-read looked at whether Costa Rica’s “payments for ecosystem services” programme helped the country turn a corner on deforestation.
HOMEGROWN GOALS: A Straits Times podcast discussed whether import-dependent Singapore can afford to shelve its goal to produce 30% of its food locally by 2030.
‘RUSTING’ RIVERS: The Financial Times took a closer look at a “strange new force blighting the [Arctic] landscape”: rivers turning rust-orange due to global warming.
New science
- Lakes in the Congo Basin’s peatlands are releasing carbon that is thousands of years old | Nature Geoscience
- Natural non-forest ecosystems – such as grasslands and marshlands – were converted for agriculture at four times the rate of land with tree cover between 2005 and 2020 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Around one-quarter of global tree-cover loss over 2001-22 was driven by cropland expansion, pastures and forest plantations for commodity production | Nature Food
In the diary
- 2-6 March: UN Food and Agriculture Organization regional conference for Latin America and Caribbean | Brasília
- 5 March: Nepal general elections
- 9-20 March: First part of the thirty-first session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) | Kingston, Jamaica
Cropped is researched and written by Dr Giuliana Viglione, Aruna Chandrasekhar, Daisy Dunne, Orla Dwyer and Yanine Quiroz.
Please send tips and feedback to cropped@carbonbrief.org
The post Cropped 25 February 2026: Food inflation strikes | El Niño looms | Biodiversity talks stagnate appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Cropped 25 February 2026: Food inflation strikes | El Niño looms | Biodiversity talks stagnate
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