A Matter of Degrees

This episode is a collaboration between A Matter Of Degrees [http://degreespod.com] and the Gimlet podcast How To Save A Planet [https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet]. Take a look at many of the spaces where climate-related decisions are being made — from government to business to media — and you'll notice a numbers problem. Despite being roughly half the people on the planet, women rarely have equal representation in critical climate decision-making spaces. This isn’t just bad for women. It’s bad for everyone. In this episode, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson (our host) and Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (host of Spotify's How To Save A Planet)  take a deep dive into the data behind this idea. They speak with two sociologists about how gender inequality in climate leadership can deepen the harmful impacts of climate change, and also hinder policy changes. They also speak with someone who has seen firsthand how women can transform an entire nation when they lead on climate. This episode features Dr. Christina Ergas, Anne Karpf, and Wanjira Mathai. Resources: * We Do’s Gender Climate Tracker [https://www.genderclimatetracker.org/?blm_aid=31065088] * Emily's List (an organization that helps Democratic women and non-binary people run for office) [https://emilyslist.org/] * Higher Heights (invests in Black women’s leadership) [https://www.higherheightsleadershipfund.org/] * She The People (focused on helping women of color run for office) [https://www.shethepeople.org/] * Matriarch (focused on helping progressive women run for office) [https://www.matriarchpac.com/] * She Should Run (helps women regardless of political affiliation) [https://www.sheshouldrun.org/] * Global Witness (organization that assists environmental defenders) [https://www.globalwitness.org/en/?gclid=CjwKCAjw-sqKBhBjEiwAVaQ9axReABBfC6Ux_MkO7gCUVGwlOY71OZF9LayiJE8PZyV-Qtvd3R3VhRoC57AQAvD_BwE] Follow our co-hosts and production team: * Leah Stokes [https://twitter.com/leahstokes] * Katharine Wilkinson [https://twitter.com/DrKWilkinson] * Stephen Lacey [https://twitter.com/Stphn_Lacey] * Jaime Kaiser [https://twitter.com/jparrisk] * Dalvin Aboagye [https://twitter.com/dalvinandhobbes?s=09] A Matter of Degrees is a production ofPost Script Audio. [https://postscriptaudio.com/]For more episodes,visit our website [https://www.degreespod.com/].

In the jungles of the Brazilian Amazon, groups of farmers and their families get by on what they can grow with the land beneath their feet. They're known in Brazil as “landless workers,” a social movement with the goal of increasing land access and ownership for the country’s rural poor. These landless workers -- sometimes called land guardians or protectors -- are a symbol for the power imbalances that have destroyed the Amazon. Atmos [https://atmos.earth/] Climate Editor Yessenia Funes brings us a story about one landless worker named Fernando dos Santos Araújo. In 2017, Fernando witnessed the massacre of his fellow landless workers on a small farm in Pará, Brazil. His story illustrates the violent tactics that the government and wealthy landowners use to protect their power. This episode features Ana Aranha, [https://twitter.com/anaranha?lang=en] a documentary filmmaker in Brazil, and Ivi Oliveira [https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/ivi-oliveira] from the nonprofit Frontline Defenders. Resources: * The Print Version Of Yessenia’s Story [https://atmos.earth/brazil-land-defenders-fernando-dos-santos-araujo-massacre/] * Frontline Defenders [https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en] * Global Witness 2020 Environmental and Land Defenders Report [https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/last-line-defence/] * The Frontline [https://atmos.earth/topic/environmental-justice-newsletter-frontline/], Yessenia’s bi-weekly newsletter Follow our co-hosts and production team: * Leah Stokes [https://twitter.com/leahstokes] * Katharine Wilkinson [https://twitter.com/DrKWilkinson] * Stephen Lacey [https://twitter.com/Stphn_Lacey] * Jaime Kaiser [https://twitter.com/jparrisk] * Dalvin Aboagye [https://twitter.com/dalvinandhobbes?s=09] A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio. [https://postscriptaudio.com/] For more episodes, visit our website [https://www.degreespod.com/].

This episode is a collaboration between A Matter Of Degrees [http://degreespod.com] and the Gimlet podcast How To Save A Planet. [https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet] Coal-fired power plants are closing at record rates. But many are still scheduled to remain operational for the foreseeable future -- despite losing lots of money every year. How do we shut these uneconomic coal plants down faster? One answer: coal debt securitization. Coal debt securitization is like refinancing a mortgage. States across the country are considering policies that would make it easier for owners of coal-fired power plants to restructure their debt. In this episode, A Matter Of Degrees Host Leah Stokes and How To Save A Planet Host Alex Blumberg team up to explore how securitization would work -- and why utilities are getting behind it. This episode features Ashok Gupta [https://www.nrdc.org/experts/ashok-gupta], a Senior Energy economist for the Natural Resources Defense Council and Jason Klindt [https://twitter.com/jaklindt], the Senior Director Of Government Affairs for Evergy. Follow our co-hosts and production team: * Leah Stokes [https://twitter.com/leahstokes] * Katharine Wilkinson [https://twitter.com/DrKWilkinson] * Stephen Lacey [https://twitter.com/Stphn_Lacey] * Jaime Kaiser [https://twitter.com/jparrisk] * Dalvin Aboagye [https://twitter.com/dalvinandhobbes?s=09] A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio. [https://postscriptaudio.com/] For more episodes, visit our website [https://www.degreespod.com/].

Since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed in 2015, banks and large investors have dumped $3.8 trillion [https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/24/how-much-the-largest-banks-have-invested-in-fossil-fuel-report.html] into fossil fuels. It's a staggering number. This is why writer and activist Bill McKibben calls money [https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/money-is-the-oxygen-on-which-the-fire-of-global-warming-burns] the "oxygen" that fuels the fire of global warming. While the wildfires burning around the world are getting worse each year, it’s like the world's bankers are blowing on those fires, making them even bigger. For this episode, we have a story about two people who are trying to cut off that supply of oxygen to global lenders and the insurance companies backing them. It comes from our executive editor, Stephen Lacey. We’ll hear from Ulf Erlandsson [https://twitter.com/UlfErlandsson], founder and chief executive of a non-profit called the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute. Ulf is a former bond trader who calls out deals in corporate and government lending that would be a disaster for the climate. He’s helping bond traders “short” these bad investments. We’ll also hear from Elana Sulakshana [https://twitter.com/esulakshana], an energy finance campaigner with the Rainforest Action Network, about why insurance companies are enabling trillions of dollars to pour into new fossil fuel infrastructure. Resources: * Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute [https://anthropocenefii.org/] * Stop the Money Pipeline [https://stopthemoneypipeline.com/] * Banking on Climate Chaos report [https://www.ran.org/bankingonclimatechaos2021/] * Insure Our Future climate scorecard [https://insurance-scorecard.com/] Follow our co-hosts and production team: * Leah Stokes [https://twitter.com/leahstokes] * Katharine Wilkinson [https://twitter.com/DrKWilkinson] * Stephen Lacey [https://twitter.com/Stphn_Lacey] * Jaime Kaiser [https://twitter.com/jparrisk] * Dalvin Aboagye [https://twitter.com/dalvinandhobbes?s=09] A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio. [https://postscriptaudio.com/] For more episodes, visit our website. [https://www.degreespod.com/]

Advocates are turning their attention to a new front in the climate war: the fossil-gas hookups in our homes that fuel burners, boilers, and other household appliances. If we want to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we need to electrify the hundreds of millions of machines inside our homes and buildings as fast as possible. But the gas industry won’t go down without a fight. Gas industry front groups are infiltrating neighborhood groups, hiring social media influencers, and barraging citizens with messages in order to stir up controversy around local bans on new fossil gas connections. That’s exactly what happened to the residents of Santa Barbara, California last year. This week, we'll hear from activists, reporters, and industry professionals who are following the gas industry’s battle to keep fossil fuels in our homes. How far will gas companies go to stop electrification? And where does the electrification movement stand? Leah Stokes speaks with Sierra Club's Santa Barbara Chapter Chair Katie Davis [https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-davis-7110a71/]; EarthJustice Senior Attorney Matt Vespa [https://earthjustice.org/about/staff/matt-vespa]; Earther Staff Writer Dharna Noor [https://kinja.com/dharnanoor]; and Former BlocPower Senior Strategist Associate Rose Stephens-Booker [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rose-stephens-booker/]. Resources: * RMI research [https://rmi.org/indoor-air-pollution-the-link-between-climate-and-health/] on the dangers of gas stoves * Dharna Noor on why gas is so problematic [https://gizmodo.com/gas-stoves-are-the-scariest-thing-in-the-kitchen-1845467748] in our homes * Saul Griffith on electrifying everything [https://blog.usejournal.com/one-billion-machines-48a7c3cf0694], starting now Follow our co-hosts and production team: * Leah Stokes [https://twitter.com/leahstokes] * Katharine Wilkinson [https://twitter.com/DrKWilkinson] * Stephen Lacey [https://twitter.com/Stphn_Lacey] * Jaime Kaiser [https://twitter.com/jparrisk] * Dalvin Aboagye [https://twitter.com/dalvinandhobbes?s=09] A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio. [https://postscriptaudio.com/] For more episodes and transcripts, visit our website [https://www.degreespod.com/].