Ep. 8 - (Solar) Power to the People with Elizabeth Yeampierre

A People's Climate is Nominated for a Webby!

🗳️VOTE FOR A PEOPLE’S CLIMATE HERE 🗳️ https://wbby.co/57463N [https://link.webbyawards.com/e/c/eyJlbWFpbF9pZCI6ImRnU2o5UW9MQUktNjF3T091dGNEQVoxRUF2aC0tNmwtX3hRbGg2WV9aUT09IiwiaHJlZiI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd2JieS5jby81NzQ2M04_dXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPXdlYmJ5MzBfbm9taW5lZWFubm91bmNlbWVudF8wMzMxXHUwMDI2dXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbFx1MDAyNnV0bV9zb3VyY2U9Y2lvIiwiaW50ZXJuYWwiOiJhM2Y1MGE4MTAyZGU2ZjhmYmFkNzAzIiwibGlua19pZCI6MzUwNjR9/f82f4fdd169865a995b1875096083e31b08d5ef0632955b2d6e61d10aedf7d50] Be sure to confirm your vote via email for it to count. A People’s Climate is a top 5 Webby Award nominee (out of 13K+ entries) in the Sustainability & Environment category. And it’s an extremely tight race for the People’s Voice Award — which is decided entirely by public vote.  We’re currently in 2nd place by just 1% point, so every vote counts. If you support independent media and care about the climate, please cast a vote for A People’s Climate. It takes less than 30 seconds. Voting closes at midnight PDT on Thursday.  We are grateful for your support! https://wbby.co/57463N [https://link.webbyawards.com/e/c/eyJlbWFpbF9pZCI6ImRnU2o5UW9MQUktNjF3T091dGNEQVoxRUF2aC0tNmwtX3hRbGg2WV9aUT09IiwiaHJlZiI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd2JieS5jby81NzQ2M04_dXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPXdlYmJ5MzBfbm9taW5lZWFubm91bmNlbWVudF8wMzMxXHUwMDI2dXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbFx1MDAyNnV0bV9zb3VyY2U9Y2lvIiwiaW50ZXJuYWwiOiJhM2Y1MGE4MTAyZGU2ZjhmYmFkNzAzIiwibGlua19pZCI6MzUwNjR9/f82f4fdd169865a995b1875096083e31b08d5ef0632955b2d6e61d10aedf7d50] Voted? Let us know! hello@apeoplesclimate.org  Follow us on Instagram @counterstream_media - - - - - - - - - Learn more at apeoplesclimate.org [https://apeoplesclimate.org/] We want to hear from you! Email us at hello@apeoplesclimate.org and let us know your thoughts. Love what you hear? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review—it helps others discover the show. Find us instagram: @counterstream_media [https://www.instagram.com/counterstream_media/]

Ep. 9 - Reframing Resistance (Live from NYC Climate Week)

Bringing frontline stories into focus. For this special season finale, recorded live during NYC Climate Week, host Shilpi Chhotray convenes a powerful storytelling event with three frontline media makers: Chantel Comardelle, Alexandra Norris, and B. Preston Lyles. This is more than a conversation about films or campaigns — it’s an intimate window into the lived realities of climate and environmental injustice. From Indigenous land loss in Louisiana, to the ongoing fight against the petrochemical buildout in Cancer Alley, to exposing the violence of toxic prisons, this discussion centers the human stories too often sidelined in mainstream climate narratives. Our guests speak candidly about their experiences, what sustains them in the face of systemic harm, why frontline voices must lead solutions, and how storytelling itself becomes a vital tool of resistance, survival, and collective power. This live storytelling event was made possible in partnership with Dr. Margot Brown, Senior Vice President of Justice and Equity at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Frontline Resource Institute. Special thanks to Chess Jakobs, Counterstream Media’s Impact Producer, who produced this event. Key Topics * Frontline climate and environmental justice: Stories from communities directly impacted by the climate crisis  and extractive industries. * Indigenous displacement: The Isle de Jean Charles Choctaw Nation and climate-driven migration. * Sharon Lavigne’s fight against petrochemical expansion in Cancer Alley * Toxic prisons: The intersection of mass incarceration, environmental harm, and systemic injustice. * How spiritual grounding and faith sustains organizing. Using film and media to reclaim narratives and highlight underrepresented stories. * Narrative power: How media shapes perception, policy, and the climate movement’s priorities. Resources Let No One Lose Heart [https://letnooneloseheart.com/] Toxic Prisons Campaign [https://www.hrcoalition.org/toxic-prisons-campaign] Rise St. James [https://risestjames.org/] Preserving Our Place [https://www.isledejeancharles.com/preserving-our-place] Isle de Jean Charles Choctaw Nation [https://www.isledejeancharles.com/] Frontline Resource Institute [https://www.frontlineresourceinstitute.org/] Environmental Defense Fund [https://www.edf.org/] Learn more at apeoplesclimate.org [https://apeoplesclimate.org/] We want to hear from you! Email us at hello@apeoplesclimate.org and let us know your thoughts. Love what you hear? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review—it helps others discover the show. Find us instagram: @counterstream_media [https://www.instagram.com/counterstream_media/]

Ep. 8 - (Solar) Power to the People with Elizabeth Yeampierre

The path to climate justice is local. In this episode of A People’s Climate, host Shilpi Chhotray sits down with Elizabeth Yeampierre, veteran organizer and executive director of UPROSE, Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community-based organization, to explore how frontline communities are taking climate action into their own hands. In a capitalist world that prioritizes bigger, faster, and more, Elizabeth’s work takes a different path. Small, hyper-local solutions like a community-owned solar grid have huge impacts. Residents of Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, where UPROSE focuses its work, are seeing lower energy costs, good green jobs, and local ownership. All while creating a blueprint for other communities to follow. Elizabeth also takes us beyond the buzzwords of “green economy" and “clean energy” to show what a Just Transition really looks like. Mainstream environmental efforts often focus on the end goal: shifting to renewable energy. But they fail to ask “at what cost and to whom?” Elizabeth’s work ensures community members aren’t left behind. This episode is a masterclass in how grassroots power can transition us to a just future. Key Topics * A Just Transition: Shifting to renewable energy while protecting workers and communities historically harmed by pollution * The community-led renewable energy GRID Project * Resisting extractive economies and reclaiming industrial spaces without displacement or gentrification. * The importance of building an intergenerational movement * How Trump-era policies have dismantled climate protections and undermined renewable energy incentives * How disaster capitalism exploits crises and how community-led responses offer real solutions Resources UPROSE [https://www.uprose.org/] The GRID  [https://www.businessinsider.com/elizabeth-yeampierre-grid-plan-sunset-parks-future-2023-12] Sunset Park Solar [https://sunsetparksolar.org/] A new solar project in Brooklyn could offer a model for climate justice [https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/climate-justice/a-new-solar-project-in-brooklyn-could-offer-a-model-for-climate-justice] US Spending On Climate Damage Nears $1 Trillion Per Year [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-17/us-spending-on-climate-damage-nears-1-trillion-per-year] The Shock Doctrine (Naomi Klein) [https://naomiklein.org/the-shock-doctrine/] Learn more at apeoplesclimate.org [https://apeoplesclimate.org/] We want to hear from you! Email us at hello@apeoplesclimate.org and let us know your thoughts. Love what you hear? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review—it helps others discover the show. Find us instagram: @counterstream_media [https://www.instagram.com/counterstream_media/]

Ep. 7 - Seeds of Resistance with Vivien Sansour

“If you want to support Palestine, get free.” In this episode of A People’s Climate, host Shilpi Chhotray sits down with Vivien Sansour, founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, for a powerful conversation about resistance in the face of Israeli militarism, occupation, and ecological devastation. For two years, the world watched Israel’s genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing campaign across Palestine — including the annihilation of Palestinian land, contamination of water, and the carbon-intensive bombardment that has choked the air and scorched the soil. Entire food systems have been erased. And yet, so many environmentalists remain silent.  Vivien makes it clear that climate conversations cannot be separated from Western imperialism and genocide. From saving heirloom seeds to ancestral farming practices, Vivien shares how Palestinian farmers and land stewards are not only protecting the environment but also preserving culture, memory, and survival itself. Key Themes & Topics: * The intersection of conservation, human rights, and food sovereignty * Why protecting heirloom seeds is essential for culture, memory, and survival * Israeli militarism and settler expansion in Palestine * Ancestral agricultural practices that date back tens of thousands of years * The long-standing destructive impact of industrialized agriculture on land and food systems * Global solidarity with Palestine   Resources * Palestine Heirloom Seed Library [https://viviensansour.com/Palestine-Heirloom] * Traveling Kitchen [https://viviensansour.com/Traveling-Kitchen] * Subversive Rebels [https://www.peaceandriot.org/issue-02/subversive-rebels-palestine-heirloom-seed-library] by Vivien Sansour * Palestinian Land, Heritage, and Identity [https://www.peaceandriot.org/issue01/palestinian-land-heritage-and-identity]- Shilpi Chhotray in conversation with Rania Batrice Learn more at apeoplesclimate.org [https://apeoplesclimate.org/] We want to hear from you! Email us at hello@apeoplesclimate.org and let us know your thoughts. Love what you hear? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review—it helps others discover the show. Find us instagram: @counterstream_media [https://www.instagram.com/counterstream_media/]

Ep. 6 - Memphis vs Musk with Representative Justin J. Pearson

“No matter how many billions you have, you don't have enough to buy our lives.” Host Shilpi Chhotray is joined by Tennessee State Representative Justin J. Pearson, a fierce advocate taking on corporate power — from Big Oil to Big Tech. You may know him as one of the two Black representatives who was expelled for demanding gun reform on the House floor after The Covenant school shooting in Nashville. But long before becoming one of the youngest members of the Tennessee legislature, Rep. Pearson was on the frontlines in South Memphis, organizing against a crude oil pipeline that threatened his hometown. Now, in Rep. Pearson’s district, Elon Musk’s xAI project is expanding its empire with massive, unregulated data centers that pollute the air, threaten their water, and undermine hard-won environmental protections.  This conversation is about fighting against entrenched corruption, unchecked corporate and political power, and billionaires who put profit over people’s health and future. Key Topics Covered: * Defeating the Valero / Plains All American Byhalia Pipeline * The rise of Elon Musk’s xAI data center in Memphis and the environmental toll of artificial intelligence * Money in politics: How corporate lobbying and billionaires shape elections and policy * Civil disobedience: The role of protest, direct action, and speaking truth to power * Keeping people power alive in the face of corruption and broken systems * Proximity to the fight: Understanding your local representatives, connecting local struggles to federal policies, and focusing energy where it can make the most impact Resources * Memphis Community Against Pollution [https://www.memphiscap.org/] * Rep. Justin J. Pearson’s Speech on the House floor before being expelled [https://youtu.be/JW26WyVzQpY?si=5HWsVSXWtYXffdeX&t=52] * “How Long, Not Long” [https://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/prestapes/c4.html] Martin Luther King Jr. speech after marching from Selma to Montgomery * NAACP and Advocacy Groups Appeal Permit for xAI’s South Memphis Data Center [https://naacp.org/articles/naacp-and-advocacy-groups-appeal-permit-xais-south-memphis-data-center-decisions-around] Learn more at apeoplesclimate.org [https://apeoplesclimate.org/] We want to hear from you! Email us at hello@apeoplesclimate.org and let us know your thoughts. Love what you hear? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review—it helps others discover the show. Find us instagram: @counterstream_media [https://www.instagram.com/counterstream_media/]