The Planet Today

The Planet Today

di Matt Norden and Nick Gennusa

Record profits for Shell and Exxon, Monarch Butterfly population update, & more!

Matt and Nick talk about the Biden Administration’s endorsement of the Willow project (Biden administration recommends major Alaska oil project (nbcnews.com)), Monarch butterflies numbers increased slightly last year but fell short of five year goal (Latest Count of Western Monarch Butterfly Highlights Steep Toll of Climate-Fueled Disasters (nwf.org)), Hawaii’s push to ban plastic water bottles (Plastic Water Bottles May Be Next Ban In Hawaii's War Against Pollution - Honolulu Civil Beat), And record profits for Shell and Exxon in 2022 (Shell reports highest profits in 115 years - BBC News))! Make sure to check out our sponsor for today’s episode at Vala Alta and use promo code “TPT” for 15% off.

Monday Mini-sode: Greener Playgrounds & Natural Gas in Texas!

Matt and Nick talk about greener playgrounds in New York City (An Overlooked Climate Solution? Greener Playgrounds (citylimits.org)) And Texas Republicans continuing to push natural gas in the face of growing renewables (Renewables are growing on the Texas power grid. Republicans want more natural gas. - Vox)! Make sure to check out our sponsor for today’s episode at Kitcaster with a special offer for friends of our show to become guests on other podcasts.

The cost effectiveness of renewables, protections for the Tongass, & more!

Yesterday was Matt's birthday so share this episode with a friend to wish him a happy birthday! Matt and Nick talk about a new study showing new renewable energy facilities are cheaper than maintaining coal (US renewable energy farms outstrip 99% of coal plants economically – study | US news | The Guardian), Oak trees dying rapidly in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland (Oaks are dying at record rates across Chesapeake region | Sound Off | somdnews.com), The Oak Run solar project in Ohio (Over $500 million in tax revenue expected from 800 MW Ohio solar project – pv magazine USA (pv-magazine-usa.com)), And the Biden Administration restoring protections for the Tongass National Forest (Biden restores protections to Alaska's Tongass National Forest - BBC News)! Make sure to check out our sponsor for today’s episode at Vala Alta and use promo code “TPT” for 15% off.

Indoor air pollution from gas stoves, agrivoltaics in Colorado, & more!

Matt and Nick talk about the indoor air pollution problem from gas stoves (Are gas stoves really dangerous? What we know about the science | Air pollution | The Guardian), No Indian Rhinos poached in 2022 (A Conservation Success As Zero Indian Rhinos Were Poached In 2022 Making It The First Time In 45 Years - World Animal News), UCLA working towards better climate modeling (UCLA Researcher Develops a Python Library Called ClimateLearn for Accessing State-of-the-Art Climate Data and Machine Learning Models in a Standardized and Straightforward Way - MarkTechPost), The impact pesticides have on global warming (How pesticides intensify global warming | Grist), And Colorado potentially becoming a national leader in agrivoltaics (Colorado could become a leader in solar agriculture, or agrivoltaics (coloradosun.com))! Make sure to check out our sponsor for today’s episode at Vala Alta and use promo code “TPT” for 15% off.

Guest Interview: Graham Hill (The Carbonauts)

Matt interviews Graham Hill, the founder and CEO of The Carbonauts, a company that teaches people how to reduce their carbon footprints in under six weeks while saving money and influencing others. Their clients include giant companies like Amazon, Chanel, News Corp, Toyota, AT&T, Warner Brothers, Discovery, Netflix, Dow Jones, and HarperCollins, whose employees have taken their online courses on the planet and decreased their carbon footprints by up to 40%. They believe if we can get 3.5% of the world's population to live compelling, low-footprint lives, a tipping point will be reached, and governments and companies will pave the way for the rest of society to quickly transition to a sustainable way of life. Graham has worked in the environmental field for 20+ years. Before Carbonauts, he founded the ground-breaking website TreeHugger, which was the most trafficked green site for years, with billions of page views. In 2007, he sold this website to the Discovery Channel. You can watch Graham’s Ted Talk about being a Weekday Vegetarian here. Make sure to check out our sponsor for today’s episode at Kitcaster with a special offer for friends of our show to become guests on other podcasts.

Exxon is a supervillain, Helping developing nations transition to clean energy, & more!

Matt and Nick talk about Exxon accurately predicting what would happen to the global climate decades ago (Exxon scientists accurately predicted global warming from burning fossil fuels. : NPR), COP28’s president - Sultan Al Jaber of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (UAE appoints oil company boss as president of the COP28 climate conference, alarming climate groups | CNN), 2023 is going to be extremely hot (Warning of unprecedented heatwaves as El Niño set to return in 2023 | El Niño southern oscillation | The Guardian), The UK’s ban on single-use plastics for takeout (Single-use plastic: Takeaways face ban in October - BBC News), And John Kerry’s plan to help developing countries transition to clean energy (U.S. climate envoy Kerry outlines carbon offset initiative for developing nations | Reuters)! Make sure to check out our sponsor for today’s episode at Vala Alta and use promo code “TPT” for 15% off.

Guest Interview: Samantha Zwicker (Hoja Nueva)

Matt interviews Samantha Zwicker, founder of Hoja Nueva, a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center in Peru that combats wildlife trafficking, rescuing and rewilding key species and runs a first-of-its-kind ecological research station and education in the Madre de Dios region. Samantha is a PhD candidate who has turned her love of animals into a meaningful career and has spent the past seven years living in the Amazon, where she has rescued hundreds of wild animals and fights to preserve 7400+ acres of rainforest. Samantha is spearheading the nonprofit's projects within the Amazonian rainforests and communities, placing an emphasis on assessing the effects of human impact on threatened animals. If you like this interview, don’t forget to follow Hoja Nueva on Instagram. Make sure to check out our sponsor for today’s episode at Kitcaster with a special offer for friends of our show to become guests on other podcasts.

Good news for the Ozone layer, reducing soot emissions in the US, & more!

Matt and Nick talk about the Biden Administration's push to reduce emissions from soot (Biden Administration Moves to Tighten Limits on Deadly Air Pollution - The New York Times (nytimes.com)), The EU’s ban on goods linked to deforestation (EU ban on deforestation-linked goods sets benchmark, say US lawmakers | Deforestation | The Guardian), Major flooding in Australia and California (Australia flood crisis: 'Once in a century' - BBC News), New York vs. mining cryptocurrency (New York partially banned cryptocurrency mining. Now environmentalists want more. - POLITICO), And the ozone layer is continuing to heal - could be totally repaired within decades (The ozone layer’s recovery is good news for climate change, too - The Washington Post)! Make sure to check out our sponsor for today’s episode at Vala Alta and use promo code “TPT” for 15% off.

Monday mini-sode: 2023’s top conservation issues & the positive health impacts of green spaces!

Matt and Nick talk about the Guardian’s list of the top conservation issues for 2023 (Harvesting human pee and DIY fertiliser: top conservation issues in 2023 | Conservation | The Guardian) And how green spaces can impact immune systems in children (Daycares in Finland Built a 'Forest', And It Changed Kids' Immune Systems : ScienceAlert)! Make sure to check out our sponsor for today’s episode at Kitcaster with a special offer for friends of our show to become guests on other podcasts.

The 30x30 Plan, better water protections in the US, & more!

The boys are back after their Holiday break! Matt and Nick talk about the COP15 Biodiversity Conservation Plan (COP15 Biodiversity Talks: Countries Sign On to “30x30” Conservation Plan - The New York Times (nytimes.com)), More wetlands, lakes, and rivers to qualify for federal protections in the US (EPA issues new rule to strengthen water protections in the U.S. (nbcnews.com)), Germany and France’s economy ministers’ announcement that the EU must match US green industry subsidies (Germany and France seek to match US green industry subsidies – EURACTIV.com), Increasing amounts of rural areas with wildlife risk in California (85% of rural areas in California is in 'high' or 'very high' risk for wildfires | CNN), And a major ecosystem restoration project in the US has been greenlit (Largest Single Ecosystem Restoration Project in U.S. History Gets Green (nwf.org))! Make sure to check out our sponsor for today’s episode at Vala Alta and use promo code “TPT” for 15% off.

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