Welcome to the 5th and final episode of our series, 53 Miles of Maine, covering a very controversial transmission line to run through Maine carrying hydropower electricity from Canada into the New England grid that was approved by state and federal regulators but stalled by a pubic referendum. Throughout this series, we have covered several different larger themes from this story that are playing out all over the country as it relates to our clean energy transition.  We encourage everyone to...

Today in Episode 4 of 53 Miles of Maine, we dive into the role competitive energy companies, such as NextEra, played in supporting the opposition efforts to the New England Clean Energy Connect. In doing so we’ll breakdown the playbook pioneered by fossil fuel giant Koch Industries that is being used by big energy companies all over the country to stall or support opposition to projects that are not their own. Whether or not that applied here in Maine and if so, how influential it was in...

Welcome back to 53 Miles in Maine, our 5-part series covering a controversial clean energy project that got shut down by a pubic referendum in Maine in November 2021 and is now being decided in the courts. In this series, we are looking into what happened in Maine as a lens into 3 broader themes impacting our much needed transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy when it comes to our electricity grid. In Episode 1, we provided a detailed timeline of what took place in Maine In...

Welcome to the 2nd episode in our 5-part series covering a controversial clean energy project in Maine. It’s a hydropower initiative that initially got approved by state and federal agencies, then voted down in a public referendum, and now being determined in Maine’s courts. While the project was is taking hydropower from Canada and moving it into the New England electricity grid via a commercial deal with Massachusetts, it relies on moving all that energy through the state of Maine. We are...

Welcome to Part 1 of our 5-part series covering a very controversial renewable energy project that got shut down in a public referendum in Maine despite previously getting approval from state and federal regulators. While this energy was being purchased by the state of Massachusetts and generated by a hydropower company in Canada, it would require transmitting the energy through the state of Maine and thus in order to build out that transmission it needed Maine’s approval to move...

The Northern Rangelands Trust, or NRT, is one of the largest conservation organizations in the world, setting up community conservations across nearly 10% of Kenya. Last year, they were called out in a scathing report from the Oakland Institute called Stealth Game, which put forth many allegations of wrongful behavior within the NRT, an organization backed by several household names such as The Nature Conservancy & The World Wildlife Fund. While the NRT adamantly denies these...

If you care about this planet and are worried about where things are heading when it comes to global warming and biodiversity collapse, well, you're not alone. You've probably experienced some forms of climate anxiety or eco-anxiety because you care. For some, this feeling of worry and concern can be so severe that it can disrupt your life.  Maybe you start to worry too much about the things you are buying, about loved ones not caring, or about the doomsday scenarios that lie ahead if we...

Welcome to Season 3 of the Animalia Podcast! We’re back! We felt the best way to kickoff this new season would be talking about the Arctic. As you’re probably aware, the Arctic is melting thanks to global warming. What you may not know is the unique role the Arctic plays in reflecting solar radiation back into space, a critical component keeping this planet as cool as possible. As the Arctic melts however, it also darkens, leading it to absorb more and more sunlight and reflect less and...

The final episode of 2021 and the final episode of Season 2 here on Animalia. To close things out, I’m going to share my thoughts on 3 different topics that I think are really important for everyone to understand: The 2 main things we need to do to save this planet Is “Greening” Your Life Important? The Intersection of Climate Justice, Biodiversity Collapse, and Social Justice For the only time of the year, you get no experts. No politicians. No CEOs. No scientists. Just me, your host...

Today on Animalia we dive into the wonderful, critical world of Kelp! A special type of seaweed that will likely, and hopefully as you’ll learn in this episode, be a cornerstone of our future food supply. This is because Kelp is a tremendously regenerative species full of nutrition. We also really need our kelp forests, and proper, ethical kelp farming can be a big step forward in protecting them. This is because they are home to thousands of critical marine species, sequester more carbon...

Welcome to the 5-minute teaser episode about kelp forests and kelp farming!  If you are interested in this episode, please go and check out the full version for the in-depth conversation with Tiffany Stephens, Chief Scientist at Sea Grove Kelp.  We talk about value and role of kelp forests, the future of kelp farming, and how to introduce kelp more into our diets.  All a big part of our shift to a more sustainable, regenerative food system.

This is the short, 5-minute (ish) teaser of our episode about de-extinction.  Now that the technology has arrived, larger questions loom about whether or not this is a good idea, what the consequences might be good or bad, and the potential role in our biodiversity and climate crises. We have three incredible scientists joining us for this roundtable discussion: Dr. Mackenzie Kwak - parasitologist at the University of Singapore Dr. Dave Strayer - ecologist and invasive species expert at...

Welcome to a very special episode of Animalia. Today we are talking about the merits, ethics, and potential outcomes good and bad with de-extinction.  Earlier this year, a company named Colossal announced $15M in funding to create a new hybrid wooly mammoth species with plans of reintroducing them to Siberia in hopes of reviving their grasslands. Now that the dawn of de-extinction possibilities are upon us, we need to carefully consider how this could play out, and what the positive and...

Today we are bringing you a very special and valuable discussion with two incredible young climate activists: Raeesah Nor Mohamed from South Africa Hussein Ali Ghandour from Lebanon Over the past few years, you've seen an uptick in protests, marches, and demonstrations from incredible people like Raeesah and Hussein from all over the world.  At COP26 in Glasgow, over 100,000 activists made their way outside the event to demonstrate and push for more decisive action from world...

This is the 5-minute summary version of our episode sitting down with New Belgium's Katie Wallace and how the company is pioneering ways to help save this planet, including making a rather horrible version of their flagship beer, Fat Tire, to resemble what beer may taste like if we don't get our act together. If you are interested in this short summary version, please go and check out the full episode! ----------------------------------- If you have not yet done so, please join our weekly...

Who knew beer could be one of our best levers in climate communications?  This week on Animalia, we sit down with Katie Wallace, New Belgium's Director of Social & Environmental Impact, to discuss some of their pioneering approaches to advancing climate action, including making a rather horrible future version of what beer may taste like if we continue to destroy this planet. You probably know New Belgium from their flagship craft beer, Fat Tire.  What you might not know is that the...

This is the 5-minute(ish) summary version of our episode about the biodiversity crisis and it's links to climate justice with anthropologist Eduardo Brondizio. Eduardo is a professor at Indiana University. He's also Co-Chair of the IPBES Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. An organization dedicated to the furthering of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for long term human well being and ecosystem health. If you are interested in this shortened summary...

We've long been exploring ways to help people understand the relationship between our climate and biodiversity crises. Well, who better to do this than an Environmental Anthropologist?  After all, theses crises are results of human behavior and systems, and anthropology is the study of that those behaviors and systems. Eduardo Brondizio is an anthropologist at Indiana University.  He's also Co-Chair of the IPBES Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. An organization...

This is the abbreviated, 5-minute teaser version of our episode with Dylan Leazes, who works in Congress, on the need to decarbonize our electricity grid and some of the policy work it will take to get there.  If you are interested in hearing more based on this discussion, be sure to check out the Full Episode published just before this. ----------------------------- If you have not yet done so, please join our weekly newsletter. It's totally free and every Thursday we will send you 3...

One of the most important things we can do in order to address climate change is decarbonize our electricity grid. As much as 25-33% of our emissions come from electricity and that is only going to increase as the world becomes more and more electric - from transportation to data centers to currency. While there are plenty of zero-carbon sources to cover our power needs - wind, solar, hydro, nuclear - the transition is difficult and needs more policy to push it forward. So today on Animalia...

This is the shortened, 5-10 Minute Summary edition of our episode on parasites and why it's critical to conserve them to combat our biodiversity crisis.  For the full episode, please go check out the one just before this! Joining us is renowned parasitologist McKenzie Kwak, parasitologist at the National University of Singapore. One of the few in his field that are actively working on parasite conservation. You can follow Mackenzie on Facebook @mackenziekwakparasitologist Or on IG...

Raise your hand if you have ever actively thought about parasite conservation and the importance of protecting these species. Most of you probably have your hands down. And understandably so, after all, don’t parasites just cause problems for their hosts? Why would we conserve them? As it turns out, most parasites often have a fairly neutral relationship with their hosts. In addition, they can have vast benefits to our ecological systems. They are the glue that very much holds the food web...

This is the very short, 5-minute (ish) summary of our full episode on Living Sea Walls, a really critical innovation that we are excited to profile!  Through this work, sea walls can protect both human habitats and marine habitats together. ------------------------------------- Big thanks to Dr. Katherine Dafforn and Dr. Mariana Mayer Pinto for from the Living Sea Walls team for joining us today. Please go and support their work. They are a non-profit relying on donations from advocates...

One of my favorite novels of all-time is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  The idea of breathing life into something that previously housed none is both exhilarating and fantastical.  Now in the case of Dr. Frankenstein, it did not work out all too well.  However in the case of sea walls, it seems it very much will! Sea walls are everywhere across the world.  And they have been for a long time.  They are growing larger and more numerous and ambitious due to our warming oceans, rising sea levels,...