SPRING has arrived! And that means, gardening. And gardening means clearing out last year’s brush and the vines that overtook my yard in 2024 when I temporarily lost interest in gardening. So yesterday, when I was gazing out the window into my backyard, and I saw a vine that has wound its way around the lightpost on my patio, I took some shears and went out to cut it back. First I was just casually cutting, ripping, cutting, ripping, then the vine wouldn’t budge anymore… so I cut it…🎇🎇🎇… And the power line running to my patio.
The electrical force pushed me back to the ground (luckily I didn’t hit my head) where I took a few beats to realize what happened. Yada yada yada six hours in the ER later, I’m fine and now I’m hiring someone to do the spring cleanup.
Hope your week has been *less* eventful.
This week’s must read: The Man Behind the Republican Case for Clean Energy (New York Times)
Learn more about Congressman Andrew Garbarino, the ringleader in efforts to prevent the gutting of the Inflation Reduction Act. (He’s also a past podcast guest…)
“Nobody else was doing it so I said, ‘I’ll do it. I’ll lead the letter,’” he said in the interview. ““This is a line in the sand to counter what the Freedom Caucus guys have been saying, which is full repeal.”
For a blast to the past, check out this old EcoRight Speaks episode!
EcoRight Speaks, season 10, episode 5, featuring Ben Evans of the Green Building Council
Thanks for joining us again!
This week we are centering a topic that hasn’t happened on the show before: green buildings! Ben Evans is federal legislative director at the U.S. Green Building Council, helping lead the council’s advocacy work in Washington promoting green buildings and sustainable communities. Ben brings more than 20 years of experience working in politics, government affairs and communications, mostly in the energy sector. He has extensive experience developing policy, creating strategic advocacy campaigns, building stakeholder coalitions, and engaging with Congress and the executive branch. He has been quoted or published in national media outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, Politico and Reuters. Prior to joining USGBC, Ben was vice president of public affairs at the Alliance to Save Energy.
Ben had reached out to me to invite Bob Inglis to an event… and I excitedly wrote back to invite him on the show. (Email me at your own risk!)
Tune in to learn more about green buildings!
Coming up next week, my conversation with Shannon Fitzgerald O’Shea, a global communications and advocacy leader who has worked in sustainability for over two decades and who recently published in the Harvard Business School the article, A Bad Communication Strategy Around Sustainability
Latest Update: Climate Change in the American Mind
We find great value in the research conducted by our friends at George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, and their ongoing look (starting in 2009) into how climate change resonates in the American mind is most riveting.
- The Alarmed are the most worried about global warming and the most likely to support and engage in pro-climate action.
- The Concerned are also worried about global warming, but view it as a less urgent threat and are less motivated to act.
- The Cautious are uncertain and not very worried about global warming and are less motivated to take action.
- The Disengaged are disconnected from the issue and rarely hear about it.
- The Doubtful question whether global warming is happening or human-caused, and are not worried about it or motivated to act
- The Dismissive reject the idea that global warming is happening and human-caused, do not believe global warming is a threat, and oppose climate action.
As you can see from the above graphic, the Fall 2024 Climate Change in the American Mind survey finds that 26% of Americans are Alarmed about global warming, and that the Alarmed outnumber the Dismissive (10%) by a ratio of about 2.5 to 1. Further, a majority of Americans (54%) are either Alarmed or Concerned. Overall, Americans are more than twice as likely to be Alarmed or Concerned than Doubtful or Dismissive (22%).
Pluggin in
Not to make it all about me, but take a listen to this episode of Plugging In, where I talk about how some of the reddest states leading the way in renewable energy.
EarthX 2025
Hey, are you going to be at EarthX in April? Because I will be. Precise details to come, but I’ll be serving on a panel on April 22nd at the Women’s Energy Summit about communicating climate change.
And that’s it for me and my fried brain! See you next week.