The Defender

There is a lot of new excitement around nuclear energy these days, and no coincidence, it comes as we face staggering energy demands from AI data centers. Now, the Trump Administration is relaxing environmental and safety regulations for new nuclear reactors. In this episode, a look at what would happen to our environment - and our energy bills - if utilities race to meet AI demand by building mor...

In the race to transition to clean, safe energy, there are lessons to be learned just about everywhere, including in Texas. In this episode, what January's major winter storm is teaching us about our power grid—and the painful lesson we are all going to learn this month about natural gas. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Ciaran Gallagher, PhD, Energy and Air Manager, Clean Wisconsin

On this episode, some real hope that a bipartisan solution for state PFAS funding is at hand -- and the industry that is coming in at the last minute to try to kill it.  Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Erik Kanter, Government Relations Director, Clean Wisconsin  Resources for You:  Clean Wisconsin Action Network  

In this episode, how new action from the EPA is undermining one of the most successful environmental laws in US history. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Nick Mailloux, PhD Student, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Resources for You: Join Clean Wisconsin's Action Network Pollution and Our Health: The Environmental Health Initiative    

In this episode, how a small Wisconsin community stood up to one of the most powerful companies in the world… and won. And what we can all learn from their fight. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Prescott Balch, Village of Caledonia resident Resources for You: Stop Unchecked Data Center Development (petition) AI Data Center Energy Demand Analysis  AI Data Center Offsite Water Withdrawals      

On this episode a look what could be sprayed on food and farm fields all around us - plus a bit of Wisconsin history that offers some hope as we confront a new batch of toxic chemicals. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Sara Walling, Clean Wisconsin Water & Agency Program Director Resources for You: Under the Lens: What we know about PFAS in Wisconsin's Water Nitrate pollution's impact on Wisconsn's he...

Meet the Wisconsin native who is foraging 100% of his food. What was the last thing you foraged? Maybe some ramps, or morels? But what about your salt, oil, even toothpaste? On this episode, meet the Wisconsin native who is setting out to prove that he can not only survive for an entire year eating only food he has foraged, but he can also help show the true connection to nature most of us have be...

Don't look at the gas plant behind the curtain! If you feel like tech companies and energy utilities are gaslighting you with their assurances that AI data centers won't hurt our environment, you're probably right.  In this episode, how AI is causing a fossil fuel boom in Wisconsin and the lawsuit just filed to try and stop it.  Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guests:  Katie Nekola, General Counsel, Clean W...

You may have heard, Wisconsin needs more power and we need it fast. In the next few years, AI data centers will cause an unprecedented surge in energy demand across our state. There are already large expensive new powerplants being built to help meet that demand with more to come. But the big question is, will Wisconsinites be left shouldering the cost? In this episode, the shocking energy needs o...

What if you could make a difference in the fight to protect our environment by doing nothing at all? In this episode, why fall is the perfect time to be lazy - for the planet. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Elizabeth Braat, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources  Resources for You: Wisconsin Bumble Bee Brigade Episode 43: The hidden pesticides that could be lurking in your pollinator garden Neoni...

T he amazing story of one Wisconsin food that was banned, burned, disappeared from our plates - and the comeback that's being helped along by solar farms.   Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Lily Hislop, Savanna Institute Resources for You: Black Currants: A once-forbidden fruit Farming for the Future: Charting a course for a new food system Black Currant: Ribes Nigrum

A Clean Wisconsin analysis shows just two approved data centers in Wisconsin will use more power than all the homes in our state combined. More than the generation capacity of the Point Beach nuclear plant, the single-largest source of power in Wisconsin. And that leaves a lot of people are wondering, where is all this leading us? What will it mean for Wisconsin's precious water resources, our lan...

There is no question we are living through a stressful, often overhwelming time. So if you're feeling hopeless, especially in the face of the climate crisis, no one could blame you. But there is no better place to find hope – than in other people. How you can joing people from all walks of life in Sunday, Sept 28 to take a stand for our climate right here in Wisconsin. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest:...

Yes, there are 150-million reasons to listen to this episode. Because Wisconsin has $150 million dollars in federal funding to help make our homes warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, healthier, more efficient. All the things. A look at two little-known programs that survived the big Federal cuts and are ready to be used by you. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guests: Dylan Crye, Home Energy Rebates...

How much would you pay to swim in a clean lake? How much to take a breath of fresh, clean air? To fish in a pristine stream? You may not ever think about that, but there is somebody who does -- a lot. On this episode, meet the professor who's working to understand the economic value of a clean environment. Host:  Amy Barrilleaux Guest:  Dan Phaneuf, Professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics, U...

The Environmental Protection Agency is quickly getting out of the protection business. And no where is that more clear than its new plan to get rid of the Endangerment Finding, the landmark legal and science determination that climate change hurts people and that the EPA has the responsibility to do something about it. On this episode a look at why the EPA is now insisting climate pollution won't...

Livestock farmers in Wisconsin are getting excited about solar! MG&E's Tyto solar project is home to about 13,000 solar panels, 30 acres of thriving plants, and a flock of happy sheep. Amy takes a behind-the-scenes look at the solar energy project where 145 hungry sheep are hard at work this summer.  Host:  Amy Barrilleaux Guests: John Armstrong, manager of renewable engineering, Madison Gas and E...

In the long, never-ending struggle to protect our environment, it can be easy to feel helpless, powerless. Maybe nothing underscores that feeling more than trying to stop a big foreign oil interest from building a pipeline across your state. But there is something you can do to speak out against the Line 5 oil pipeline. And it's fun! Amy looks at the Move People Not Oil campaign. Host:  Amy Barril...

If you are feeling afraid to click on news stories every time a decision gets handed down by the US Supreme Court, you're not alone. But some recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions are bringing much-needed good news in the fight to protect our environment. Host:  Amy Barrilleaux Guest:  Evan Feinauer, Clean Wisconsin attorney Resources for You:  Episode 29: Trump's threat to safe water (and how...

Northern Wisconsin is home to Lake Superior, to beautiful streams and wetlands, to thousands of acres of mesic forests--and to a 72-year-old oil pipeline called Line 5. Now the foreign oil company, Enbridge, that owns and operates the line is pushing to blast and trench its way across northern Wisconsin to build a reroute. Amy gets the latest on legal action to stop it. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest...

Milwaukee is at the center of what the federal government calls an "Area of Concern." A place where so much toxic water pollution and environmental degradation have happened over the course of more than a century, that it needs special attention and funding to get cleaned up.  But how do you confront and begin to heal the collective harms of legacy pollution? Of decades of injustice that is still...

The Big Beautiful Budget will have some ugly consequences. In this episode, why the fallout from Trump's budget will include bigger bills, toxic emissions, and yep - more risk of blackouts. Host:  Amy Barrilleaux Guest: Ciaran Gallagher, PhD, Energy & Air Manager, Clean Wisconsin Resources for You: Join Clean Wiscosin's Action Network  

Have you ever wondered what it's like to stand next to a wind turbine? You're about to find out. In this epsiode, Amy meets 2nd generation Wisconsin farmer Jerry Cigelske at his Columbia County farm to talk about about why cows, grass and windmills have been the key to keeping his family on the land. Host: Amy Barrilleaux  Guest: Jerry Cigelske, Columbia County farmer Resources for You: Wisconsin-...

If you are a regular listener, you have heard of neonicotinoids, a class of neurotoxins used on food crops all over the state and country. And it turns out, neonics are hurting a lot more than pollinators - like fish, birds, small mammals and potentially people. On this episode, what we know about the impacts of neonic pesticides on our bodies and how to limit exposure. Host: Amy Barrilleaux Guest...

You never know when a life-changing moment is going to come. For Sarah Savage, owner of Tend Native Plants, it came when she picked up a book about pollinators. Amy meets Sarah at her small plant nursery in Blue Mounds, Wis., to talk about the hidden pesticides that could be lurking in our gardens and how to make sure the flowers we buy are truly pollinator-friendly. Host:  Amy Barrilleaux Guest: ...