Perspectives on Sustainable Development

Send us Fan Mail I used to always start my climate or EJ talks with a photo of my children to reinforce the point that they are why I am so passionate about my work. I want to help establish the most sustainable, healthy, and economically viable environment for them that we possibly can. I'd expect that most parents would relate to that goal. Yet long term planning and sustainability programs...

Send us Fan Mail I am born and raised in New Jersey. Growing up we used to visit the Shore multiple times a year. Belmar was my beach. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy devastated our state. After the storm passed, as I was volunteering in Belmar to literally pickup pieces of the boardwalk that had washed into residential yards ten blocks away, the importance of climate work came into focus for me. Storms...

Send us Fan Mail There is a palpable fear spreading across the country, the fear of data centers and their potential impacts to our society and environment. Before we start, it is important to note that data centers are not a new thing, hyperscale data centers (>100MW) are new, as are large learning models (LLMs). Much has been written on their energy use, their water use, potential climate imp...

Send us Fan Mail The 25th Amendment has been in the news quite a lot over the last decade. For how often it has been brought up, do you really know what it says, or the potential implications it has? My guest this week, Rebecca Lubot, PhD, is a friend who recently wrote a compelling book on the topic, Keeping a Finger on the Button: Presidential Continuity and the Nuclear Age . Rebecca and I know...

Send us Fan Mail We are starting something special with this episode. Many professionals write a book at some point in their careers, but few do so really try to move the needle, really trying to add something positive to the conversation. The Impactful Authors Series will highlight people who I believe are doing just that. Leah Kral has an interesting background in the Peace Corps and consulting...

Send us Fan Mail Someone told me last night that they have no idea how I do so much, how I am so active on these topics. The truth is twofold; you need a great support team (thank you Uzziah Davis), and you have to be passionate about the topics. What's the old adage, when you love what you do, it isn't really work? I love environmental education. I love helping to educate the next gener...

Send us Fan Mail The United States of America was once tribal lands. One of the things that I have always respected about those cultures are their deep ties to the natural world. In a capitalist society that can feel pretty unattainable, but we would do well to at least appreciate the fact that our land is one of the most precious resources that we have. We rely on the natural world to support eve...

Send us Fan Mail I've never liked video games. I've never been able to sit still for very long. Growing up in Central New Jersey in the early 90s, meant I spent much of my time climbing trees, playing huge games of manhunt with friends in the neighborhood, and basically doing anything I could to be outside all day. I have always loved the outdoors but first gained an understanding of it...

Send us Fan Mail Immigration. That one word alone likely makes most of us want to run back to our designated corners and start regurgitating talking points. This topic is an objective reality and challenge that should never have been so politicized. People choose to come to the US for a myriad of reasons, but they can most often boil down to seeking better opportunities for their families.  Many s...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back everyone! It is a challenging time for climate policy. As you may know, the endangerment finding was just repealed by the US Supreme Court. Almost as soon as that ruling went live, so did a great deal of half-truths and misconceptions on potential applicability. We walk through a number of them on this episode. I was fortunate to be joined by Michael Gerrard (Founder...

Send us Fan Mail NIMBY - Not in my backyard. If you let that play out for long enough, eventually you risk running out of backyards, and running out of trust.  I have been wanting to do this episode for at least a year and was excited to be able to sit down with Roishetta Sibley Ozane (Founder, Vessel Project of Louisiana) and Sharonda Allen (Founder and Executive Director, Operation Grow Inc.). I...

Send us Fan Mail Our climate is changing due to anthropocentric activities over the past 120 years. We are seeing increasing impacts nearly every year due to these changes, with the poor and those living in low-lying areas often taking the brunt. Policy choices today will inform the scope and range of these future impacts, and who is most affected. But we also must meet rising energy demands while...

Send us Fan Mail Somehow people still underestimate the impact of water on our lives. We don't think about it a lot, and often take it for granted, unless there is a problem. It is fundamental to our natural systems and public health, as well as recreation, cultural heritage, religions, and now unfortunately many climate-related detriments. Storms are getting stronger and more frequent, inlan...

Send us Fan Mail Water management will be one of the critical issues of the 21rst Century. Between increased volatility in weather events, climate driven droughts, and historical cleanups...well that's plenty to keep us all busy. Now add data center proliferation and nearly unprecedented water demands. Challenging to say the least. My guests this week are Pete Malinowski (Executive Director o...

Send us Fan Mail We're back!!! What I thought was just going to be a quick break for the summer as I planned a conference, ended up being more of an endeavor as I then had to deal with a fried hard drive, being laid off, and starting my own consulting company. Oh, also during this period, I went to NYC Climate Week. This episode was recorded a few days after climate week. We were fortunate to...

Send us Fan Mail About four years ago I was giving a talk in Ohio and someone in the crowd asked me, "EJ just kind of sprang up, where did it come from, how did this start?" At first I was pretty taken back by the comment since the environmental justice movement began around the time I was born, but this gentleman simply had not heard about it until that point, until it was tied into his...

Send us Fan Mail There's a common fallacy out there that public policy that is protective of public health is likely bad for bottom lines. That could not be further from the truth. Sound policy is protective but in a sustainable way that also promotes economic growth.  For this episode, who better to talk about taking on complex policy development, than two people who have done it at the high...

Send us Fan Mail It feels appropriate that this episode is posting in the middle of a heat wave in much of the United States, with four straight days of heat index readings at or above 110F. While we were planning for the episode a glacier in Europe gave way, burying the town of Blatten, Switzerland. Our world is warming, and that has many difficult implications. With all the changes of the last s...

Send us Fan Mail I almost decided to name this episode, "so this is why we can't have nice things." On our last episode, Doug Houseman and Mark Jacobson showed us what's possible albeit challenging from a technical perspective. This episode Eric Beightel (Federal Strategy Director, Environmental Science Associates) and Josh Kaplowitz (Senior Counsel, Troutman Pepper Locke LLP)...

Send us Fan Mail For a project to be sustainable it must factor in the economic, social, and environmental impacts of its scope before its built, in order to minimize any detrimental impacts and maximize benefits. But backing up another step, for a project to be built at all, it must first have a handle on associated logistical constraints and how they factor into timelines and budgeting.  My two...

Send us Fan Mail In 2018 the US processed roughly 292.4 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW), or 4.9 pounds/person per day, which equates to an increase of 93% from 1980. Of that amount, 69 million tons were recycled and 25 million composted. In 2021 the US recycled 58.6 million tons of metals, iron, steel. These figures have only increased over the last few years, and project continued inc...

Send us Fan Mail I start every EJ or climate talk that I give with a photo of my children. They are the reason why I am so passionate about all of this, they are why I do this work. The same can be said for many of those in environmental advocacy; over time it becomes a family affair, and we often see children joining efforts that their parents have worked on for decades. On the episode this week,...

Send us Fan Mail Climate change impacts are mounting across the world, and it has been difficult to watch. From cloud bursts, to drought, to stronger hurricanes, and longer heat waves, the economic and public health impacts are mounting and costing us all a lot more. The 2025 California wildfires alone are estimated to have cost $250B. How do insurance companies factor in climate change? How do th...

Send us Fan Mail This week Chris was joined by James May (Distinguished Professor of Law, Washburn University) and Dana Johnson (Chief Movement Advisor, Strategic Movement Collective, LLC). The topic for this episode is environmental justice and dignity rights. Taping this made us think of the golden rule, you know the one that most of us learn around Kindergarten, "treat others as you want t...

Send us Fan Mail Season 2!!! As with last year, we are starting this season on climate change. There is no bigger issue that we discuss on these podcasts. The risks are real, the costs of impacts mounting, and our time for action is dwindling to avert surpassing tipping points that will do irrevocable harm. This is not a political issue, and it does not have to be a subjective one.  Objectively lo...