Environmentally Speaking

We are talking about how the EPA takes action to hold school bus idling violators accountable. What? Yup! Out of all the industrial sources of hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act apparently we should be looking at school buses. You can’t makes this stuff up. Take a listen as we have a lot of laughs covering some of the rules, regulations and action from the EPA. Here is the link to th...

This week we are gearing up for the holiday season.  You can’t think of the Christmas season without thinking of Christmas trees.  Unfortunately this year things might be different.  We are going to discuss Christmas trees and some of the farms in our area that are having to close early. Why?  Take a listen 

Do you know what it’s like not to have access to water?   This week’s topic is a tough one to discuss and a lot of questions are asked.  Recently the Navajo nation in Arizona filed a claim against the State of Arizona regarding the lack of adequate water access on the reservation.  So who controls the water on the reservation?  Where is the case now?  Take listen to find out.  

We start the show with spoof from a short video talking about an oil spills and what goes on etc. See Here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM).  Although the video is a funny spoof, it brought us to today’s topic about the oil industry.  There has been quite a bit of recent news coming out of California, about fossil fuel campaigns that are attacking specific California oil drilling law...

This week’s topic we are going to discuss the effects climate change has had on the preservation of Historic Cemeteries.  The Rhode Island has over 2,000 recognized historic cemeteries.  More and more historic cemeteries are becoming increasingly in danger of flooding and are starting to erode.  Is it worth the money to save those who are lost?  What can we do to fix these issues?  We answer these...

This week’s episode is a very hot topic around Rhode Island due to the sheer number of parties involved and the fact that this case has been going on since 2003!    We are talking about Champlin’s Marina. If you’re familiar with Block Island, than you know Champlin’s Marina has been there for a while.  We discuss their attempt to expand the footprint of its marina to accommodate more boats and why...

Last show we talked about offshore wind and how some towns are filing a motion to intervene. This episode we are going to give you more of a foundation of what intervening generally looks like and what it actually means.  

Have you ever seen one of those giant wind turbines? They convert kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy.  Where there is one, chances are there are several dozen more.  In this episode we talk about several project that are either in the works now or about to take place with offshore wind.  At the moment there isn’t enough public knowledge about what’s happening with our federal waters and...

What do you know about the Right Whale?  It’s never wrong…. But seriously, the Right Whale is on the Endangered Species Act and this week we are talking about this big beautiful mammal.   The federal government is proposing that ferries and charter boats will need to move much slower during the off season in Rohde Island and perhaps other areas as well. We discuss how this will affect the local co...

Renewable Energy is a topic that is in the news headlines but there isn't a lot of information available about it.  In this episode we are going to provide some background on the history of energy on the planet and then talk about some of the more popular renewable energy sources and projects that are out today. Take a listen. 

Rhode Island, has had a very dry summer season and it’s unusual to have so much rain fall in a very short time in the month of September, but that’s what happen last week.  In this episode we are going to discuss the historic amount of rain fall that we experienced last week.  We had so much rain that it actually flooded Interstate 95 in Providence at what’s called the Thurbers Avenue curve. The i...

Ever see those giant ships in port and wonder how it keeps balanced when fully loaded?  The ship’s hull can store what is called Ballast water (freshwater or ocean) in it to provide stability and maneuverability during a voyage.  That’s this weeks topic, Ballast water.  We are going to discuss what happens when a ship travels from one port to the next and then releases the ballast water into the n...

How many times have you opened your refrigerator and found some food stuffed in the back that you forgot about?  Most of us has done this at one point or another, so we throw it in the trash and maybe start to feel a little guilty for wasting food.  On this episode we have special guest Leo Pollock, he is going to educate you on Food Waste.  First things first, What do you define as food waste?  W...

Peace, Love and Cleanup!  This week we discuss The Woodstock of cleanups that happen September 9th, 1972 along the Blackstone River.  This was the largest single-day clean-up effort in the nation the nation’s history at that time, pulling out debris in the excess of 10,000 tons!  So why are we talking about it?  This year marks the 50th anniversary and they are going to be doing another clean-up e...

This week we are changing it up a bit and we are going to talk about… ourselves!  Get to know us.  Tune in and have fun with us this week as we answer some questions that will help you get to know us a little better.  Here’s a fun fact… We share the same birthday August 11 how old are we? Next question!  We have some fun sharing some things we like and don’t like.  Tune in and get to know us!  You...

A reader asks Clarice and Marisa what they do all day at work, among other things. In this episode they talk a lot about Public Utilities. In Rhode Island we have a Public Utilities Commission (PUC); other states call it something else. Every state has both local and federal regulations they must adhere to, they discuss how it is set up and the functions and more.

This week we bring up an article that was recently published (https://www.gloucestertimes.com/opinion/letter-biden-climate-change-plan-forgets-fishing-industry-communities/article_609745be-09f7-11ed-8d11-8f912596b992.html ) and the current administration visiting the Brayton Point  Powerplant.  The President has earmarked that facility as the new hub, and infrastructure to transform offshore wind...

This week we are talking with some special guests, Sarah and Monica and we are going to discuss the  Portsmouth AgInnovation.  The Portsmouth AgInnovation has put together a student driven farm project. The program has been a huge success with the youth.  Find out how this came together and what they are doing today.   

This week we had a listener ask us to discuss the problems with electricity in the state of Texas, so, we looked it up!  You may remember we did an episode on the “Strain on the Grid” (Ep: 038 – Listen here), but today we are going to go a little deeper! There seems to be a serious issue with their infrastructure and their grid to support major weather conditions. We discuss how  ERCOT (Energy Rel...

On this episode we had a request from one of our listeners to discuss conservation restrictions.  So, we must first understand what are the basics for conservation easement versus conservation restriction.  First it’s is a very legally nuanced. It’s important to understand because when you are looking to develop land or if you’re working for government if you’re looking to try to conserve land the...

How much do you really pay attention to climate change? climate change is not a pie in the sky concept anymore, it’s a real problem.  Today’s guest Bob Brulli is here to educate us about climate change and what we should look for to have a better understanding of it. 

In one of the pervious episodes we discussed solar panels and recently a listener reached out and asked a question.  But before we get into that we celebrate 50 years of the clean water act being passed!      Now, the question asked was are Solar Panels Hazardous and Toxic? Answer… It depends.  Take a listen because we break down what the solar panels are made of, can someone break them down thems...

Alisa Richardson is a professional engineer and currently working with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.  She is the acting administrator of the environmental division at that agency.  Prior to being at DOT, Alisa worked for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. Take a listen as she shares her story and they discuss what it means being an expert in the field.

Time for a POP Quiz Everybody! Play along with us this week and see how many questions you get right, It’s time to take your “Environmental quiz!”  In this episode Clarice is in the hot seat and Marisa is your game show host firing off environmental questions and seeing how many questions they can answer correctly.  Play along with us and let us know how you did! 

Strain on the Grid refers to drought, in power, in electric power and other sources of power. The grid generally refers to the infrastructure that a utility puts in place to provide power from the generator to the user. When you hear the word “grid” most people think of, Electricity, and now that the weather is warming up, what does that mean for the Grid?  What does a rolling blackout mean?   Wha...