Citizens’ Climate Radio Ep. 37: Pitching And Performing For Climate

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There is a growing movement among professional athletes. More and more of them, like Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Brent Suter, are using their platforms to urge large scale responses to climate change. Brent received a scholarship to play baseball at Harvard University, where he studied environmental science. He learned about the effects of climate change and what how we need to drastically reduce our pollution. At first, that meant making individual lifestyle choices to lower his own personal carbon footprint, but he has been expanding his efforts. Through his Strike Out Waste initiative, he got professional baseball players to use reusable water bottles during spring training.

Citizens’ Climate Radio is a monthly podcast hosted by CCL volunteer Peterson Toscano. Browse all our past episode recaps here, or listen to past episodes here, and check out the latest episode in the post below.

There is a growing movement among professional athletes. More and more of them, like Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Brent Suter, are using their platforms to urge large scale responses to climate change.

Brent received a scholarship to play baseball at Harvard University, where he studied environmental science. He learned about the effects of climate change and what how we need to drastically reduce our pollution. At first, that meant making individual lifestyle choices to lower his own personal carbon footprint, but he has been expanding his efforts. Through his Strike Out Waste initiative, he got professional baseball players to use reusable water bottles during spring training.

That’s just a start. Brent understands we need to change national energy policy. In a recent interview for the Green Sports Blog, he said, “At this point in time, a carbon pricing program and higher incentives for clean energy are absolutely imperative towards the goal of stabilizing our climate and ensuring a healthy and viable future for our planet. The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act would not only help achieve these goals, but would give the funds raised back to the people, save countless lives, and create millions of jobs! A Green Revolution needs to happen fast, and this law, if passed, would play a vital role in helping solve the most important problem of our lives.”

Hear our exclusive interview and learn more about the exciting news about how Brent is taking on climate change.

Listen Now!

The Art House

Also in this episode, we talk with circus artist and podcaster Eliana Dunlap, who is using circus arts to raise awareness about climate change. Eliana was not born into a circus family; instead she learned circus arts at a circus school in Quebec. Her circus skill set is impressive and includes acrobatics, juggling, dance, and her specialty, the German Wheel (pictured below). She has been performing circus arts in non-traditional spaces. She is also someone who is creatively responding to climate change. Through her podcast, “Changing the World and Other Circus Related Things,” she is connecting with other concerned circus artists. She is also one of the founding members of the Circus Action Network.

Eliana likens the high stakes world of circus arts to the challenges we face with climate change. She also sees examples from the circus world about how we can get people from various backgrounds to work together. This summer she and a friend will do street performances of a new circus art show called “High Stakes—What’s the Plan(t)?” In addition to lots of juggling and acrobatics, the show features a live plant as part of the action.

In this fascinating interview, Eliana opens up about the world of circus and how she and other concerned artists are creating avenues for a deeper conversation about climate change.

Puzzler

In answer to last month’s question, high school student Jerome Foster II explains why in his climate work, he is more of an advocate than a rebel.

Here’s a new puzzler question for this month. It’s a weird one, but there is a method in our madness. We need to expand the ways we talk about climate change. Here is the question:

What color do you associate with climate change and why? Or, what sound do you associate with climate change and why?

You’re welcome to answer either or both. Send Peterson your answers by July 15, 2019, along with your name, contact info, and where you are from. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of 3 minutes or less at 518.595.9414 (+1 if calling from outside the USA).

Dig Deeper

See other high-profile supporters of the Energy Innovation Act
Brent Suter on Major League Baseball Network Twitter with a video about sustainability
United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework
WTMJ 4 featuring Brent Suter’s skills doing impressions
See Eliana Dunlap on the German Wheel and on the trapeze
A short documentary about the German Wheel
High Stakes—What’s the Plan(t) video promo

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio. If you listen on Apple Podcasts, please consider rating and reviewing us!

Posted by Brett Cease on Jun 28, 2019 9:32 AM America/Los_Angeles