BEST OF THE BEST: Air Pollution: The Low Hanging Fruit of Our Hellish Future
Cast your mind back to Episode 79, when Quinn & Brian discussed: Optimism in the air (can it be?).
Our guest is: Beth Gardiner, an environmental journalist and the author of Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution. The Guardian writes, “You couldn't ask for a better guide for ... concerned citizens,” which pretty much sums up our audience.
We’re replaying this fan favorite during this crisis for two timely reasons: 1) breathing in pollution creates underlying conditions that dramatically elevate the risk of complication from diseases like COVID-19 and, CONVENIENTLY, 2) Trump just rolled back Obama’s vehicle tailpipe rules.
This change should amount to “as much as 923 million more metric tons of carbon dioxide being emitted,” according to The Washington Post, which they report “is equivalent to the emissions from running 237 coal power plants for a year.”
SO ANYWAYS. This is one place where we can actually make a difference in reversing the climate crisis, so Gardiner’s tips for citizens who want to affect change are critically important right now.
Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com
New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.
INI Book Club:
- “Field Notes from a Catastrophe” by Elizabeth Kolbert
- https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3
- INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club
Links:
- Twitter: twitter.com/Gardiner_Beth
- www.bethgardiner.com
- Read: Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution
- Read: “Trump administration rolls back rules on mileage standards, dealing a blow to Obama-era climate policy”
Connect with us:
- Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com
- Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
- Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett
- Follow Brian: twitter.com/beansaight
- Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant
- Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com
- Artwork by Amrit Pal
Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media
Listen On
Featured Episodes
How To Make Ethical Decisions
Has there ever been a more important time, a more consequential time, to lead with ethics? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Susan Liautaud . Susan is the author of The Power of Ethics and of the …
The Female Origin of Species
How did the female body drive 200 million years of human evolution? And why the hell are we just finding out about it now? That's today's big question, and my guest is Cat Bohannon . Cat is the author of …
Can Your Gut Predict Alzheimer's?
Can your gut composition predict Alzheimer's? That's today's big question and my returning guest is Gautam Dantas. Gautam heads up the Dantas Lab at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis . His lab works at...
What Causes Depression?
Content Warning We're going to be talking about stress and anxiety, depression, suicide, and more today. If any of this could be triggering to you in any way, please feel free to just skip over this one. Nothing in this …
Fighting Food Waste With The iPhone of Trash Cans
How much food do you throw away every week? And do you have to? That's today's big question, and my guest is Matt Rogers . Matt is a former Apple iPod and iPhone engineer . The Co-Founder of Nest thermostats …
How To Live A Happy Life
How can we live happier lives? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Marc Schulz, the co-author with Dr. Robert Waldinger of “The Good Life: Lessons From the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness” They're t...
Every Climate Action Matters
What can I do? The simple question is the underlying premise of everything we do here. It's often the easiest one to help people answer for themselves, but from the outside, it's often the most imposing. All of which is …
Clean Air Is An Inside Job
Imagine you’re in a sci-fi movie. The one where everything’s on the line . And while dinosaurs or aliens or a virus takes over down on the ground, you’re the scientist unexpectedly riding in the helicopter with the actual pre...