After seeing this new youth-led climate group pop up on social media, we knew that we had to get Climate Defiance on Climate Convos. Youth climate activism has been growing, especially with recent youth climate cases, and the newly-created Climate Defiance group has taken a direct, non-violent, and confrontational course of action. From blockading the White House Correspondents Dinner to shutting down the Congressional luncheon of Deputy National Climate Advisor Mary Repko, Climate Defiance is a new group full of passion and determination. Join us in our discussion with Rylee Haught on what it means to be doing this direct activism and how Climate Defiance came to be.

Learn more about Climate Defiance: https://www.climatedefiance.org/

Follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/climatedefiance/

Climate Defiance Fund: https://chuffed.org/project/stopclimatecriminals

We're back from hiatus! We originally reached out to Matthew Pickett to hear about the work he is doing to protect his community from the Mountain Valley Pipeline when the Inflation Reduction Act was passed in 2022. At the time, it seemed that Senator Manchin might succeed in pushing through the pipeline. Well, life happens and that was a while ago. Senator Manchin did not succeed. However, there has never been a better time to learn about the Mountain Valley Pipeline, as the fight is ongoing. Listen, because we all have a place we call home. #StopMVP. 

• Matthew's work at Loud Valley Productions
• https://powhr.org/
• POWHR Twitter
• Army Corps Call to Action — deadline extended to 2/25/23

Can climate change be funny? That's what we're here to find out from the experts, Katie Hannigan (she/her) and Esteban Gast (he/him). If this conversation was any indication, the answer is a resounding — yes. Katie and Esteban are a part of the Climate Comedy Cohort from Generation 180 and Center for Media & Social Impact’s GoodLaugh initiative. Both are impressive performers (catch that time Katie was on Colbert or Esteban had his own TV show) looking to incorporate climate in their work. We know you'll love them as much as we do.

Katie's Website — https://www.katiehannigan.com/home

Esteban's Website — https://www.estebangast.com/

Learn More About the Climate Comedy Cohort — https://generation180.org/climate-comedy-cohort/

We speak with Carah Ronan (she/her), a neighbor from the Thiel Road Coalition, a grassroots group in Laurel, MT working to save their home from an unwanted gas pipeline. Carah teaches us about what's at stake for her community, the lengths those in power are willing to go to get what they want, and above all, why we must all keep fighting. After all, what other choice do we have?

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Connect with Thiel Road

https://www.instagram.com/thielroadcoalition/

https://www.facebook.com/Thielroadcoalition-105573365393364/

With a climate movement full of young people, what should we be learning from student activists? What do student activists still need to work on? In this pod, we learn from Megan Raisle (she/her), former student divestment activist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Among other things, we cover her time observing the COPs, the importance of institutional knowledge, putting people's humanity above all else (but sometimes getting pissed anyway), and how the climate movement is like playing jenga... and dominoes. 

Resources:

Divestment: https://divestmentdatabase.org/ and https://www.divest101.com/ 

How to be a climate activist at work: https://drawdown.org/sites/default/files/210920_Drawdown_AtWork_06.pdf

Join the inaugural episode of Climate Convos, the entry level climate podcast from On the Level. Hosts Lucy Hochschartner (she/hers) and Ingrid Thyr (she/hers) help guide you on your climate action journey with easy conversations about tough topics. Hit play for activist origin stories, insightful interviews with movement leaders, and tools and tips to start making change in your own community. 

This month, we're joined by Patrick Belmont, hydrologist and geomorphologist at Utah State University, to talk about the different forms of climate denial we see in our own lives and how we can hold ourselves accountable to dealing with the reality of the climate crisis.

On the Level's Climate Action Explorer — https://beonthelevel.org/climate-action-explorer/

Patrick's Twitter — https://twitter.com/river_mender

Patrick's TedX Talk — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNrmpPraBIs

Patrick's Medium Article — https://medium.com/@patrick.belmont/surprise-youre-probably-a-climate-change-denier-52a5e2dd7743