Upside Down: The CCAN Podcast

Last week labor leaders joined climate advocates in what would normally be considered an unlikely cross-over episode. They rallied on the National Mall, in Washington, D.C. to show congress their support for an immediate passage of President Biden's "American Jobs Plan" with a 100% Clean Energy Standard.   

On June 9th, 102 faith leaders nationwide on capitol hill to support 100% Clean energy and the American Jobs Plan.

Author, climate scientist, and CCAN board member Dave Goodrich is an avid cyclist. So much so that he has embarked on a 700 miles journey across the Permian Basin. On his way he has been taking in the sites of the most active oil (and wind) producing areas in the country, and documenting what he sees along the way.    We are so excited to be have been able to chat with him last week after finishing his perilous journey. 

Author, climate scientist, and CCAN board member Dave Goodrich is an avid cyclist. So much so that he has embarked on a 700 miles journey across the Permian Basin. On his way he has been taking in the sites of the most active oil producing area in the country, and documenting what he sees.    We are so excited to be have been able to chat with him last week after his first leg of the journey. Stay tuned for the rest of his story! 

For the past few months CCAN has been boldly going where we have never gone before (excuse the star trek references) into a massive federal campaign! For about the same time we have started the Upside Down podcast and have been introducing you to our staff (albeit slowly) and today I am beyond excited to be talking with our new Federal Campaign associate Quentin Scott.    Quentin Scott joined CCAN in January 2021 as the Federal Campaign Associate working to build political will for groundbreaking climate justice policies in the Executive Branch and Congress. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, he got a first-hand look at the two Americas and sought to bring the two Americas closer together through advocacy. Quentin's passion for math and science landed him at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Instead of using his skills for engineering, he uses his knowledge to build data-informed campaigns. Before joining CCAN, Quentin was chief of staff for an Illinois State Representative and a legislative correspondent in the US House of Representatives, and has led numerous issue and candidate campaigns across the Midwest. In his roles he has stood with neighborhood advocacy groups to hold industrial polluters accountable in communities of color and looks forward to bringing that fight to the federal level. Quentin enjoys exploring new places and has been to 36 states. When he is not traveling you can find him engaging in some form of competition, whether that's video games, board games, or on the basketball court.   For a full transcript of this interview check out our website!

In this episode, CCAN hosts our second federal webinar! This time about President Biden's climate plan. Included in the American Jobs Plan. We're joined by guest speakers, Dr. Leah Stokes of Evergreen Action, Andres Jimenez of Green 2.0, and Ben Beachy from the Sierra Club.    Click here for the full transcript to this episode!    

Just a few weeks ago CCAN had the pleasure of welcoming our new Northern Virginia Organizer, Zander Pellegrino to our team and we are very excited to introduce you to him! From Harrisonburg, VA Zander has spent the past few years working in climate resiliency and planning. He comes to CCAN with a fresh perspective and a deep commitment to helping people where they are.  We sat down with Zander to chat about his journey in climate activism and his road to CCAN, his role in the climate movement, and what he sees as his most exciting challenge moving forward!   For a full transcript of this interview check out our website!

In this episode of Upside Down, On February 24th, CCAN, CCAN Action Fund, and Evergreen Action hosted this all-star panel on the Policy, Politics, Economics, Climate Science, Jobs, and Justice Behind Biden's Plan for 100% Clean Electricity by 2035. We were joined by author and scientist Michael Mann, Economist Stephanie Kelton, Dr. Leah Stokes, and Johnathan Williams of the Sunrise Movement.    Check out the full transcript for the episode here! Check out The New Climate War Check out The Deficit Myth Check out Short Circuiting Policy   And Check out the plan for 100% by 2035  And for more info check out our website at chesapeakeclimate.org

In this episode of Upside Down, for the past 16 years CCAN has hosted its biggest fundraiser of the year in the coolest way possible. The Polar Bear Plunge has been a staple event for CCAN supporters and this year - due to COVID - the show went virtual. This episode is the audio from our big name speakers that joined us for our favorite event of the year; Congressman Donald McEachin, Bill McKibben, and Reverend Lennox Yearwood.    Check out the full transcript for the episode here! And for more info check out our website at chesapeakeclimate.org

In this episode of Upside Down, our Executive Director, Mike Tidwell interviews Dave Goodrich; CCAN Board Member and acclaimed Author of A Voyage Across an Ancient Ocean: A Bicycle Journey Through the Northern Dominion of Oil. In his novel, the distinguished climate scientist turned author and activist, depicts his journey bicycling across a massive stretch of Western United States and Canada.    Check out the full transcript for the episode here! Check out Dave's book here! And for more info check out our website at chesapeakeclimate.org

In this episode in 2020, CCAN helped pass the most ambitious climate legislation in the American South, the Virginia clean Economy Act. Sadly, we did not fare as well across the Potomac in Maryland. However, advocates in 2021 are optimistic that this is the year that Maryland will pass sweeping climate legislation. This episode is the recording of CCAN's legislative preview event for Maryland. Our phenomenal organizers were joined by Maryland delegates, Paul Pinsky, Lorig Charkoudian, and David Frasier-Hidalgo, where they outline their goals for 2021.   Check out the full transcript of the episode here!

Virginia last year saw the passage of the most ambitious climate legislation in the American South, the Virginia clean Economy Act. Now in 2021, advocates across Virginia are turning their attention to one of the biggest sources of climate pollutants, the transportation sector, following closely on the heels of ambitious transportation plans in California and Massachusetts, to ban the sale of internal combustion engines. This episode is a q&a with our Virginia team and experts from Gen180 that helps paint the picture of what an electric transportation sector will look like in Virginia.   Click here for the full transcript of this episode.   Check out the show notes for links to the things discussed in this episode!   If you want to know more about how you can get involved with CCAN and the climate fight check out our website at https://chesapeakeclimate.org/ !   Want to get in touch with us, follow us on Instagram and twitter @CCAN   And if you enjoy the work we do, why don't you share us with your friends! Sharing this show is a super easy way to help spread the word about the work we are doing in the fight for bold Climate actions!    Thanks again for listening, see ya next time!

In this episode, Montgomery county, Maryland declared a climate emergency back in 2017. Yet in the past three years, no meaningful actions have been taken to address the urgent threat. A recent poll commissioned by seeking and Gonzalez polling indicated a striking amount of Montgomery county residents support immediate actions to solve global warming. The following episode is a press conference with CCAN executive director Mike Tidwell, and pollster Patrick Gonzalez, releasing the poll to the public.   Read the full transcript here. If you want to know more about how you can get involved with CCAN and the climate fight check out our website at https://chesapeakeclimate.org/ ! Want to get in touch with us, follow us on Instagram and twitter @CCAN And if you enjoy the work we do, why don't you share us with your friends! Sharing this show is a super easy way to help spread the word about the work we are doing in the fight for bold Climate actions!  Thanks again for listening, see ya next time!

Just a few weeks ago CCAN had the pleasure of welcoming our new Communications Director Laura Cofsky to our team and we are very excited to introduce you to her! A New York native, Laura has spent the past few years working in progressive climate communications, we are lucky to have her joining the team and joining us today. We sat down with Laura to chat about her journey in climate activism and her road to CCAN, her role in the climate movement, and what she sees as her most exciting challenge moving forward!   For a full transcript of this interview check out our website!

Denise is the now former Communications Director for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Denise grew up in Madison Wisconsin, went to college at Cornell in upstate New York, and has called DC home for the past 8.5 years. She first decided she wanted to save the world from global warming when she was 8 years old. She's co-authored a book about climate refugees called Rising Tides: Climate Refugees in the Twenty-First Century, published by Indiana University Press in 2017, and is currently working on a novel and a short story collection. She has a cat named Elephant. After four long years with CCAN, she has decided to take the next step in her life and move on. I was lucky enough to have a chat with Denise before she handed the baton to our new Comms Director.   For a full transcript of this interview check out our website!

Just a few weeks ago CCAN had the pleasure of welcoming our new Federal & Maryland Policy Director Jamie DeMarco to our team and we are very excited to introduce you to him! Jamie joined the team as our new Federal & Maryland Policy director and will be leading us to future legislative victories on Capitol Hill and in Annapolis. We sat down with Jamie to chat with him about his journey in climate activism and his road to CCAN, his role in the climate movement, and what he sees as his most exciting challenge moving forward!   For a full transcript of the interview check out our website!

Just a few weeks ago CCAN had the pleasure of welcoming our new Virginia Director Kim Jemaine to our team and we are very excited to introduce you to her! Kim joined the team as our new Virginia director and will be leading us to future legislative victories in the commonwealth of Virginia. We sat down with Kim to chat with her about her journey from Pretoria, South Africa to CCAN, her role in the climate movement, and what she sees as her most exciting challenge moving forward!   For a full transcript of this episode check out our website!

Hi my name is Charlie Olsen, and this is Upside Down: The Podcast from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.  Where we bring new insights into the upside of the clean energy revolution, and the dark realities of dirty energy.   CCAN is dedicated to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in MD, VA, DC, and nation-wide.    Why are we making a podcast? At CCAN we believe that communication is essential for achieving meaningful climate policy. We have baked it deeply into the way we fight for bold climate solutions where we work. This podcast is another extension of the way we hope to reach a wider audience and bring more folks into the fight with us.    What can you expect from this feed? From this feed you'll hear from CCAN staff who work to achieve the climate action that this moment demands. You'll get recaps of CCAN events. You'll hear from our executive director, Mike Tidwell about CCAN's vision to achieve a clean energy future for all.    We will also have the voices of industry leaders in environment and politics joining us.   Why should you listen? Each episode will provide you with more information and knowledge about the big climate fights we are tackling, how to get involved, and what the plan is to win these fights. Listening to our show will keep you engaged and informed about what you can do to help all of us win a clean energy future.   How to get involved? Well you already took the first step by listening to this episode! Step two is subscribing to this show on whatever platform you are listening on right now! After that you should go follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and instagram @CCAN to stay in touch with us! If you want to learn even more about how to get involved, check out our website chesapeakeclimate.org