Seems Hopeless: Recent Episodes
Olamide Ajasin, Samuel Alzate, Shohom Bose, Noemi Carrillo, Shirling Xu
The scientific consensus on climate science and the existence of climate change has been proven to be overwhelming. With this information, how do we frame it in a way where the relevance is clear? This is the focus of our podcast, bringing to light important environmental justice topics for people who are curious about learning more. We hope to educate our listeners on environmental inequality through bite-size topical episodes and encourage participation in environmental advocacy on a local level.
This episode is about ways you can help in your community. The links talked about are listed here:
Organizations
- Eco-act.org
- gawand.org
- psequity.org
Books
- As Long as Grass Grows by Dina Gilo-Whitaker
- On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal by Naomi Klein
Podcast
- Living Downstream NPR
In episode five, we explore how urban sprawl and disparities in transportation impact people from low-income and minority communities in big cities like Atlanta. People often overlook the impacts of transportation at a local level, which is why we chose to specifically talk about Atlanta. Urban sprawl means more than just rapid expansion of a city; it means that working people are losing time on the roads due to congested traffic since people from outside of the area are driving longer distances to get to their destination. Due to congested traffic, people in poor living areas are impacted by the air pollution caused by car emissions. Furthermore, others don’t own cars and have little access to public transit, which means they have no reliable transportation. We emphasize the importance of transportation equity by discussing how it can only be achieved when city officials engage communities being impacted, a prime example being the Atlanta Beltline.
For episode four, we decided to focus on the environmental injustice surrounding sea-level rise. More often than not, people focus on the large-scale impacts of a rising sea level while overlooking the effect on the daily lives of individuals. In this episode, we explore the sea-level rise and how different communities will experience the consequences in drastically different ways. We talk about how in Georgia, for example, policy-makers would rather look at sea level rise vulnerability through a technocratic lens, ignoring the cultural and socio-spatial aspect of the problem. Essentially, this “colorblind” adaptation planning for sea-level rise further exemplifies how, in the future, specific communities will suffer the brunt of it while others will be protected through vulnerability mitigation.
The main purpose of episode three is to provide an introduction to the idea that environmental justice has impacts that affect different groups at different levels. Focusing in on oil extraction allowed us to compare and contrast the impacts of international oil drilling on air quality, water quality, and human health/rights on a broad international level. By comparing and contrasting the impact on US populations versus Nigerian village inhabitants, the listener can get a clearer picture of what we mean when we speak on inequity in environmental justice on a large scale. Additionally, by bringing in a first hand account via an interview with Nigerian with experience living in these conditions, the listener can feel more connected to the material
In Episode two, we narrow our focus to issues affecting others in the US. With the Clean Air Act and Safe Drinking Water Acts being some of the most successful internationally, those who are supposed to be protected, yet aren’t, are usually not recognized, being doubly forgotten for the fact that they shouldn’t exist. In this episode, we share the stories of Port Arthur, Texas, and Flint, Michigan, cases that have gotten enough attention to be knowable, and tell their stories and focus on the barriers they faced/are facing to get the privileges afforded by the CAA and SDWA. This episode highlights the existence of these communities and draws attention to social justice groups focused on finding and aiding them, in the hopes that listeners contribute to the cause.