Hot Future: Recent Episodes
Elaine Wolff
Hot Future is the podcast for people who are working to build a better tomorrow despite the challenges of our warming world. Each episode we’ll bring you stories of resilience, adaptation and innovation at the local level.
Credit Human President and CEO Stev Hennigan talks to Hot Future about the credit union's new headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, which combines energy efficiency, solar power, geothermal, water capture and more in one of the country's most sustainable commercial buildings. Hennigan, who spent a decade on the board of San Antonio's public utility, talks about lessons for corporate leaders, why the LEED standards are just the starting point for him, and the way public incentives really worked on this project. • (01:43) Why LEED https://www.usgbc.org/leed (standards) are just the beginning • (08:36) Credit unions v. traditional banks • (11:51) The future of Credit Human • (13:19) How the public incentives really worked • (17:12) Addicted to cheap energy • (21:16) Some of the https://1703broadway.com/about/ (Credit Human building)’s green features https://www.irena.org/geothermal#:~:text=Geothermal%20energy%20is%20heat%20derived,harnessed%20to%20generate%20clean%20electricity. (Geothermal) energy https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/home-heating-systems/radiant-heating (Radiant) floor heating https://greenbusinessbureau.com/blog/what-is-a-biodigester/ (Biodigester) • (34:37) Lessons for corporate leaders And: a short https://drive.google.com/file/d/11ax5142KmOgFEfW2ZClTvL9GfWcr_e6h/view (Credit Human video) about the building
Colorado Land Link Coordinator Amanda Laban talks about preventing the loss of US farm land by matching food producers with arable acreage, a task made more urgent as the average age of American farmers continues to climb, and the loss of farmland and agribusiness consolidation continue to take a toll on small and midsize farms. It’s a program that can help new farmers get their start, and established businesses pass their acreage to a new generation, but it’s in need of broader and deeper-pocketed support. • Colorado https://guidestonecolorado.org/colorado-land-link/ (Land Link) • As More Farmers https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2019/0401/As-more-US-farmers-near-retirement-who-will-replace-them (Near Retirement,) Who Will Replace Them? • Fewer Farms, https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/12099-fewer-farms-older-farmers-usda-releases-2017-ag-census (Older Farmers) • https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Highlights/2019/2017Census_Farm_Producers.pdf (Highlights) from the USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service 2017 US Farm Census • Lonely in the Country? Tryhttps://www.farmersonly.com/ ( Farmers Only) • Who Gives A Crap, forest-friendly, plastic-free https://us.whogivesacrap.org/pages/about-us (paper products) • Land Link and Farm Link https://landforgood.org/resources/farm-link-programs/#:~:text=All%20farm%20link%20programs%20work,and%20transitioning%20or%20retiring%20farmers (resources) • Land Link https://www.youngfarmers.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Land-Link-Directory-2019.pdf (Directory)
Our Guest: Amanda Laban, Lhttps://guidestonecolorado.org/colorado-land-link/ (and Link Coordinator) for Guidestone Colorado
Tech entrepreneur Lew Moorman turned his talents to regenerative agriculture this year with Soilworks, a public benefit company that aims to make healthy, affordable, sustainably produced food mainstream. In this episode of Hot Future: • https://soilworksnaturalcapital.com/ (Soilworks Natural Capital) • Regenerative Agriculture https://regenerationinternational.org/why-regenerative-agriculture/ (primer) • Anthropocene: https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/10/people-tune-out-climate-messages-about-personal-responsibility/ (People Tune Out) Climate Messages About Personal Responsibility • Tech Crunch: New Report Finds https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/23/new-report-finds-vc-investment-into-climatetech-growing-five-times-faster-than-overall-vc/ (Investment Into Climate Tech) Growing 5 Times Faster Than Overall VC • Nutritional info on https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1475-2891-9-10 (grass-fed beef) • Coconut Matter https://coconutmatter.com/collections/deodorant (plastic-free deodorant) (and lip balm) Our guest: Lew Moorman, https://www.startupssanantonio.com/scaleworks-co-founders-launch-regenerative-agriculture-company-called-soilworks-acquire-pasturemap/ (co-founder), Soilworks Natural Capital
Hot Future talks with Eden Vardy of the 2Forks Club in Aspen, Colorado. The club uses member donations to make zero-interest loans to local farmers and food producers, based on the principles developed by Woody Tasch in Inquiries Into the Nature of Slow Money. Eden likes to call it "venture philanthropy." And of course we talk about inspiration and optimism in the face of climate change. (01:24) zero-interest loans for farmers (04:07) the https://slowmoney.org/about (Slow Money Institute) (12:34) the https://thefarmcollaborative.org/ (Farm Collaborative) (15:01) funding local regenerative agriculture (21:27) optimism and inspiration (24:01) USDA searchable local https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/local-regional/food-directories-listings (food directories) (it needs your input, too!) Guest: Eden Vardy, https://www.2forks.org/our-team (managing director), the 2 Forks Club
Organic Farming and Carbon Ranching: Hot Future talks to Mad Agriculture’s Phil Taylor about supporting farmers who want to transition to organic agriculture and the Quivira Coalition explains what it means to work at the Radical Center and the promise of carbon ranching. Plus: A lot of good attitude and inspiration. #climatechange #food #farming #carbon #CO2 #agriculture Also: Audio glitches fixed! In this episode: (03:09) Mad Agriculture’s https://madagriculture.org/perennial-fund (Perennial Fund) (04:53) https://madagriculture.org/markets-1 (Carbon Farming and carbon markets) (12:47) The https://quiviracoalition.org/radical-center/ (Radical Center) (19:23) https://quiviracoalition.org/carbon-ranch-initiative/ (Carbon Ranching) and drought resilience Subpod https://subpod.com/ (composting) Guests: (01:18) Phil Taylor, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Mad Agriculture (12:47) Sarah Wentzell-Fisher, Executive Director, Quivira Coalition (19:17) Eva Stricker, Carbon Ranch Director, Quivira Coalition (15:40) Arielle Quintana, Education and Outreach Director, Quivira Coalition Image: Delivering compost to Sol Ranch, courtesy Quivira Coalition