Climate Humor, Racism, Poetry, & More

Peterson Toscano of Citizen's Climate Radio visits with 5 guests, on topics including climate comedy with Brian Ettling, climate-coping lessons from the Netherlands with Edgar Westerhof of Arcadis North America, environmental racism with Brentin Mock, and poetry from River Hymns by Tyree Daye.

Extended Notes: Conversations about climate change can get downright dire and dreary. But isn’t there room for comedy? Brian Ettling is a comic who is not ashamed to pull out a rubber chicken for a gag. He joins Peterson Toscano for a lively conversation about climate comedy.

Superstorm Sandy shocked the New York Metropolitan area in 2012. By some freak coincidence, right before this epic storm hit, Edgar Westerhof moved to New York City from the Netherlands. Not only does he come from a country that knows a lot about flooding, but Edgar is also an expert in integrated urban water management. Since Sandy, Edgar has become the National Director for Flood Risk and Resiliency for Arcadis North America.

After 10 years of reporting on race, culture, and civil rights, Brentin Mock embraced environmental issues as his new beat. He has since become a leading voice highlighting environmental racism in America. He speaks with Peterson Toscano about pollution, segregation, asthma, and mobility. Brentin also speaks candidly about failures of predominantly white environmental organizations that attempt to reach out to people of color. He shares why these attempts fail and what climate advocates can do to build a more diverse coalition.

Also joining the discussion is Dr. Natasha DeJarnett, environmental health policy analyst from the American Public Health Association. She outlines statistics on historical and contemporary pollution. She highlights how air and water pollution pose severe health risks for everyone, but especially people of color in the U.S.

Joining us in the Art House is poet Tyree Daye. As an African-American man living in the U.S. South, Tyree weaves together stories and voices from his family. He artistically expresses the collective trauma they have experienced and the deep insights passed down. Rivers, water, and flooding continually come up in his book of poetry called River Hymns. Tyree talks about his poetry and reads pieces from the book and new poetry.