Spotify/Gimlet’s How To Save A Planet Traces Origins Of The Blue New Deal

 How To Save A Planet is a podcast about climate change. It's refreshing that the tone of the show avoids the sanctimonious rhythms of "do-gooder" podcasts and instead focuses on relevant questions about what human activities can or cannot affect climate alterations.

 For example, in a recent episode, hosts Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Alex Blumberg talked about the extent to which electric vehicles are actually better for the climate. In another episode, the hosts ask about natural gas being classified as a renewable energy sources. It that a scam, they ask, and then attempt to answer that question.

This week, Blumberg and Dr. Johnson dive deep into tracing the origins of the Blue New Deal from an initial idea and a plea to factor the oceans into climate policy all the way to President Biden’s $2 trillion climate plan.

 

A week after President Biden took office, he signed an executive order called The Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis, a document laying out a plan for what his administration wants the U.S. government to do to address climate change. The plan includes a section on coastal communities and the role they have to play in mitigating climate change -- a piece of policy shaped in large part by How to Save a Planet co-host Dr. Johnson. 

 

In this episode, Johnson shares her journey advocating for ocean policy, and all the people who helped shape it along the way -- from early conversations with the CEO of Surfrider Foundation about why the ocean always gets left out, to authoring an op-ed that caught the attention of policymakers like Elizabeth Warren, to being recruited to offer input on Biden’s climate plans during his campaign.

It’s an illuminating, lively conversation revealing a glimpse at the hundreds of people who are involved in federal climate policy, as well as a primer on the economic benefits and popularity of ocean-related policy.

There is a connected interplay between Blumberg and Johnson that surrounds the show with a slightly whimsical yet passionate tone.  Blumberg has loads of experience in podcasting -- co-host with Adam Davidson of Planet Money and co-founder of Gimlet Media -- while Dr. Johnson has delivered several high-visibility TED Talks, took part in the YouTube series "Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants" and has written for numerous publications including Scientific American. 

Listen to the episode here.