TED Climate: Got (sustainable) milk?

In the heart of Louisiana, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, more than 150 petrochemical plants spew huge amounts of carbon into our atmosphere—and into the communities they occupy. In this episode, Ryan and Anjali talk to a community organizer whose own sickness inspired her to take action and fight back against these harmful industries, and break down the dark history behind these plants and the communities they target. They also chat with the executive director of Michael Bloomberg’s Beyond Petrochemical campaign, which supports communities as they fight against plastic pollution and work to take down petrochemical plants that threaten the health and safety of their citizens.

Food production makes up about 12% of our global emissions—that comes not only from the kinds of food we eat (like beef, which is one of the highest-emission foods you can eat), but how we grow and make it. The city of Copenhagen set an ambitious goal to reduce emissions from all its public kitchens by 25% by this year, 2025—but can they pull it off? Ryan and Anjali investigate Copenhagen’s strategies, from stepping up school menus to tackling food waste, and answer the most important question of all: can sustainable food actually taste good? For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/speed-and-scale-transcript Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The aviation industry is responsible for 3.5% of the world’s carbon emissions. That may seem like a small number globally, but this is a big problem in the developed world—and a stubborn one to solve. In this episode, Ryan and Anjali take a look at how Hawaii—a state whose aviation produces half of all transportation emissions—is working to clean up their airways and reach their goal of zero emissions by 2045. They consult experts to learn about the three main problems to focus on, what we can learn from Europe’s strategy to tackle this issue, and the steps available right now to pilots, passengers, and governments to shrink the carbon footprint of flying. For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/speed-and-scale-transcript Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did you know that cows emit methane when they burp? Livestock account for over 12% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, but farmers and scientists have discovered a superfood that might be the key to lower emissions—and raise healthier cows. In this episode, Ryan and Anjali investigate the mystery of Asparagopsis, a seaweed variety that removes methane from the guts of the animals who eat it. The catch? There are only nine licensed growers in the world. Ryan and Anjali are joined by three experts to talk about the science behind this amazing plant, the benefits we’re already seeing from the animals who eat it, and the next steps for scaling up its use by farmers around the world. For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/speed-and-scale-transcript Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even if we do everything we need to do to limit our carbon emissions—curb deforestation, stop driving so many miles, clean up our power grids—we still need to remove gigatons of carbon from our atmosphere to meet our climate goals. Carbon removal is still a new technology, and while carbon removal companies removed roughly 35,000 tons of carbon last year, we have a long way to go. Luckily, there are people working on creative ways to raise the capital needed for development of this crucial tech. Ryan and Anjali chat with Nan Ransohoff, Head of Climate at the online payment company Stripe, and learn about her efforts to invest in carbon removal, and encouraging other big companies to remove 10 million gigatons of carbon each year by 2050. For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/speed-and-scale-transcript Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.