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The Climate Divide

Through conversations with residents, researchers and officials, this podcast explores how in D.C. and nationwide, past policies have left many low-income residents and communities of color disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards. “The Climate Divide” is a podcast from Hola Cultura supported by Spotlight DC, the Pulitzer Center and the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

This podcast has also been made available to listeners of WAMU 88.5, NPR’s Consider This podcast, and WTOP Radio.

WAMU 88.5 also aired a 1-hour special on The Climate Divide podcast. Check it out here.

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Season 2: Striving Towards Environmental Justice

Season 2 of “The Climate Divide” examines why some neighborhoods have been overburdened by hazards like pollution, extreme heat and flooding and how these disparities came to be. In a time when both the national and D.C. governments are emphasizing environmental justice, this podcast will focus on the people most affected, who’ve voiced their concerns and advocated for greater environmental justice.

New episodes weekly!

Season 2 cover photo courtesy of Onyinyechi An.

Episode 6: How one D.C. neighborhood is striving towards environmental justice

Ward 5 is home to roughly half of the industrially zoned land in D.C. Residents of Ivy City, a tiny neighborhood with big pollution problems, have protested for decades about the noise and pollution stemming from this industrial activity.

In the season 2 finale, we report on a chemical plant in Ivy City that’s been operating without an air permit since the 1930s. The episode also features an interview with D.C. Council member Zachary Parker about his Environmental Justice bill.

Episode 5: The State of Climate Action in D.C.

While Mayor Muriel Bowser attended the COP climate summit in Dubai, she released a report that laid out D.C.’s path to achieving carbon neutrality. Episode 5 explains what carbon neutrality means for the District, explores one bill that addresses indoor air pollution from gas stoves and examines the impact the city’s tight budget has had on one key environmental program.

Episode 4: How D.C. Got a Clean Rivers Project

D.C. has made a massive investment in improving the health of our rivers and reducing chronic flooding in historically flood-prone areas. Civic action and collaboration with environmental groups played a huge role in shedding light on the contaminated state of the Anacostia River and neighboring communities.

In episode 4, Frazer Walton Jr. lays out the history of activism in his neighborhood, Kingman Park, and other communities on the banks of the Anacostia River. Their advocacy led to the District’s multi-billion dollar overhaul of the storm sewer system through the DC Water Clean Rivers Project.

Episode 3: Breaking Down Barriers for Latinos in the Climate Space

There’s recently been a large federal investment in environmental justice. But how does that investment play out? And what does this funding mean for climate organizations in the D.C. area?

This episode, we feature an interview with Abel Olivo, the co-founder and executive director of Defensores de la Cuenca, a local organization that received $2 million for their tree-planting program. In this conversation, Abel speaks about the origins of Defensores, the process of acquiring these federal funds and how his organization works to engage the Latino community in their environmental efforts.

Episode 2: Why a golf course renovation plan led to an outpouring of support for trees

In episode 2, we look into a controversial tree-removal proposal for the Rock Creek Park Golf Course. More than 1,200 trees are slated to be removed, and numerous environmental groups have spoken up about finding alternatives to cutting all the trees.

Episode 1: Climate Change’s Impact on Washington D.C.

In the first episode of season 2, we see how climate change may already be affecting D.C. and cover a recently completed tunnel project that is expected to address more intense rain storms. We also set out to explain a climate anomaly that occurred over the summer: smoke from Canadian wildfires that came all the way to the District.

Trailer

In Season 2, we’ll highlight stories of residents coping with various environmental hazards that are disproportionately located in low income neighborhoods and decipher the real-world impact of big construction projects and government funding.

Season 1: Heat Disparity in Washington D.C.

Season 1 of “The Climate Divide” explores the correlation between housing discrimination and the lack of green spaces in some D.C. neighborhoods. These densely populated urban blocks can be as much as 20 degrees warmer than historically wealthier and more bucolic wards in the District.

Listen to Season 1

More About Heat Islands

In summer 2021, SPEL's Environmental Justice storytelling team produced a three-part investigative series on heat islands in DC. This series was also published in the Washington City Paper. It received an honorable mention in the 2022 Institute for Nonprofit News awards.

Heat Islands in Washington DC

DC's Tree Canopy: Neighborhoods with the most and least trees