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.
Check out the 1-hour special WAMU 88.5 aired on The Climate Divide podcast. .
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Season 3: How to Get a Just Transition
In D.C., a combination of grassroots initiatives, city government programs and federal grants are seeking to address pressing climate and health issues and build resilience. Season 3 of “The Climate Divide” explores these solutions to see how they take shape in practice and what impact they will have on residents.
New episodes every Thursday.
Episode 5: How Community Organizations Are Becoming More Climate Resilient
Some cities around the U.S. are responding to the growing threat of more extreme heat and intense storms with resilience hubs equipped with backup energy and offering supplies and information for residents during a disaster.
In this season finale, we cover the District’s first resilience hub at the FH Faunteroy Community Enrichment Center in the Deanwood neighborhood. The second part of the episode will feature an interview with Dr. Sacoby Wilson, the director of the Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH) at the University of Maryland School of Public Health.
Episode 4: The State of the District’s Parks
The National Park Service owns most of the District’s parkland. How does this unique predicament affect our parks and green spaces? In this episode, host Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe speaks with Rachel Clark, the lead author of a report that explored the challenges and inequities that arise due to the Park Service’s management of D.C.’s parks and its D.C. maintenance backlog surpassing $1 billion. The episode also includes an update on plans to rehabilitate the Rock Creek Park Golf Course, a Park Service property where more than 1,000 trees are slated to be removed.
For additional reporting on the Rock Creek Park Golf Course tree removal, check out season 2, episode 2.
Photo credit: GPA Photo Archive / Ward 8 Woods / Facebook
Episode 3: How Environmental Justice Advocate Brenda Richardson Prioritizes Access and Equity
This week, we’re featuring an interview with Brenda Richardson, the coordinator for the Anacostia Parks & Community Collaborative, which focuses on making the Anacostia River and surrounding natural areas more accessible for residents in Wards 7 and 8. In this conversation, Richardson discusses her concerns about flooding and extreme heat, the impacts of D.C.’s tighter budget and how she informs residents about climate change and resilience.
Episode 2: How the District is Doing at Creating Healthy Homes
Residents, advocates and officials recently testified at a D.C. Council hearing about the impact Mayor Muriel Bowser’s recently proposed budget will have on local climate programs. Episode 2 covers concerns that the budget will defund climate equity programs that aim to make home energy upgrades more affordable for low and moderate-income households. We’ll also share highlights from one fair that aims to inform residents about numerous electric appliances and the different incentives and rebates that could make these products more affordable.
Episode 1: How To Protect Trees in a Time of Rapid Development
D.C. has been in the midst of a development boom fueled by rising demand for market rate housing and a need for more affordable housing. This has come at a cost for the District’s trees. In the first episode of season 3, we see how the tree protection nonprofit Casey Trees qualifies the state of the city’s trees in their annual report card and take a look at a bill that attempts to change D.C.’s tree preservation laws.
Trailer
In season 3 of “The Climate Divide,” we’ll focus on the solutions various people and groups are coming up with to ensure that D.C. and its residents are more sustainable and resilient in the face of climate change. The interviews and stories covered will discuss how tree cover, park access and electrifying our homes and transportation will impact the residents in the District that are most vulnerable to various environmental and health hazards.
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 season focuses on the people most affected who’ve voiced their concerns and advocated for greater environmental justice.
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.
More About Heat Islands
In the summer of 2021, our Storytelling Program for Experiential Learning‘s Environmental Justice Team produced a three-part investigative series on heat islands in D.C. This series was co-published in the Washington City Paper and also 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