Planet Philadelphia

Dr. Megan Smirti Ryerson, UPS Chair of Transportation and a professor in the departments of City and Regional Planning and of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work in in transportation infrastructure planning and demand forecasting and her work supports the design of transportation systems that are safe efficient and resilient. She will tell us about the problems with our current transportation systems, the intersection of these issues with the environment, and how we might fix these problems. Aired on Planet Philadelphia environmental radio show on WGGT-LP 92.9 FM in Philadelphia and live streamed on gtownradio.com. www.planetphiladelphia.com | @planetphila

Professor Eric Goldwyn, researcher at New York University on Planet Philadelphia environmental radio show. He works on transportation planning and technology. He will be talking about work on urban transportation systems in our COVID-19 era and the future. Aired on Planet Philadelphia environmental radio show on WGGT-LP 92.9 FM in Philadelphia and live streamed on gtownradio.com. www.planetphiladelphia.com | @planetphila

Pennsylvania is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the US and one of the largest regional sources of electric power. What we do here matters far beyond our borders. Liz Robinson talks with us about initiatives to cool the planet and limit greenhouse gases in Pennsylvania the election. Liz founded the Energy Coordinating Agency in Philadelphia and the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance. She also has helped the Energy Coop transition to renewables, and now is the Director of the Philadelphia Solar Energy Association. Liz is Planet Philadelphia’s energy correspondent from Harrisburg (capital city of PA). www.planetphiladelphia.com | @planetphila

Ben Kalina and Jen Schneider have collaborated on directing/producing/writing and filming a recent NOVA science documentary airing on PBS entitled ”Can We Cool the Planet?” They are award-winning film makers who have worked together before. Both have long been interested in environmental issues. They will discuss this film, which deals with the recent scientific advances being contemplated and/or used to lower greenhouse gases and cool the planet, as well as the ethical and other considerations that went into creating this film which was two years in the making. Aired on Planet Philadelphia environmental radio show on WGGT-LP 92.9 FM in Philadelphia and live streamed on gtownradio.com www.planetphiladelphia.com | @planetphila

Listen to our conversation with Matthew George, the creator of the project to clean up trash Germantown while spurring community engagement. His project “I Love Thy Hood” is an inspiring example of how one person can help improve people’s lives. This Planet Philadelphia interview was aired at 92.9 FM WGGT-LP in Philadelphia and on gtownradio.com. www.planetphiladelphia.com | @planetphila

To achieve goals of reducing greenhouse gasses, jobs will have to migrate away from fossil fuel employment. What are workers/labor thinking about this coming shift and how can we help them in an equitable way. Dr. J. Mijin Cha, JD., LL.M. is an Assistant Professor at Occidental College in the Urban and Environmental Policy Department and Fellow at the Worker Institute at Cornell. Dr. Cha will be in conversation with us about her work, her observations, and suggestions for achieving an equitable transition for workers. Originally aired on Planet Philadelphia at 92.9 FM WGGT-LP in Philadelphia and live streamed at gtownradio.com. www.planetphiladelphia.com | @planetphila

Our wide ranging conversation with Dr. Nicola Ferralis about some promising trends, breakthroughs and developments in future technology which could help with climate change, including something his own lab at MIT is working on: a system for electricity-free cooling material inspired by camel fur of all things. www.planetphiladelphia.com | @planetphila

Thomas Cassetta and Joanna Wikander  are station manager and program director respectively of GTown Radio station, the community-based radio station which hosts Planet Philadelphia talking about the role of community-based radio in communicating with local neighborhoods and reaching out to the wider world about the environment. Aired on Planet Philadelphia environmental radio show on WGGT-LP 92.9 FM in Philadelphia and live streamed on gtownradio.com December 18, 2020. www.planetphiladelphia.com | @planetphila

Julie Be and Anya Rose are a folksy duo who write music for children and other childlike people, songfully advocating for positivity, social justice, and silliness. Together they call themselves “Ants on a Log”. Aired on Planet Philadelphia environmental radio show on WGGT-LP 92.9 FM in Philadelphia and live streamed on gtownradio.comDecember 18, 2020. www.planetphiladelphia.com | @planetphila

Colette Pichon Battle, Esq. has worked to advance human rights in the post-Katrina, post- BP Gulf Coast focusing on Global Migration, Community Economic Development, Climate Justice, and Equitable Disaster Recovery.  Colette served as a lead coordinator for the Gulf South Rising regional initiative around climate justice in the South.  In 2016 Colette was named a White House Champion of Change for Climate Equity. In 2015 Colette was selected as an Echoing Green Climate Fellow and was awarded the US Human Rights Network Movement Builder Award for her climate equity work across the Gulf South. She spoke about all of this Planet Philadelphia host, Kay Wood when she visited Philadelphia for the Climate Justice and Jobs symposium hosted by POWER in November 2017.

James Tour, Ph.D.is a professor of chemistry, computer science, and materials science and nanogenineering at Rice University. He tells us about an exciting new process to make graphene cheaply by a flash Joule heating method. Graphene, the hardest manmade substance, could then be used in a number of ways to lower greenhouse gas emissions, such as in adding it to concrete to strengthen and make it less GHG intensive. If the technology proves out, we may even be able to make enough graphene itself to use as a building material instead of using it to strengthen other materials.

This was a fun interview. It really got my imagination going. Need building materials that will grow themselves on Mars? Hear Chelsea Heveran, Ph.D., from University of Colorado and Montano State University tells us about “living building materials”, a new field using living biological matter to make nonorganic objects, including green cement.

Tired of the divisive cacophony we hear nearly every day on nearly every topic? Listen to this uniquely moving and inspiring multi-faith talk about climate change. We recorded this inspiring climate change and morality discussion with Imam Quaiser Abdullah, Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark, Reverend Mitchell C. Hescox, and Rabbi Malkah Binah Klein at G-Town Radio's station on Maplewood Mall in Germantown in Philadelphia. When we recorded the discussion, I was very moved by the level of knowledge, spirit, passion and urgent concern all expressed as well as the tenor of the whole event. – Planet Philadelphia host, Kay Wood

The Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to Developers of Lithium-Ion Batteries, John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino this year. They share the prize. Developing lithium-ion batteries are the power sources that touched off a technological revolution that gave rise to cellphones and electric cars. Dr. Goodenough, age 97, gives few interviews. Planet Philadelphia was honored that he chose to give us an interview about his revolutionary new battery and the future of energy storage in 2017.

Kathy Hipple is a financial analyst at the  Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA.org) and a  finance professor for Bard’s MBA program in Sustainability. She will  talk about a recent report from IEEFA about the long-term economic  prospects of oil and gas drilling. This interview is from Planet Philadelphia environmental  radio show which airs 4-5:00 PM EST 1st and 3rd Friday each month on WGGT-LP  92.9 FM in Philadelphia & gtownradio.com. www.planetphiladelphia.com | www.gtownradio.com @planetphila | @gtownradio