Largest-Ever Climate March, Pointing The Way To A Brighter Future, Wisconsin Life: The Working Lives Project

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A lot of the most popular science fiction movies and books in the past few years paint very unhappy pictures of the future. We learn about a new project featuring top science fiction writers that’s trying to inspire more optimism in the genre. In our Wisconsin Life segment, we hear about the experiences of a professional arborist and then discuss the Wisconsin Humanities Council’s Working Lives Project. We also hear from two Wisconsinites who traveled to New York City for the world’s largest-ever climate march.

Featured in this Show

  • Wisconsinites Join World's Largest-Ever Climate March In New York Last Weekend

    Among the 400,000 activists who took part in what is reported to have been the world’s largest-ever climate march in New York City on Sunday were a number of Wisconsin residents.

    All 50 states were represented at the People’s Climate March, which its organizers say was meant to send a message to global leaders that action is urgently needed to address the issue of climate change.

    Madison-based environmental activist Laura Hanson Schlachter estimated that about 250 people from Wisconsin joined the march. She herself organized three buses of 150 Wisconsin residents to join the global event.

    “It’s a really incredible feeling to know that you’re joined with people in 166 countries around the world,” she said. “There was a huge Jumbotron with shots from all around the world.”

    Madison West High School student Laura Kiernan took the bus to New York City along with her mother.

    “From my point in the back of the march, it looked like it went on infinitely,” she said. “There were a bunch of young people as well as old people. On our bus, there were people from ages 3 to 70.”

    Kiernan said she joined the movement to demand action on climate change after coming to understand the broad implications of a changing climate on people’s lives beyond artic conservation.

    “When I was a little kid I thought of global warming as ‘Save the polar bears’, but now I realize it’s so much more than that,” she said.

    Hanson Schlachter said that she believes marches like the People’s Climate March make an actual impact on policy and business behavior, pointing to the news that the Rockefellers, of Standard Oil wealth, have chosen to divest the Rockefeller Brothers Fund of fossil fuels, instead investing in green energy. By doing so, the Rockefellers have joined a coalition of philanthropists ridding themselves of more than $50 billion in fossil fuel assets.

  • Wisconsinites Recount Experience At World's Largest-Ever Climate March

    Members of environmental group 350 Madison traveled to New York City over the weekend to take part in the People’s Climate March ahead of Tuesday’s UN Climate Summit. It turned out to be the largest-ever climate march in the world. They recount the experience.

  • Pointing The Way To A Brighter Future

    A lot of the most popular science fiction movies and books in recent years paint very unhappy pictures of the future. A new project, featuring A-List science fiction writers, tries to inspire a sense of techno-optimism. Science fiction legend Gregory Benford and writer/editor Kathryn Cramer explain the goals of Project Hieroglyph.

  • Wisconsin Life: Arborist And The Working Lives Project

    In this episode of Wisconsin Life, we hear about the experiences of a professional arborist. The piece is part of WPR’s partnership with the Wisconsin Humanities Council’s Working Lives Project, which we learn about from the group’s executive director.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Galen Druke Producer
  • Amanda Magnus Producer
  • Laura Hanson Schlachter Guest
  • Beth Esser Guest
  • Gregory Benford Guest
  • Kathryn Cramer Guest
  • Dena Wortzel Guest

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