Modern conveniences have real consequences. In order to accommodate the massive increase in online shopping, Big Retailers like Target, Amazon, Walmart, Ikea, have necessitated a fossil-fueled goods movement industry, shipping manufactured goods from abroad into ports on the coasts (like Los Angeles and Long Beach). Via diesel-spewing trucks and trains, products are then transferred to sprawling warehouse projects far inland where real estate is cheaper. One such project we will talk about today (which was recently approved in Southern California) is the size of 700-football-fields. And with this and other projects come significant impacts to the air, land, and human rights. Our guests today, Dr. Joe Lyou, President & CEO of the Coalition for Clean Air [https://www.ccair.org/] and Commissioner for the California Transportation Commission, and Adrian Martinez, Senior Attorney at Earthjustice [https://earthjustice.org/], have been working for decades to clean up the air and hold polluters accountable. They speak to how communities have pushed back and demanded solutions from major manufacturers and air quality regulatory agencies and why we must keep moving toward 100% zero emissions transportation. Dr. Joe Lyou has worked for more than 30 years to improve public health and environmental conditions in California’s most polluted and disadvantaged communities. Dr. Lyou serves as President and CEO of the Coalition for Clean Air, a state-wide organization dedicated to protecting public health, improving air quality, and preventing climate change. He works with a wide range of stakeholders advocating for effective public policies and clean air technologies. Adrian Martinez, Senior Attorney at Earthjustice, has been a leader in advancing zero-emissions transportation and clean air policies for nearly two decades. Before Earthjustice, for nine years he worked as a smog and healthy communities attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. He sits on the board of Communities for a Better Environment and the Climate Change Law Foundation and serves as an adjunct professor of law at the University of California Los Angeles. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Interview by Carry Kim Intro by Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 107 Image: Coalition for Clean Air

EcoJustice Radio

Online Shopping: The impacts to Air, Land, & Social Justice

Oceans cover roughly 70% of planet Earth, and they are in rapid decline. Impacted by human-induced climate change, pollution, dredging and overfishing, the world’s oceans are crying out for our attention. On today's show, we consider seaweed and the potential of stewardship-driven, regenerative ocean farming or ocean restoration through marine permaculture. We speak with Leslie Booher, Co-Founder of Sunken Seaweed [https://www.sunkenseaweed.com/], California’s first regenerative ocean farm. Leslie is a marine ecologist who learned about the importance of kelp forests at a time when kelp was facing a catastrophic decline. Leslie dedicates her time to ending exploitation of marine ecosystems, and reinforcing a healthy relationship with our coastline by farming sea greens in the Pacific Ocean. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Interview by Carry Kim Intro by Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 106 Image: Sunken Seaweed

Sunken Seaweed: The Future of Regenerative Ocean Farming

Spoken-word poetry can be a powerful art form of personal testimony, of protest, of activating on social and environmental concerns. On this show, we look into poetry artivism, the mixing of art and activism, where words can become catalysts intended to change the way people envision their world and act within it. Awa Ndiaye [https://www.humanitei.art/about] is a spoken word poet whose work explores various themes including identity, social justice, and climate change. With an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford, she combines her formal education with her art to explore and amplify perspectives often silenced in the mainstream conversation on climate. Matt Sedillo [https://www.mattsedillo.com/] has been described as the "best political poet in America" as well as "the poet laureate of the struggle" by academics, poets, and journalists alike. He has appeared on CSPAN and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. He has spoken at Casa de las Americas in Havana, Cuba, at numerous conferences and forums such as the National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education, and at over a hundred universities and colleges, including the University of Cambridge, among many others. Their spoken word demands a rethinking of popular narratives on environment and climate, mainstream narratives that often minimize or erase the experiences of the very people at the forefront of the climate crisis. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 105 Image: Nickie Black-Awa Ndiaye

Spoken Word: Challenging Mainstream Discourse on Climate

Now more than ever, we need ancestral wisdom and ancient skills to balance our technological lifestyles, and stir up a new way of being human. Our guest Chris Morasky, one of the top Stone Age skills experts in the US and co-founder of the Wisdom Keepers School [https://www.wisdomkeepers.us], works to inspire contemporary humans to create regenerative lifestyles and build communities engaging in bushcraft, learning from natural systems, and practicing cultural activism. Chris has lived most of the past 30+ years in the wilderness and small communities of British Columbia, Idaho and Utah. He has homesteaded along the Snake River in the Pacific Northwest, the most remote mail route in the lower 48 states. He has led Stone Age expeditions and worked in the most dangerous job in the world (single-stem logging). Chris’ workshops focus on awakening instincts, ancient skills and deep nature connection as doorways to understand more fully who we are, why we’re here and where we could be headed. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Interview by Carry Kim Intro by Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 104 Image: Wisdom Keepers School

Rewilding the Human Family: Staying Interconnected in Modern Times - Ep. 104

Communities of color facing racial prejudice and social injustice are looking to urban farming to solve problems of food insecurity and mass incarceration. Alma Backyard Farms [https://www.almabackyardfarms.com] fosters a connection to the land as a new kind of re-entry restorative justice for formerly incarcerated people, their families, and the communities in which they live. In this episode, Richard D. Garcia and Erika L. Cuellar of ALMA Backyard Farms discuss their work to re-purpose land into productive urban farms, and re-imagine disenfranchised communities in LA as a hub for transformation through their job training program, place-based youth education, and organic farmstand. According to ALMA, growing food is the “ultimate rehabilitation.” Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Interview by Carry Kim Intro by Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 103 Image:

From Incarceration to Farming with ALMA Backyard Farms

Urban bee farms of Detroit are not only rebuilding honey bee populations, they are also rebuilding the city and uplifting the community. Since 1950, 61% of Detroit’s population has moved away in hopes for better opportunities. Whole neighborhoods in the inner-city have been abandoned, leaving overgrown lots and social issues for those who chose to stay. Urban beekeeping happens to be one of the solutions forging a new path in Detroit. Nicole Lindsey and Timothy Paule Jackson of Detroit Hives [https://detroithives.org/] are generating a lot of buzz by activating vacant lots in the inner city and turning those spaces into urban bee farms. And doing so in a way that uplifts long-term residents and doesn’t lend to furthering gentrification. Through their conservation and awareness efforts, educational programs, and health based initiatives, Detroit Hives is creating a safe home for bees and the community to live, feed, and thrive. Timothy Paule Jackson and Nicole Lindsey are both lifetime Detroiters. Their non-profit organization Detroit Hives works to create sustainable communities and bee populations by transforming vacant lots into pollinator friendly spaces. Nicole is devoted to altering negative stigmas about bees by informing people of their crucial roles and benefits to the environment. She also teaches children about apiology. Timothy, comes from a background of photography and advertising. He is focused on making Detroit a bee city by repurposing vacant land into pollinator habitats. The overarching goal is to improve the quality of life not only for native plants and insects, but for the surrounding community. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 10 Image:

Revitalizing Detroit One Hive At A Time

The Lakota people are reclaiming and regenerating Indigenous Ecosystems while exercising their sovereignty as the original stewards of the Black Hills region of South Dakota. The Wolakota Buffalo Range [http://www.rosebudbuffalo.org/], a project of the Rosebud Economic Development Corp. (REDCO) [http://www.sicangucorp.com/], is fulfilling the vision of reconnecting buffalo (bison) to their rightful place on the Great Plains, and people of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate (Rosebud Sioux Nation). Listen to our discussion with guest Wizipan Little Elk (CEO of REDCO) as we dive into how he and his team are converting 28,000 acres of Rosebud Sioux Tribal lands from cattle to bison. The return of the bison will protect and strengthen the prairie ecosystem and create cultural opportunities, and will benefit the next Seven Generations. Wizi Little Elk is a citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe where he serves as CEO of REDCO and its ecosystem of organizations that promote socioeconomic prosperity for the Lakota people of the Rosebud Reservation. Wizi’s previous experience includes political and legal work for a leading firm in Washington, DC, and serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior. He received his B.A. from Yale and his law degree from the University of Arizona. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Interview by Carry Kim Intro by Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 101 Image: Courtesy of Wolakota Buffalo Range

Wolakota Buffalo Range: Bringing Back Tatanka with Wizipan Little Elk

On our 100th episode, we discuss how adopting queer ecology principles can assist in the healing of relations with people and planet, uniting of movements, and solving the climate emergency facing us today. In order to solve social and ecological problems, environmentalists (et al) must disrupt heterosexist notions and reimagine nature, biology, and sexuality. Queering ecology is the act of broadening our understanding of and re-evaluate our relationships with the larger world – a world that is more than human and an ecology that is not binary or dualistic. However, current narratives within the environmental movements can be restrictive, create divides, and stunt our ability to move forward. Tune in to Episode 100 with guest Miles Lewis (public artist, organizer, and educator) [http://mileslewisstudio.com] as we dive into why Queer Ecology is vital to climate and social justice movements. More Info: https://theyearsproject.com/learn/news/queer-ecology/ Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 100 Image: Miles Lewis art

Advancing Eco-Mindfullness through Queer Ecology with Miles Lewis

Listen to our discussion with Danielle Stevenson, applied mycologist and founder of DIY Fungi [https://diyfungi.blog/] - she teaches and consults on growing mushrooms for food, medicine, and Earth Renewal. In this episode, Danielle discusses the innovative potential of mycoremediation to digest, transform or hyperaccumulate the toxicity of heavy metals, radioactive metals, "forever" chemicals, diesel, and even mundane pollutants including cigarette butts, bike lubricants and diapers. Danielle Stevenson is currently a Ph. D. student in Environmental Toxicology at the University of California, Riverside, where she studies mycorrhizal fungi in soil remediation and sustainable agriculture. She is also founder and advisor to the Healing City Soils project, a ‘Future Leaders’ fellow with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture and a board member with CoRenewal and the Association for Women in Science in Riverside. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Interview by Carry Kim Intro by Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 99 Image: Courtesy of Danielle Stevenson

Renewing the Environment with Mycoremediation

Can a major metropolitan city offer the blueprint for 100% clean, renewable energy portfolio, all the while ensuring that their climate efforts elevate community demands? Are the solutions affordable to all and ensure worker justice and well-paying jobs? Listen to our discussion on achieving the Los Angeles goal of 100% renewable energy by the year 2045 (or even 2035) and starting the first ever Climate Emergency Mobilization office with our guests Jasmin Vargas, Senior Organizer for Food and Water Watch [https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/] and Andy Shrader, Director of Environmental Affairs for Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz [https://councilmemberpaulkoretz.com/] and first ever Climate Emergency Mobilization Department of a city. More Info: https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/los-angeles-100-percent-renewable-study.html Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 98 Image: Unsplash

Path to 100% Renewable Energy: The Los Angeles Model

Listen in to our discussion with Greg Reese, co-founder of Sea + Soil [https://www.seaandsoil.org/] and creator of the 1000 Tiny Farms project [http://www.1000tinyfarms.com/]. A program working to cultivate a regional regenerative network of market gardens, share resources between farmers, and encourage people who have a desire to farm but don’t know how to start their own tiny farm. *Greg Reese is a Southern California agrarian with a passion for growing regenerative, organic food by building healthy soils and biodiverse landscapes. His expertise in small-scale urban farming and no-till market gardening allows him to offer the highest quality produce in areas that need it the most. With a background in rainwater harvesting systems, native landscapes, orchard care, and permaculture, Greg aims to use his decade of experience to fight against social injustices in the food system. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Interview by Carry Kim Intro by Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 97 Image: Leia Marasovich

1000 Tiny Farms: A Regenerative Network

Have you heard of the Death Cycle of Plastic (vs the life cycle)? Our guests talk solutions and actions from current Congressional legislation and to a new report shining a light on the environmental justice impacts. What about Zero Waste; should it be reclaimed and restructured? And how do we decipher real solutions from false (that just promote more waste and social impacts)? Plastic seems to be everywhere and in everything (including our bodies). Plastic also comes from somewhere and it carries with it a sordid history of environmental racism and climate disruption, starting with the extraction and refinement of fossil fuels, then moving to the manufacturing, transportation, consumer use, and final disposal of plastic. Our guests today explain why this should no longer be considered the “life cycle of plastic,” but instead a more accurate reflection in the Plastic Death Cycle. Marcela Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, Founder & Executive Director of Azul [http://www.azul.org] and Melissa Aguayo, Member Engagement Officer for Break Free From Plastic US [http://breakfreefromplastic.org/pollution-act] and Co Chair of Reusable LA [http://reusablela.org] For more on the plastic pollution conundrum, check out our seven-part series, "The Plastic Plague: Connecting the Dots Between Extraction, Inequity, and Pollution" - https://socal350.org/ecojustice-radio-on-kpfk-90-7-fm-in-los-angeles/plastic-plague-series/ RESOURCES AND ARTICLES https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/takeaction/ https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/pollution-act Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 96 Image: Jack Eidt

Break Free From The Plastic Death Cycle

The 51-mile Los Angeles River, more known for its barren stretches of concrete, is undergoing a long-term Master Planned greening and revitalization. Big questions remain about how to restore biodiversity, provide water resiliency in the face of climate disruption, and protect the local neighborhoods from green gentrification that has already presented problems along sections of the river. On this show, our host Jessica Aldridge is joined by representatives from a coalition of organizations, Friends of the Los Angeles River [http://folar.org], Heal the Bay [http://www.healthebay.org], and East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice (EYCEJ) [http://eycej.org/]. The coalition has concerns with the plan’s vision, lack of community input, human rights, and environmental protections. *Liliana Griego serves as Director of Policy, Advocacy, and Engagement for Friends of the LA River. As a native Angelino who grew up along the Arroyo Seco, she has had an intimate relationship with LA’s living waterways and uses her story and scientific background to advocate for a healthy, resilient, and equitably accessible LA River. *Katherine Pease, Director of Science & Policy for Heal the Bay, has a background in biology, receiving her undergraduate degree from Barnard and her PhD from UCLA. She became passionate about protecting our local rivers and streams through her graduate research on tadpoles in the Santa Monica Mountains and visits to the LA River. Katherine has been at Heal the Bay for nine years, working to make our coastal waters and watersheds safe, healthy, and clean. *Jessica Prieto, Community Stability Policy Organizer for EYCEJ, was born and raised in East Los Angeles and has a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA Luskin. She has extensive experience working at the grassroots level on various planning issues and their impact on communities of color. She has been an EYCEJ member since 2015, and currently leads EYCEJ's community stability efforts throughout Southeast LA cities. -Comment portal for the Master Plan: https://folar.org/county-plan/ -Link to Facebook recording of advocacy training by HtB, FoLAR, EYCEJ: https://www.facebook.com/295656805868/videos/3706811629406761 -Guardian piece highlights how CBOs like East Yard need to hold polluters and agencies accountable. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/19/citizen-regulators-epa-pollution-environment -LA Times write-up on the action at the federal courthouse after the Exide bankruptcy was announced: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-10-19/exide-cleanup-bankruptcy-march -Article: http://folar.org/county-plan Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 95 Image: William Preston Bowling

LA River Revitalization: The Story of Master Plan Gone Awry

LISTEN to our discussion with the lead architectural designer for the firm Biotonomy [https://www.biotonomy.com/] using a holistic and Nature-based approach for buildings and cities to address the climate and biodiversity emergency. Rather than abandon crowded urban areas for sustainable living, great potential remains in re-envisioning buildings and cities in ways that work with, rather than against, Nature. Preferable to continuing the crash course of suburban sprawl that takes more than it gives, we can opt to embrace design and lifestyle principles that recycle and innovate with Nature-based solutions that address the climate, biodiversity and social justice crises. In this episode, learn how to respond to the turbulence of our times creatively, collaboratively and harmonize with Nature in how we choose to live and build. Carry Kim talks with Moein Nodehi [https://www.linkedin.com/in/moein-nodehi-a5a3a9143], the founder, CEO, and Lead Architect for Biotonomy. With an international team of designers, their mission is to make buildings and cities become a force for restoring the natural world. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Interview by Carry Kim Intro by Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 94 Image: Biotonomy

Biotonomy: Designing Nature-Based Green Buildings and Cities

We are seeing a burgeoning interest in all things fungi, from consumption to materials-making, mushroom cultivation, fungal ecology and myco-remediation, particularly because fungi bear and represent resiliency, adaptability, and the potential to transform and utilize life as it is. Fungi possess the unique ability to decompose and recompose life itself. This episode reveals interdisciplinary artist and mycologist Sam Shoemaker's venture into urban mushroom cultivation, and how his art has been informed by and become an exploratory collaboration with fungi. He speaks with our host Carry Kim. *Sam Shoemaker [http://www.samkshoemaker.com/] is an interdisciplinary artist and mycologist based in Los Angeles, California. After receiving his MFA in sculpture from the Yale University School of Art in 2020, Sam started the urban mushroom farm Myco Myco. Sam's current work focuses on sustainable food for Los Angeles, experiments in biomaterial sculptural fabrication, and the cultivation of rare native and non native fungi. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/ Interview by Carry Kim Intro by Jessica Aldridge Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Created by Mark and JP Morris Music: Javier Kadry Episode 93 Image: Courtesy Sam Shoemaker

Foray into Fungi: The Art of Farming

EcoJustice Radio is a weekly broadcast produced by SoCal350.org from the studios of KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles. We cover environmental and climate stories from a social justice frame, featuring voices not necessarily heard on traditional, mainstream, or even public media outlets. SoCal 350 Climate Action works to educate, organize, and activate across class, gender, racial, and ethnic lines to build a mass movement across Southern California and beyond for a healthy climate, engaging in solidarity with communities on the local, national, and international stage. We envision safe, healthy, and climate-sustainable communities and a 100% clean energy future with full employment.

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EcoJustice Radio

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