Murder, Pollution as Policy, and Two Women Who Won’t Give Up

Climate One

News, Social Sciences, News Commentary, Science, Earth Sciences

4.7 • 583 Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“In the course of saying no with their bodies, they were met with more violence… including moms who were carrying babies on their backs and were pushed to the edge of the river — and had to choose the river.” That’s Abby Reyes, author of “Truth Demands: A Memoir of Murder, Oil Wars and the Rise of Climate Justice.” In today’s episode, she shares deeply emotional stories of the price paid by environmental defenders. And she also shares her own stories of resilience and joy in the aftermath of grief. In many parts of the world, fossil fuel interests and their political allies have gone so far as to weaponize pollution as policy to push out marginalized communities. Alexis Madrigal, host of KQED’s Forum and author of “The Pacific Circuit,” describes how this happened in West Oakland, beginning as early as the 1930s: “You see them just saying it. We know this is gonna make housing worse. We know this is gonna make people's lives worse, but this is the plan.” And yet here, too, local communities stand up for environmental justice. Guests: Alexis Madrigal, Co-Host, Forum, KQED Margaret Gordon, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project Abby Reyes, Author; Director, Community Resilience Projects, UC Irvine On June 4, Climate One is hosting a special screening of the documentary “Good Grief: The 10 Steps” followed by a climate anxiety workshop. Join us for this intimate conversation about the importance of mental health live at The Commonwealth Club. Tickets are available through our website. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, just leave on work now. Sorry, it's a bit loud.
0:03.3	Um, basically, so I was thinking we could get Macies tonight. Had a big Mac on my mind all day, and delivery fee on the app is now from 99P. So you win? Of course you are. Love you. Bye! Exclusively on the McDonald's app. 18 plus, service fee and small order fee may apply. Participating restaurants. Serving times and teas and teas apply.
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0:56.5	A few weeks ago, we hosted some amazing conversations on the Climate One stage during San Francisco Climate Week.
1:03.5	Today, we're bringing you some of those conversations, particularly the stories of two women who've faced very different challenges, but each has stood up to powerful forces in pursuit of environmental justice.
1:14.8	So later in this episode, we're going to hear from Abby Reyes, who's a community organizer.
1:19.6	Her boyfriend was murdered while fighting fossil fuel expansion in South America.
1:24.6	Her story is powerful. It is a story of loss, but also of deep resilience.
1:30.5	And it really moved me. But before we get to that story, we're headed to West Oakland for an
1:35.4	oddly similar story, where people in power weaponized pollution to push aside marginalized
1:41.1	communities and expand the port. Then in our second segment, we'll hear
1:46.0	from one woman who stood up to those people in power.
1:53.5	Some may know Alexis Madrigal as the host of Forum on KQED, San Francisco's NPR station. He's
2:00.2	also the author of the Pacific Circuit. In
2:02.9	that book, he examines how the city of Oakland and its ports played a role shaping the modern
2:08.4	economy. Madrigal joined Greg Dalton on the Climate One stage to share his insights into the forces
2:14.0	that influenced global trade, exacerbated pollution, and impacted the people
2:19.1	of West Oakland.
2:21.6	There's kind of two global forces that really look at in the book.
	...

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