Solar Power to the People

Climate One

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

4.7 • 583 Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At this moment, the cheapest way to create electricity is by pointing a solar panel at the sun. That’s good news for the climate. It’s also good news for communities who want to take control of their own electricity generation. In the heart of Brooklyn, UPROSE is helping to build a solar project that will be owned by the community, provide jobs, and help residents bring down their energy costs. In Puerto Rico, where hurricanes have devastated the power grid, community members are building solar microgrids to provide reliable electricity as the utility has proven they cannot. Meanwhile in conservative rural Virginia, Energy Right is helping farmers and rural communities adopt solar projects, touting a free market message about energy independence and security. Guests: Elizabeth Yeampierre, Attorney; Executive Director, UPROSE Skyler Zunk, CEO and Founder, Energy Right Arturo Massol-Deyá, Executive Director, Casa Pueblo de Adjuntas We’re excited to share two upcoming opportunities to see Climate One Live! On February 25, internationally recognized environmental and civil rights activist Catherine Coleman Flowers will join Climate One for a live conversation about the future of environmental justice. And on March 24, Google’s Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt and Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center, will speak with Climate One about the development of sustainably powered artificial intelligence. Tickets to both shows are on sale 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 just $5/month. 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	AI is incredible. They can teach you how to fry an egg and even write a poem, pirate style.
0:07.0	But it knows nothing about your work. Slackbot is different. It doesn't just know the facts.
0:14.0	It knows your schedule. It can turn a brainstorm into a brief and it doesn't need to be taught.
0:20.0	Because Slackbot isn't just another AI.
0:23.6	It's AI that knows your work as well as you do.
0:26.6	Visit Slack.com forward slash meet SlackBot to learn more.
0:30.6	I'm Greg Dalton and I'm Kusha Navadar.
0:33.6	And this is Climate One.
0:40.8	Solar power has been around for a while.
0:49.2	1900 computer-controlled mirrors will collect enough solar heat to provide electricity for a small town. And Kusha, I'm trying to remember the first time I encountered solar. I think it was in the hills of California with some hippies growing weed and they had solar thermal that took heat from the sun to heat their hot tub.
1:01.5	Wow, hippies with hot tubs and pools. I love that image. I'm trying to think of my first experience with solar panels. Well, solar power, you know, it came into my life, I think, kind of endearingly.
1:11.6	The first time was in kindergarten. Do you remember those calculators? Mine were blue that we used in school with the strip of cells at the top, the power of the calculator, Greg?
1:21.6	Oh, sure, yeah.
1:22.6	So I remember covering up that strip with my finger to see how long it would take for the numbers on the calculator to fade away.
1:31.5	Okay, I'm getting an image of what kind of student you were.
1:36.0	Inquisitive.
1:37.3	Much later, I had a solar-powered cell phone.
1:41.0	It was the early 2000s.
1:42.6	And Sprint came out with a Samsung phone that you could
1:44.8	point to the sun. It would charge the battery. Wait, there were commercial solar powered
1:49.8	cell phones? Yes. It didn't last very long. They didn't sell very money, but the CEO was trying
1:55.3	to be more sustainable and make a point. Wow. Okay, so one more for me. I got to give a shout out to my other first memory of solar power, The Simpsons.
	...

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