Polluters' Campaign Contributions Can Pay For A Lot of Big Macs
WE'RE BACK!
After a long hiatus, the most popular Virginia Sierra Club podcast is back with a new co-host and a new segment. The first episode of our third season introduces our new host, rants about some particularly bad news coming from the new administration, and game of translating complexity into simplicity, and a discussion on how much polluters' money influences our political system.
References:
Bad News: EPA Launches Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History (https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-launches-biggest-deregulatory-action-us-history)
Good News: A Majority of Americans Are Concerned about Climate: More Than You Might Think (https://ecoamerica.org/american-climate-perspectives-survey-2024-vol-i-blog/)
How 'Bout We Don't sources:
Big oil spent $445m in last election cycle to influence Trump and Congress, report says (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/23/big-oil-445m-trump-congress)
Virginia Public Access Project: Top Donors 2024-2025 (https://www.vpap.org/money/top-donors/)
Virginia state lawmakers quietly killed a bill to limit campaign donations (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/02/virginia-legislature-killed-a-bill-to-limit-campaign-donations/)
22 Oct 2024
The Spooky Plan to Raise Our Electric Bills
It's our Halloween episode! *Thunder strike*
This week we cover how climate change is impacting housing affordability, new technology to make clean energy more efficient and cheaper, and how Dominion Energy plans to raise electric bills by 50% -- scary stuff!
20 Sept 2024
How Natural Gas Killed Christmas and Solar Saved New Years
We are baaaaaaack!
After a long summer break, Tim and Paige are back to talk ticks, the Navy's clean energy goals, and the many ways "natural" gas is a harmful and expensive energy source.
20 Jun 2024
Soil Batteries, Heat Waves, and Stinky (Land)Phil
This month's episode answers questions from the audience, explores how to get energy from the soil (yep it's a thing), and highlights a big victory in a small town fighting a landfill. We hope you enjoy!
Good News Article (https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/06/12/install-and-forget-soil-powered-batteries-could-bring-cheap-clean-energy-to-farms-in-europ)
Bad News Article (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czvvqdg8zxno)
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24 Apr 2024
Electrification is Sexy. Super Pollen is Not.
🌍 Happy Earth Month! 🌱
Get ready for a whirlwind of eco-fun in this slightly shorter (we blame time constraints, not our love for Earth) but equally enlightening episode! Join us as we electrify the airwaves with a discussion on why electrification is like the superhero we need in the fight against climate change. Plus, find out how climate change is teaming up with allergies for an unwelcome duet, and let's raise a glass (of clean water, of course) to celebrate kicking forever chemicals to the curb from our drinking water.
We're always looking for new topics to cover in one of our segments. Comment with a question or use this form to contact the hosts! (https://vasierra.club/questions)
Bad News
4 reasons why climate change is making your fall allergies worse (https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/climate-change-allergies-new-175334734.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADeeWkfwBX_9igLbUX5aTh7yoMQ3MYmj9YRD_rgObT7wN0gTnfSIBAt0Q61cCmIChGJ250E_yMhgGb5ijane2Ak-iip41vGCOhWKKuZdEtQBazLadO1pl7QneJqh0xtE6J1-nrhzn1ToL1snABX2s1PwjU6kC5OAMWn6pGkZUef9)
Good News
Biden administration sets first-ever limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water (https://apnews.com/article/forever-chemicals-pfas-pollution-epa-drinking-water-1c8804288413a73bb7b99fc866c8fa51)
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26 Mar 2024
Pollution You Can't See & The Dangers of Data Centers
This month's episode covers some scary topics like invisible pollution in our air and water that harms our health as well as the energy and economic consequences of unyielding data center development in Virginia.
News Covered in this episode:
- EPA announces New Rules To Cut Down Climate Pollution from Vehicles (https://apnews.com/article/epa-electric-vehicles-emissions-limits-climate-biden-e6d581324af51294048df24269b5d20a)
- Homeowners face rising insurance rates as climate change makes wildfires, storms more common (https://apnews.com/article/homeowners-insurance-climate-change-wildfire-disasters-9c7129881f12ec478386e4b47c1acbbc)
- Environmentalists hope to keep PFAS out of the James River (https://www.wvtf.org/news/2024-03-05/environmentalists-hope-to-keep-pfas-out-of-the-james-river)
Get Involved!
- Ask a question or submit a topic! (vasierra.club/questions)
- Get updates about actions! (https://www.sierraclub.org/virginia/action-updates)
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8 Feb 2024
Greenwashing Is Not A Solution (Also Hi, Mary!)
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Especially if it's coming from polluters.
Today's episode exposes the false promises of pollution intensive industries, a concept known as greenwashing. Tim and Paige also cover how climate change is creating more frequent and intense hurricanes (bad news), but also how the same trees that absorb climate pollution in the Amazon are undergoing stronger protections (good news).
Today's episode is dedicated to a listener we met at VCU. Thanks for following our pod, Mary!
Questions? Visit vasierra.club/questions (vasierra.club/questions)
Read the covered stories:
Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon down 22% in a year (https://phys.org/news/2023-11-deforestation-brazilian-amazon-year.html#:~:text=Deforestation%20in%20the%20Brazilian%20Amazon,reported%20on%20November%209%2C%202023)
Category 6? Climate-boosted hurricanes push scientists to rethink classifications (https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/category-6-climate-boosted-hurricanes-push-scientists-rethink-classifi-rcna137454)
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5 Jan 2024
The Legislation Solution
New year, new podcast format! For now on, the show will present four segments designed to bring you good news and bad news on climate, answer your questions about complex terms and concepts, discuss a topic in detail, and provide action opportunities. This weeks topic is on how YOU (yes, you!) can make an impact on Virginia's legislative process. Tim and Paige break down everything from grassroots lobbying to testifying to committees -- two important strategies to pass climate and environmental justice laws in the Commonwealth. Can't wait to put this information into practice? You don't have to by registering for our FIRST Lobby day on January 18 here. (https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=7013q000001rIn5AAE&_gl=1*hl2qgt*_ga*MTUwMjgyNDExMy4xNjgxNDAzMjIy*_ga_41DQ5KQCWV*MTcwNDMwNTQ5Mi4yLjEuMTcwNDMwNTY3Ny4wLjAuMA..)
As always, send your burning questions on global warming (see what we did there?) to vasierra.club/questions (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYLgVikkzwbmf4gMUoINpMKm9npofN9P_PYF8vQ_hiVbdtUg/viewform).
Additional stories featured in this episode:
Bad News:
Grapes used in champagne may become harder to grow because of climate change (https://www.npr.org/2024/01/01/1222380410/grapes-used-in-champagne-may-become-harder-to-grow-because-of-climate-change)
Good News:
Offshore wind energy work is growing ‘much faster than average,’ and the training takes very little time (https://www.wsls.com/sponsored/2024/01/01/offshore-wind-energy-work-is-growing-much-faster-than-average-and-the-training-takes-very-little-time/)
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21 Dec 2023
Sierra Club Wrapped
2023 was quiet the year! Grassroots power took on big polluters and won big... for the most part. In this episode, Tim and Paige details the years highlights and lowlights and share some headlines about which issues they wish they could cover while shouting out a lot of unsung heroes in the climate justice space. If you're curious about what the climate movement was up to in 2023, Sierra Club Wrapped is for you.
Just because this is the last episode of the year doesn't mean we don't want to hear from our lovely listeners during our break! Please send any questions, topic ideas, comments to vasierra.club/questions.
We'll see you again in 2024!
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13 Dec 2023
The Transportation Solution
Transportation may not sound like a scary environmental issue, but it represents biggest source of climate pollution in Virginia and the U.S.! In this episode, our transportation campaigns lead, Cheri Conca, helps us understand the impact of dirty fueled vehicles on our climate, health, wallets, and quality of life. Spoiler Alert: It's not good. Cheri also details common-sense solutions to reducing tailpipe emissions through policy such as the Advanced Clean Car Standards (https://www.sierraclub.org/virginia/clean-cars-standards#:~:text=The%20Advanced%20Clean%20Cars%20Standards%20(ACCS)%20is%20a%20policy%20that,cars%2C%20trucks%2C%20etc.)) and SMART Scale funding directives (https://www.smartscale.org/). Unsurprisingly, Governor Youngkin is doing his darndest to undermine solutions that protect people and make our communities healthier, safer places to live.
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5 Sept 2023
Dominion Energy's Dirty Plan: The Chesterfield Gas-Fired plant
Dominion Energy, Virginia's largest utility, is seeking approval for a plan to build a massive polluting project in Chesterfield county that will harm communities, increase monthly electric bills, and undermine Virginia's climate progress. This episode features special guest, the intrepid and brilliant Dr. Mary Finley-Brook. Dr. Finley-Brook connects the local to the global, highlighting how Dominion gas-plant follows a playbook the fossil fuel industry has used for years to stifle efforts to curb pollution while they rake in massive profits at customers and taxpayers expense.
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17 Aug 2023
The Offshore Wind Generation Solution
Offshore wind represents a lot of good for Virginia. It's a clean energy source, an economic vehicle, and an industry powerhouse if we develop it correctly. This episode Paige explores what offshore wind is (and isn't) and all that this exciting concept has to offer.
To learn more about offshore wind, visit
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26 May 2023
The Electrification Solution
This episode features a very special guest McKenna Dunbar (https://www.linkedin.com/in/electrification/), Electrification lead at the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter. Electrification is the notion that every home and building can be powered without any connections to fossil fuels. McKenna and Tim talk about how fossil fuel appliances release pollution outside and inside our homes that are harmful to climate, health, and financial wellbeing. It's also cheaper than any before to electrify your home because of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. McKenna talks with Tim about the many benefits of electrification and how it is vital to a livable future.
More information:
https://www.rewiringamerica.org/app/ira-calculator
https://www.sierraclub.org/virginia/building-electrification-everywhere
https://vasierra.club/questions
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11 May 2023
The Climate Misinformation Solution
Misinformation represents a major obstacles between us and a livable future. This week's episode features a special guest, Kierra Johnson (https://progressva.org/staff/) from Progress Virginia (https://progressva.org/), who walks us through the problem of misinformation, where it comes from, how to identify it, and how to combat it. Huge thanks to Kierra for sharing their lengthy knowledge on the subject!
If you don't follow Progress Virginia, you should.
https://www.instagram.com/progress_va/ (https://www.instagram.com/progress_va/)
https://twitter.com/ProgressVA (https://twitter.com/ProgressVA)
https://www.facebook.com/ProgressVA/ (https://www.facebook.com/ProgressVA/)
https://www.tiktok.com/@progress_va (https://www.tiktok.com/@progress_va)
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3 May 2023
Virginia's Air Pollution Solution: RGGI
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a program that makes the power sector pay money to the state for how much they pollute. The money raised by RGGI is invested back into communities. RGGI has been wildly successful in Virginia, raising over a billion dollars to strengthen Virginia's communities and lower our electric bills through energy efficiency programs. It's also popular with everyone except the fossil fuel industry and their pro-polluter allies like Governor Glenn Youngkin. This episode both describes the massive benefit of Virginia keeping the RGGI program and details how Governor Youngkin is trying to get rid of it.
Learn more and social media links:
Sierraclub.org/Virginia/support-RGGI (sierraclub.org/virginia/support-rggi)
https://vasierra.club/updates (https://vasierra.club/updates)
https://www.instagram.com/vasierraclub/?hl=en (https://www.instagram.com/vasierraclub/?hl=en)
https://twitter.com/vasierraclub (https://twitter.com/vasierraclub)
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26 Apr 2023
The Utility Death Spiral Solution?
Utilities that lock-in natural gas infrastructure are harming communities in more ways than just air pollution. This episode explores the many harms to health, financial wellbeing that is caused by public utilities who can't break their addiction to natural gas. This topic is discussed using Richmond, Va as a case study and explained by two guests representing Beyond Methane RVA.
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19 Apr 2023
Environmental Justice: Policy that puts people first.
Climate change is a global issue, but the harms caused by the crisis aren't felt equally. In fact, those who shoulder the greatest impact of pollution are those who contribute the least amount. This week, the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter breaks down the concept of environmental justice and how it does -- and doesn't -- manifest in our state.
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19 Apr 2023
Unjust Process: Permitting for Polluting Projects
The regulatory system for approving pollution-intensive projects in Virginia benefits industry at the expense of communities. Tim and Paige explore the unjust elements of how polluters secure permits and explain how people-power can influence the process in ways that put the needs of communities over polluter's profits. Plus, an overview of name suggestions for the show!
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Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
9,925,012
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 46 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
32
Social presence
0
YouTube
93
Engagement
60
Contact How 'Bout We Don't? The Pollution Solutions Show
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