The Defender
Clean Wisconsin: Your environmental voice since 1970
Recent Episodes
What if you could make a difference in the fight to protect our environment by doing nothing at all? In this episode, why fall is the perfect time to be lazy - for the planet.
Host: Amy Barrilleaux
Guest: Elizabeth Braat, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Resources for You:
Episode 43: The hidden pesticides that could be lurking in your pollinator garden
Neonic Pesticides and their Impact
The amazing story of one Wisconsin food that was banned, burned, disappeared from our plates - and the comeback that's being helped along by solar farms.
Host: Amy Barrilleaux
Guest: Lily Hislop, Savanna Institute
Resources for You:
Black Currants: A once-forbidden fruit
Farming for the Future: Charting a course for a new food system
A Clean Wisconsin analysis shows just two approved data centers in Wisconsin will use more power than all the homes in our state combined. More than the generation capacity of the Point Beach nuclear plant, the single-largest source of power in Wisconsin. And that leaves a lot of people are wondering, where is all this leading us? What will it mean for Wisconsin's precious water resources, our land, our energy bills? And why is it so hard to find out? In this episode, an in-depth conversation on the secrets of data centers.
Host: Amy Barrilleaux
Guest: Michael Greif, Midwest Environmental Advocates
Resources for You:
AI data centers in Wisconsin will use more energy than all homes in state combined
Large Wisconsin data center tax breaks make benefits unclear
MEA Takes Legal Action to Compel City of Racine to Disclose Data Center's Projected Water Use
There is no question we are living through a stressful, often overhwelming time. So if you're feeling hopeless, especially in the face of the climate crisis, no one could blame you. But there is no better place to find hope – than in other people. How you can joing people from all walks of life in Sunday, Sept 28 to take a stand for our climate right here in Wisconsin.
Host: Amy Barrilleaux
Guest: Heather Allen, Policy Director, Elevate
Resources for You:
Wisconsin Climate March Sunday Sept. 28, Madison, Wisconsin
Yes, there are 150-million reasons to listen to this episode. Because Wisconsin has $150 million dollars in federal funding to help make our homes warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, healthier, more efficient. All the things.
A look at two little-known programs that survived the big Federal cuts and are ready to be used by you.
Host: Amy Barrilleaux
Guests: Dylan Crye, Home Energy Rebates Program Manager, Focus on Energy
Joe Pater, Dir. Office of Energy Innovation, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Resources for You:
Watts Up Wisconsin - Focus on Energy podcast
Home Energy Rebates Help Wisconsinites Save Big