More medical schools are training their students on climate change. This week on Possibly we’re taking a look at how your visit to the doctor might be changing.

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

When you go to the doctor, they probably weigh you, check your blood pressure, and shine that little light into your eyes. But what if they talked to you about climate change?

It turns out, climate change has a lot to do with our health. And doctors and medical schools are starting to pay attention.

We had Hamid Torabzadeh and Sedi-Anne Blachford from our Possibly Team look into how medical professionals are starting to integrate our changing climate into their practice.

Hamid Torabzadeh: Hi, Megan!

Sedi-Anne Blachford: Hello!

Megan Hall: So, how are doctors responding to climate change?

Hamid Torabzadeh: Before we figure that out, let’s connect the dots on how climate change affects our health. We talked to Dr. Kate Moretti, an emergency medicine doctor at Brown University to learn more.

Dr. Kate Moretti: The impacts of climate change are really widespread, and we see them across many different disease patterns and many different outcomes.

Sedi-Anne Blachford: But sometimes, those effects aren’t especially obvious.

Dr. Kate Moretti: In these really hot summer days you’ll see heat stroke or you’ll see heat stress. That’s what you see on the surface. But then heat will also cause all sorts of exacerbations of chronic illness.

Sedi-Anne Blachford: The summer of 2023 was the hottest on record. And one recent study linked 37 percent of heat-related deaths to climate change.

Hamid Torabzadeh: Kate says there’s also the health effects of extreme cold, flooding, breathing in the smoke from more frequent forest fires… the list goes on.

Megan Hall: How do doctors fit into the picture?

Hamid Torabzadeh: Kate says doctors need to understand two things – One- how climate change can impact their patient’s health and Two- how it will change how they practice medicine.

Dr. Kate Moretti: Because if your patient is exposed to heat, right, it affects the metabolism of medications you prescribe, right? So it’s, it affects what you do and how you do it. And it affects how you understand the risk for your patient.

Sedi-Anne Blachford: Kate was part of creating Brown Medical School’s mandatory curriculum about climate change.

Dr. Kate Moretti: It’s not an additional separate thing to learn. It’s additional risk factors. It’s an additional disease modifier. So when you learn about heart disease, right, you also learn about how heat will exacerbate heart disease. So it’s integrated in.

Megan Hall: What do medical students think of this?

Hamid Torabzadeh: We talked to Asghar Shah, a medical student at Brown. He says Kate’s right:

Asghar Shah: In each organ system that we learn about there’s always a way or an interaction between specifically the diseases we’re talking about, how they come about, but then also the changing environment.

Hamid Torabzadeh: In 2022, more than half of all medical schools in the US said they included the health effects of climate change in their required curriculum, more than double the number in 2020.

Megan Hall: It sounds like this is actually gaining traction!

Sedi-Anne Blachford: Absolutely.

Hamid Torabzadeh: And this new curriculum is also teaching doctors how to become more sustainable in how they deliver care.

Dr. Kate Moretti: The US healthcare industry contributes somewhere between 8 and 9 percent of all US carbon emissions.

Hamid Torabzadeh: In short, climate change is changing how doctors practice medicine. As Asghar puts it:

Asghar Shah: At least now at Brown, within the mission of the division of biology and medicine, there is planetary health aspect. The mission now includes to advance knowledge in health and well being of people and the planet.

Hamid Torabzadeh: From understanding new risk factors to trying to reduce medical waste in the health care system, doctors are joining the fight against climate change.

Megan Hall: Got it!  Thanks, Hamid and Sedi-Anne!

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to askpossibly.org Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or X at  “askpossibly”

Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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Literally blocking out the sun may sound extreme, but scientists are debating whether using dust particles to reflect sunlight away from the Earth could be a temporary solution if climate change gets out of control.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Climate change. If you listen to this show, I’m going to assume that you care about it, and you feel like you know, at least in a basic way, what it is. But have you ever had a hard time explaining climate change to a friend? 

Well, we understand.

Today, Meg Talikoff and Juliana Merullo are here to walk us through how climate communication experts go about it. Hey there!

Meg Talikoff: Hey Megan!

Juliana Merullo: Hi!

Megan Hall: So who are we hearing from today?

Juliana Merullo: We talked to one climate scientist, two science journalists, and two professors who research climate communication. 

Meg Talikoff: And we gave them a pretty tricky task: to explain climate change in two sentences or less.

Juliana Merullo: Then they told us why they chose the explanation they did. 

Megan Hall: Alright, let’s do this! Who’s our first explainer?

Juliana Merullo: Let’s start with Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz. He runs the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, and hosts a radio program called Climate Connections. 

Meg Talikoff: He answered us with a poem.

Anthony Leiserowitz: “Climate change. Scientists agree. It’s real, it’s us, it’s bad, but there’s hope.”

Meg Talikoff: Anthony really wanted to get across that the vast majority of scientists agree the climate is changing.

Juliana Merullo: He also wanted to make clear that climate change is already causing lots of suffering. 

Meg Talikoff: But it wasn’t an accident that he said there’s hope.

Anthony Leiserowitz:  We know what to do. We have the solutions. They’re sitting on the shelf. We just need to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. 

Megan Hall: Did the other experts focus on those same points? 

Meg Talikoff: Sort of! Dr. Wändi Bruine de Bruin, a provost professor of public policy, psychology and behavioral science at the University of Southern California, came up with this: 

Wändi Bruine de Bruin: “Most people in US are now concerned about climate change, but many don’t know what to do. One of the most climate-friendly actions you can take yourself is to eat less red meat, and together, we have the power to vote for a better climate.”

Juliana : That wasn’t exactly the same. But like Anthony she’s saying that we already have the power to fix the problem. She thinks it’s counterproductive to spend too much time making people feel bad.

Meg Talikoff: Our first science journalist, The Guardian reporter Dharna Noor, agrees. Her explanation helps take the blame off individuals.

Dharna Noor: Climate change is an existential threat we’re facing, primarily due to the actions of like a tiny minority of people who own companies. But taking on the crisis could also present the opportunity to make life much better for people all around the world.”

Juliana Merullo: She says it’s important to be clear that climate change is human-caused, but we need to remember which humans are doing most of that causing. 

Megan Hall: Did anyone actually talk about the science of why the climate is changing?

Meg Talikoff: Yeah! Dr. Baylor Fox-Kemper is a professor at Brown University in the department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary sciences. He also served as a coordinating lead author for a chapter of the sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

Juliana Merullo: That’s basically the UN’s climate research group. And his explanation came straight from their report. 

Baylor Fox-Kemper: Human influence has warmed the climate at a rate that is unprecedented in at least the last 2000 years. Future emissions cause future additional warming, with total warming dominated by past and future c02 emissions.

Meg Talikoff: He says those sentences went through over 250 rounds of revisions by lots of scientists. Besides, Baylor thinks non-scientists don’t need to know much more than that.

Juliana Merullo: Former NYT Science Editor Cornelia Dean had a similar take.

Cornelia Dean: “People have been burning fossil fuels like coal and oil for at least 150 years, and all the while, we have been using Earth’s atmosphere as a garbage dump for the waste gasses that result, chiefly, carbon dioxide. These waste gasses accumulate, and they trap heat, so Earth is getting warmer and warmer.”

Megan Hall:  So that was everyone. What’s your takeaway? How should we try to explain climate change to our friends? 

Juliana Merullo: First- keep it simple about the actual mechanics of climate change. Burning fossil fuels makes greenhouse gasses, and greenhouse gasses make our planet get warmer. 

Meg Talikoff: Also point out that scientists are absolutely sure this is happening, that it is human caused, and that the warming is a major threat to all humans. 

Juliana Merullo: But then remind your friends that they aren’t alone in being scared, and that a lot of the crisis is caused by bad policies and big corporations. 

Meg Talikoff: And make sure to emphasize that real, effective solutions are already in reach. We have the tools – we just need to deploy them. 

Juliana Merullo: One great place to start is by voting for the climate-friendly policies that will make life better for everyone. 

Megan Hall: Got it. Thanks guys. 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to thepublicsradio.org/possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or X at  “askpossibly”

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio, Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, and Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Today, we have a question from one of our reporters, Charlie Adams. What do you have for us, Charlie?

Charlie: Last summer I spent ten weeks working in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. It’s a slice of northwest Montana that’s over one million acres!

I’m from the East Coast, so the word “wilderness” used to make me think of pristine landscapes free of humans. Now that I’ve experienced it first hand, I think that’s not exactly right. Which made me wonder- what do we mean when we say “wilderness”?

Megan: We had Iman Khanbhai from our Possibly team help Charlie look into this question. 

Iman: Hello!

Megan: So what exactly do we mean when we say “wilderness”? 

Charlie: It’s a big question with many answers. To get a better idea, I asked rangers, conservationists, and tribal leaders. Depending on who you ask- it’s either a great idea, flawed, or a bit of both.

Megan: Alright, let’s get into it! 

Iman: We can start with The 1964 Wilderness Preservation Act. It calls wilderness “…an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

Charlie: Many of us think about wilderness in a similar way, I know I did- it’s the legendary American landscapes home to grizzly bears and wolves, and for a few nights the brave backpacker. 

Megan: Right. Wide open spaces without humans. What’s wrong with that definition? 

Iman: Well, it assumes that there’s a big divide between humans and nature- that we haven’t always co-existed in some way.

Charlie: And that some ways of interacting with the land are more “civilized” than others. 

Iman: To learn more we spoke with Professor Bathsheba Demuth, an Environmental Historian at Brown University.  

Bathsheba Demuth: “The idea of wilderness is deeply tied with the settler colonial project of displacing indigenous inhabitants in North America by saying, Oh, this land is empty. It’s not being used. No one’s really here. And if settlers come in and transform it through agriculture and industry, then it will be inhabited for real.”

Megan: So, the idea of wilderness assumes that nothing’s happening there, so settlers can take it and do whatever they want with it?

Charlie: That was the original thought. But eventually, conservationists like Teddy Roosevelt worried about losing all of that wilderness. So, they worked to protect certain areas and keep them “wild.”

Megan: Like the national parks?

Charlie: Right. First came the parks, and then came a slightly different form of protection- wilderness areas. The US Government created these spaces to “maintain the wild character of the landscape” and they blocked humans from building or living there. 

Iman: But there was one huge problem- humans already lived there. This land belonged to Native peoples. And the government often removed them to make the areas “wild.” 

Charlie: In fact, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, where I spent my summer, was established on indigenous land. That was more than 80 years ago.

Iman: Smokey Rides At The Door, an educator and former Blackfeet Tribal council member, says native people are still deeply connected to the land they lost.  

Smokey Rides At The Door: “The protein that’s available there from the meat is very important for our health. The picking of wild berries is very important to us. Those are part of our ceremonies.

Megan: So, where do we go from here?  

Charlie: Well, we can start by reimagining what wilderness means. Maybe it’s not as clear-cut as civilization versus nature. Here’s Gabriel de Avilez Row-sha, professor of history at Brown with a thought experiment: 

Gabriel de Avilez Rocha: “When are you ever not in nature? Even when you’re sitting in your car? Or in your living room? How are you in wilderness in those moments? How is nature there? When we look around us, we actually are seeing nature that’s been transformed in different ways.”

Iman: But on a more practical level, wilderness areas can rethink this idea of excluding humans.

Charlie: Some places are already doing this. Bathsheba from Brown says people can enter wilderness areas in Alaska to harvest or hunt food for their daily needs.

Iman: And some park and wilderness systems are starting to do more to acknowledge indigenous people and their connection to these lands.

Megan: Thanks Charlie and Iman. 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the thepublicsradio.org/possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook or X at  “ask possibly” 

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio, Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, and Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Growing, harvesting, and making food creates greenhouse gas emissions. But some foods are responsible for more emissions than others. Red Meat is at the top of the list. 

Lots of people want to reduce their emissions by eating more plants, but changing your eating habits can be hard. 

So today, we’re taking a closer look at one idea of how we can drastically reduce the environmental impact of the meat we eat without actually changing our diets. 

We had Ashley Junger and Fatima Husain from our Possibly Team look into this. 

Ashley Junger: Hi, Megan! 

Fatima Husain: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, what’s this magical way to keep eating meat AND reduce my greenhouse gas emissions? 

Ashley Junger: It’s called cultivated meat or lab-grown meat. 

Megan Hall: That sounds like something from science fiction. How does it work?

Ashley Junger: Good question. To learn more about cultivated meat and how it’s made, we talked with:

Elliot Swartz: “Elliot Swartz. I’m the Principal Scientist specializing in cultivated meat at the Good Food Institute.” 

Fatima Husain: Elliot says the process of creating cultivated meat starts by taking a small piece from an animal…. 

Elliot Swartz: “Where those cells can be taken back to the lab,  grown in a medium that contains all the nutrients that cells need to survive And they can multiply and create the tissues or cells that we need to form into future cultivated meat products.”

Ashley Junger: The end result is genuine animal meats that have been produced without killing an actual animal.

Megan Hall: Wow. But it sounds like a lot of trouble and expense to get the same thing we could get from a cow. Why bother?

Ashley Junger: According to the USDA, four percent of all US greenhouse gas emissions come from beef production. Cultivated meat could be a way to cut that number while still enjoying our burgers.

Fatima Husain: Depending on how it’s grown, on average, cultivated meat could use about one percent of the land that we need to create the same amount of conventional beef.

Ashley Junger: And scientists predict that cultivated meat could emit just 10% of the greenhouse gasses associated with producing traditional beef. And if labs use renewable energy, that could be as low as 2%.

Megan Hall: Wow, sounds like cultivated meat could solve a lot of problems.

Fatima Husain: Yeah, right now the emphasis is on could. Scientists are only making a small amount of cultivated meat, and these estimates are based on models of industrial-scale production. So we’ll have to wait and see how those numbers hold up.

Megan Hall: Ok, but wouldn’t it be easier to just not eat meat all together?

Ashley Junger: We asked Elliot the same question. He said:

Elliot Swartz: “People have been trying to, you know, tell people not to eat as much meat for many, many years. And so you really struggle to get people to shift their behavior by just telling them what to do, from a moral perspective.” 

Megan Hall: Got it. But, how does it taste? Are meat eaters really going to want to try this stuff? It honestly sounds kind of unappealing. 

Fatima Husain: Some people say it’s a little more uniform than conventional meat and doesn’t have those chewy, fatty bits. But most of the people who’ve reviewed it said it was extremely close to or indistinguishable from the real thing.

Megan Hall: Ok, I’ll give it a try. How can I get some? 

Ashley Junger: Well, It’s still difficult and expensive to make, so right now the supply is only enough for some high-end restaurants.

Fatima Husain: But the industry is growing quickly. Investors have put more than 2 billion dollars into getting cultivated meat products on the market.

Ashley Junger: So only time will tell if cultivated meat companies will be able to compete with conventional meat. 

Megan Hall: Got it! Thanks, Ashley and Fatima!

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the thepublicsradio.org/possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook or X at  “askpossibly” 

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio, Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, and Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Lead paint and leaded gasoline haven’t been used in American homes or cars for nearly 30 years. But researchers say that these sources of lead are still an environmental hazard. But why? 

We had Nat Hardy and Will Malloy from our Possibly Team look into this question. 

Nat Hardy: Hi, Megan! 

Will Malloy: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, why are we still worried about lead?

Nat Hardy: Well, lead used to be in a lot of products. It was used to make paint more durable, and in gasoline to help engines run smoother.

Will Malloy: But it’s also really dangerous. If it gets into your body, it can harm brain development, especially in young children.

Nat Hardy: Because of the health effects of lead, the federal government started phasing it out in the 70s. 

Megan Hall: Okay, but that was decades ago. Problem solved, right?

Will Malloy: Not quite! It’s still a problem, We talked to Gabe Filippelli, a professor of earth sciences at Indiana University, to figure out why.  

Gabe Filippelli: Lead is one of these elements– it is an element, meaning, unless alchemy works at some point, we’re stuck with it.”

Nat Hardy: Once it’s been introduced into the environment, lead doesn’t break down or wash away. So even though we’re not adding any new lead into our environments today, it’s not going away either. 

Will Malloy: These leftover sources of lead in the environment are called “legacy sources,” and they’re still a risk for people’s health today. 

Megan Hall: Well that doesn’t sound good! Do we know where to find these legacy sources?

Nat Hardy: We do! The major legacy sources of lead are in soil and dust near where the lead was originally used.

Will Malloy: For example, when the paint on old houses peels or cracks, the soil around the house can be contaminated. Then that soil can get blown into the air as dust. 

Nat Hardy: The exhaust from cars with leaded gas also contaminated the soil. Gabe still sees this when he tests for lead.

Gabe Filippelli: You will see a very definitive peak in soil lead near the roadway and a decline away from the roadway.”

Megan Hall: I didn’t realize lead could be in the soil. When I’ve heard people talking about lead these days, they’re mostly just talking about lead water pipes. 

Nat Hardy: And they’re right about that too!  Almost 10 million water pipes in the U.S. are made of lead. 

Will Malloy: And when water quality is mismanaged, these pipes can corrode, allowing lead to enter drinking water. 

Nat Hardy: But recently, the  EPA announced a plan to replace every lead service line in the country over the next ten years.  

Will Malloy: So we’re making great progress getting lead out of drinking water. But, research has shown that contaminated soil and dust can cause lead exposure just as much as pipes can

Nat Hardy: Especially for toddlers who spend a lot of time playing on the ground, and putting things in their mouths…

Megan Hall: So what can we do about this lead in the soil?

Will Malloy: Nationally, The EPA plans to update the country’s regulations around lead in soil. A change like this could encourage soil cleanup projects. 

Nat Hardy: And at home, there are affordable options to keep your kids safe. 

Megan Hall: Like what? 

Will Malloy: You can get your home or yard tested for lead…

Nat Hardy: And If you find elevated levels, you can put down a thick layer of mulch to cover up contaminated dirt. 

Megan Hall: I’m starting to feel overwhelmed…

Will Malloy: No, it’s okay! It’s not that bad. There’s a ton of reasons to be optimistic about cleaning up lead. 

Nat Hardy: Children born in the last decade already have way lower lead levels than people born in the 70s. 

Will Malloy: And Gabe says that cleaning up lead is something everyone can get behind.

Gabe Filippelli: It’s a little bit different than climate change, where we have so many embedded processes that use fossil fuels to emit carbon dioxide. Lead no longer has any embedded interest. Now we just need to clean it up.”

Megan Hall: Got it. Thanks, Nat and Will!

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to thepublicsradio.org/possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook or X at  “askpossibly”

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio, Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, and Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

One of the great parts about living in the Ocean State is getting to eat fresh shellfish. But what happens to the shells after we slurp down those oysters? Possibly reporters and lifelong Rhode Islanders- Will Malloy and Iman Khanbhai looked into the options.  

Will Malloy: Hi Megan! 

Iman Khanbhai: Hi! 

Megan Hall: So, what happens to the shells after we eat oysters? 

Will Malloy: They can just go in the trash, but a number of coastal states have created programs to gather up those oyster shells and return them to the water.

Megan Hall: Cool! Is that to keep them out of the landfill? 

Will Malloy: Yes, but there’s more to it than that. 

Iman Khanbhai: Oyster shells can actually help rebuild wild oyster reefs. 

Will Malloy: To learn more, we talked to Tim Mooney from The Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island. He says wild oysters are in danger. 

Tim Mooney: we have lost about 85% of our wild oyster population compared to say 100 years ago … And so putting more shell in the water is a strategy to recreate self-sustaining wild oyster reefs.

Megan Hall: How do these oyster shells help rebuild those reefs? 

Will Malloy: For one, they provide a good surface for baby oysters to settle and grow on. 

Iman Khanbhai: Those babies need hard surfaces and old shells are perfect candidates. 

Will Malloy: Plus, reefs based on fresh oyster shells make nooks and crannies that small fish can use as hiding spots from predators. Plus, they nurture diverse plant and animal communities. 

Iman Khanbhai: Oysters are also really good at filtering water. 

Tim Mooney:An adult oyster can filter 50 gallons of water in a day. And if you do that at scale, you’re gonna see changes in water quality and clarity.

Megan Hall: Cool! Let’s dump all of our oyster shells into the ocean! 

Iman Khanbhai: It’s a little more complicated than that. These reefs can’t just get built anywhere, Oysters only survive and thrive under very particular conditions. 

Will Malloy: Scientists at The Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island and at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management are in the process of figuring out exactly where new reefs would be most likely to do well. 

Iman Khanbhai: They’ve done some small-scale tests of potential locations to reestablish wild oyster populations locally. Right now, they have a couple dozen experimental reefs in ponds down in South County.  

Will Malloy: While they’re still working out what locations are likely to be successful, they have their sights set on something much bigger.  

Tim Mooney: Putting a little bit of shell here and a little bit of shell there, it’s not going to add up to enough to achieve the kind of water quality and fish habitat benefits that we’re looking for. Once we have the solid science on the best places to to build new reefs will be able to do this at scale.

Iman Khanbhai: In the meantime, the two organizations are working on building up a stockpile of shell so that when these plans are in place, they’re ready to drop. 

Megan Hall: How can I help? 

Will Malloy: Well, your oyster shells could do a lot of good, but Tim says…

Tim Mooney: that doesn’t mean everyone should go and start throwing oyster shells in the water wherever they are.

Will Malloy: Before shell can go in the water, it needs to sit outside and cure for a couple months to get rid of all the food waste or germs. 

Iman Khanbhai: So don’t go chucking your shucked oyster shells off the dock! 

Will Malloy: But if you want to support shell recycling efforts, think about eating at local restaurants or oyster festivals that donate their shell. 

Megan Hall: As if I need an excuse to enjoy an oyster festival! 

Thanks Will and Iman. That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to thepublicsradio.org/possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook or X at  “askpossibly” 

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio, Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society and Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly. Where we take on huge problems, like the future of our planet, and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Recently, I’ve had a lot of people knocking on my door trying to sell me solar panels. It happened just last week! 

Salespeople: “We’re part of field marketing outreach, we actually go seek out homeowners and try to see if we can get them qualified for the no cost program that’s going on in this state right now”

Megan Hall: When I meet these door-to-door salespeople,  I always wonder- are these solar panel programs legit? So I asked Juliana Merullo and Cameron Leo to look into this question. 

Juliana Merullo: Hiya Megan! 

Cameron Leo: Hi there! 

Megan Hall: So can I trust these salespeople that keep knocking on my door? 

Juliana Merullo: There’s nothing inherently fishy about these door-to-door salespeople. A lot of companies do this to spread the word about incentives for homeowners.

Cameron Leo: But, there’s the possibility these salespeople might exaggerate some parts of those incentives.. 

Megan Hall: What do you mean? 

Juliana Merullo: Well, the federal government currently offers a tax credit for 30% of the purchase price of a solar panel system. 

Megan Hall: And that’s legit, right?

Cameron Leo: Yes! But, not everyone qualifies for this tax credit. 

Juliana Merullo:  Door to door salespeople might say you’re guaranteed to receive the credit, or even call it a down payment, but that’s not really how it works. 

Cameron Leo: To get the tax credit, there are a few conditions. You have to owe federal income tax for that year, and you have to be buying, not leasing, the solar panels. 

Juliana Merullo:  Plus, if the panels are going on your home, and you use part of your house as an office, that can also reduce the tax credit.  

Cameron Leo: And it doesn’t mean the solar panels are “no cost”. A tax credit just means that you don’t have to pay the full amount of your income tax at the end of the year. 

Megan Hall: Got it! So what are some things I should ask these salespeople if I’m thinking about  buying solar panels for my house?  

Juliana Merullo: It’s really important to get a full breakdown of the cost of the project and the financing they might be offering. You can also ask for references, and talk to your friends and family to see if any of them have experience with that company. 

Cameron Leo: And you shouldn’t feel rushed in the process. Even if you sign a contract with one of these companies, you have up to three days to cancel if you change your mind. 

Juliana Merullo: For more advice, we spoke to someone who is working to help consumers make informed decisions about buying solar panels. 

Peter Neronha: I’m Peter Neronha. I’m the attorney general for the state of Rhode Island.

Cameron Leo: The Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit last summer against Smart Green Solar, a company that they say was deceiving customers through door to door sale tactics. 

Megan Hall: What did Smart Green Solar do? 

Cameron Leo: Well, the case is still working its way through the system, but some customers said the company promised them the 30% tax credit, and didn’t tell them about the option to cancel within three days. 

Megan Hall: That makes me think I shouldn’t talk to those people knocking on my door…

Juliana Merullo: A lot of people have that reaction. And the Attorney General says that’s a problem.

Peter Neronha: When solar companies engage in these kinds of practices, they taint all of the legitimate solar companies that are trying to sell solar to a Rhode Islander. 

Cameron Leo: The truth is, transitioning to running our homes on renewable energy is a key part of how we can lower carbon emissions. And the attorney general says we can’t give up on that effort. 

Peter Neronha: The office is heavily focused on this area because we believe it is something that Rhode Islanders need to consider to be part of our climate crisis solution.

Juliana Merullo: If you’re looking to buy solar panels, there are lots of legit companies, including ones that knock on your door, that can help you start the process. 

Megan Hall: But if I want to get solar power for my home, how do I do it without getting scammed? 

Juliana Merullo: The Attorney General says you should treat buying solar panels like you would treat any other big purchase. 

Peter Neronha: I think it’s the rare Rhode Islander who walks into a car dealership without thinking about what kind of car they want, how much they’re prepared to pay…What make or model they’re looking for.

Megan Hall: But how do I get reliable information about solar panels? 

Cameron Leo: To help with that, the Rhode Island attorney general’s office created a whole website for their Solar Panel Initiative with answers to consumers’ questions about who they should trust when they’re buying solar panels. 

Juliana Merullo: The site also has a list of questions you can ask the salesperson to make sure they’re legit. So the next time someone knocks on your door, you’ll be prepared. 

Megan Hall: Got it! Thanks, Juliana and Cameron. 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to thepublicsradio.org/possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook or X at  “askpossibly”

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio and Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, and the Brown Climate Solutions Initiative.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Last summer, I got a letter in the mail, welcoming me to the Providence Community Electricity Program. 

If you live in Rhode Island, there’s a decent chance you got some version of this letter, too. That’s because last year, seven towns in Rhode Island launched brand new energy programs, called community choice aggregation. 

We had Cameron Leo and Juliana Merullo from our Possibly Team look into the program to figure out how it works and what it means for Rhode Islanders. 

Cameron Leo: Hey, Megan! 

Juliana Merullo: Hiya! 

Megan Hall: So, what is community choice aggregation? And what makes it different from the way I got my energy before?

Cameron Leo: The first thing to know is that Rhode Island has a deregulated energy grid.

Juliana Merullo: That means that even though Rhode Island Energy distributes all of the electricity across the state, residents can choose to get their energy from an outside company.

Megan Hall: So if I wanted to, I could opt out of Rhode Island Energy and get my electricity from somewhere else?

Cameron Leo: You could! But most people don’t choose to find a new provider on their own, because it’s a complicated process. 

Juliana Merullo: This is where community choice aggregation, or CCAs, come in. Under these programs, towns can shop around for an outside energy supplier on behalf of all of their residents.

Cameron Leo: To learn more, we talked to Emily Koo, who was Providence’s Director of Sustainability when the city started developing this program.  She says community aggregation has two main goals: lower prices, and more renewable energy.

Emily Koo: In contrast, an investor-owned utility, also has its own bottom line and fiduciary obligations to consider.

Megan Hall: Let’s start with the lower cost part of this. How does community aggregation cut my utility bill?

Juliana Merullo: Under community aggregation programs, towns purchase electricity for their residents in bulk.

Megan Hall: When you say “purchase in bulk,” my mind immediately goes to big-box stores like Costco.

Cameron Leo: And that’s actually a pretty great comparison! In the same way that you land a better deal when you buy big packages at those stores, towns with community aggregation programs aim to get lower costs by pooling together everyone’s electricity needs.

Megan Hall: Okay, so, bottom line – how much money am I actually saving through this program?

Juliana Merullo: So far, it’s varied by the season. Last summer, the program was 1 cent per kilowatt hour cheaper than Rhode Island Energy. That’s a 10% discount! 

Cameron Leo: But this winter there’s been less of a difference. The CCA’s current rate is only one tenth of a cent cheaper per kilowatt hour than Rhode Island Energy, which isn’t much.

Megan Hall: Ok, so I’m likely to save, but not a lot. So, remind me why this is exciting?

Juliana Merullo: With community aggregation, towns can choose to select energy suppliers that will use more renewable sources, like wind and solar.

Cameron Leo: In Rhode Island, towns with the aggregation program are  set to increase their renewable energy by 22 percent.

Megan Hall: That’s pretty good!

Juliana Merullo: It is! And nearly all of this new renewable energy is from sources in New England, which could help incentivize more renewables to come onto our local grid. 

Megan Hall: So, everyone who got a letter, was automatically signed up for this program, but I saw that I also have the option to “opt up” and increase my renewable mix.

Cameron Leo: That’s right. You can do that by heading to your town’s Community Electricity website and filling out a quick form. It costs a bit more, but you can choose an electricity mix that’s 50 or even 100 percent renewable.

Megan Hall: So—what’s the catch? Are there any downsides to the program?

Juliana Merullo: Not really! But since the program is new, just how effective it is remains to be seen. 

Cameron Leo: Still, it’s probably a step in the right direction to lower customer costs and drive more renewables onto the grid. 

Megan Hall: Thanks, Cameron and Juliana! And thank you to Ella Spungen for helping with research for this episode.

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to thepublicsradio.org/possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook or X at  “askpossibly” 

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio,  Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, and Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative.

The post How does Rhode Island’s new community choice aggregation program work? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio.

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Megan Hall:  Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

Today, we have a question from one of our reporters, Kolya Shields. What do you have for us, Kolya?  

Kolya Shields: I’ve learned so many great tips about saving energy and addressing climate change during my time at Possibly! But it’s hard to convince my friends to try something new,  and sometimes even I forget to unplug my electronics or bring my reusable bags to the store. 

So I was wondering, are there research-based ways to change our behaviors?

Megan Hall: We had CharlieAdams from our Possibly team help Kolya look into it. Welcome, Charlie and Kolya!

Charlie Adams: Hi, Megan!

Kolya Shields: Hello!

Megan Hall: So, how do we convince people to make climate-conscious decisions? 

Kolya Shields: Well, it’s complicated! There’s a whole field of science dedicated to how people make decisions, behavioral science. To learn more, I spoke to Caroly Shumway:

Caroly Shumway: “I’m the director of the Center for Behavior and Climate”

Charlie Adams: She says behavioral science is 

Caroly Shumway: “the collective term for those scientific disciplines seeking to understand the causes of individual group and organizational behavior”

Megan Hall: So what does this have to do with climate change? 

Charlie Adams: Caroly says that climate change is not just a ‘science’ problem, but a people problem too. The science about our greenhouse gasses warming the planet has been clear for decades, but our behaviors and policies haven’t caught up.

Megan Hall: What can we do about that?

Kolya Shields: Caroly says much of our individual behavior is heavily influenced by habits. And…

Caroly Shumway: “It’s a challenge to change habits. All of us know how many new year’s resolutions fail… you have to do that habit, try that new thing, probably for… two weeks, maybe a month before it… solidifies”

Megan Hall: Ok, so once I get into a groove it gets much easier to remember to do things like take the bus and turn off the lights when I leave a room. But how do I make sure I don’t forget or quit?

Charlie Adams: Well, of course, there’s no perfect fix, but one helpful way to think about decision-making is through ‘social norms.’

Kolya Shields: For example, Caroly says framing sustainable habits as a popular choice, a trend, makes it easier for people to change their behavior.

Charlie Adams: This approach can have a big impact. For example, researchers at Stanford looked at how student eating habits changed after they read different anti-meat arguments.

Megan Hall: What did they learn? 

Kolya Shields: Messages that said people have turned away from meat in the last 5 years were much more successful than vague statements about people eating less meat.

Megan Hall: How do I put that lesson into practice?

Kolya Shields:  See if you can decide on a choice that your friend group can try together. When you have other people to hold you accountable and remind you why this change is important, it’s much easier to build new habits! 

Megan Hall: Can we use these strategies on a larger scale?

Kolya Shields: Caroly says if you want to influence behaviors, incentives are much more effective than punishments.

Caroly: “if you can enable choice, and you make the better choice more available or more accessible, you’re more likely to increase change for the better than if you take a hard line.”

Charlie Adams: The way we talk about the climate is important too! Research shows messages that emphasize the economic and social benefits of addressing climate change, like new jobs in the green economy, increased the likelihood that people made more sustainable choices.

Caroly: “People already believe climate change is real… So we have to, rather than make people feel a sense of apathy and despair, give people a sense that things are getting better”

Charlie Adams: It’s also important to remember that no amount of personal behavior change can solve this problem by itself – climate change will require fundamental policy changes, and there is only so much we can do as individuals. 

Kolya Shields: But on the flip side, policies don’t come from nowhere, they come from people. So talk to the people in your life about changes you can both try, the positive impact those actions make, and remember that people across the world are making similar changes every day! It’s not just a fun thing to do — it’s Behavioral Science! 

Megan Hall: Thanks, Kolya and Charlie!

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram– at “ask possibly” 

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio,  Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society and Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative. 

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