We are excited to release our first official episode of Grounded, Not Divided, which was recorded live at the University of Wyoming on October 8. We apologize for the delay in posting the episode, which was due to audio issues with the live recording.
Our guest is Benji Backer, who, in my estimation, has done more than any other single person to bridge political divides in the United States on environmental issues. The video of our conversation is below:
Show notes:
Benji Backer is an author and environmental activist, who has spent his career working to depolarize environmental issues. He authored the best-selling book The Conservative Environmentalist and founded the American Conservation Coalition, America’s largest right-leaning environmental advocacy group. He recently launched a new non-profit, called Nature is Nonpartisan, which aims to highlight environmental issues Americans agree on, and build bipartisan coalitions to address them. He has been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list, among many other accolades. We discuss his vision for a non-partisan environmental movement, and how he and his friends managed to start a successful non-profit while they were still in college.
Don’t miss our upcoming episodes later this fall:
We are excited to announce that our next two episodes, also on the environment and energy theme, which will both air before Christmas:
Episode 2: David and Robert Lawrence: Getting things done on energy and the environment.
Energy security and environmental protection are popular American priorities that often get chopped up into simplified sound bytes in our polarizing political discourse. What does progress on these issues actually look like on the ground? How can businesses, policymakers, and academics work better together to develop and advance solutions? Join us for a conversation with identical twins and industry leaders David and Robert Lawrence. They currently lead the nature-based environmental solutions company Land and Carbon, Inc. They also have four decades of wide-ranging previous experience across the energy and environment industries.
This episode will also be recorded live, tomorrow, November 20, 2024, at the University of Wyoming’s College of Business.
Episode 3: Jeri Curry: Making disaster relief about people and not politics
Jeri Curry is the Executive Director and Board Chair of Marshall ROC - Restoring Our Community. Marshall ROC is the organization leading the recovery effort for the Marshall Fire, which devastated Louisville and Superior, Colorado, in December 2021. She also works as a strategic consultant with Crisis Cleanup, a disaster cleanup hotline that connects disaster survivors with cleanup and recovery services. She has decades of other experience working in media, communications, consulting, non-profits, humanitarian, and international development organizations. Amidst recent news headlines about politicians and officials on both sides of the spectrum politicizing disaster relief efforts, we will discuss Jeri’s approach to disaster relief and recovery, which emphasizes people over politics.
Coming up in 2025:
After these two episodes, we will switch gears and air episodes on higher education, the pharmaceutical industry, and more. Subscribe to stay tuned!
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