Green Sense Radio

What’s part car, part SUV and goes 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds?

This week Host Robert Colangelo shares his thoughts with Tom Appel, publisher of Consumer Guide Automotive, after test-driving the 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT, including a rundown of its performance and features. The all-knowing Guru of Gears also talks about the current state of charging stations and if they will be a limiting factor to increased vehicle sales as EVs become more popular.

How Zoning Broke the American City

Are zoning codes stopping cities from being vibrant, equitable, and sustainable? This week we spoke with M. Nolan Gray, the Research Director for California YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard) and author of “Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It.” During the interview, Nolan discusses how flawed policies are a major reason many US cities cannot address housing shortages, stunted growth and innovation, persistent racial and economic segregation, and car-dependent development. Nolan shares his proactive ideas for making our
cities better.

Making Chicago’s Water infrastructure resilient to climate change

This week we spoke with Josina Morita, Commissioner for the Metropolitan Water
Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD). The MWRD, one of the largest
water districts in the country, employs 2,000 people, and has been providing clean drinking water and managing wastewater for Chicagoans since 1889.
Commissioner Morita talks about historical engineering feats (reversal of the
Chicago River and TARP- Tunnel and Reservoir Plan) the district has completed,
the challenges a big City faces in hardening its water infrastructure to be more
resilient to climate events and why protecting local freshwater sources is more
important now than ever.

Growing a cure in the City

The Farm on Ogden, a multi-use facility in an underserved area on the west side of Chicago, supports and sustains a healthy urban community by bringing food, health, and jobs together in one location. The farm is run by Windy City Harvest, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s urban agriculture education and jobs-training initiative that offers the Veggie RX program, which provides a prescription of fresh produce (a weekly box of fresh greens) to food-insecure patients with diet-related diseases, such as obesity and diabetes.

This week we spoke to two members of the Windy City Harvest Team, Brittany Calendo, the Program Director, and Ketaurah James, Veggie RX Manager, to learn more about how these programs are helping build a local food system, healthier communities, and a greener economy.

Ford F-150 Lightning sets the bar for manufacturers of EV pickup trucks

This week we spoke to the all-knowing Guru of Gears, Tom Appel, publisher of Consumer Guide Automotive, to review our test drive of the Ford F-150 Lightening (I’m still smiling). We also discussed the load EVs put on the CA electrical grid to see if they are the reason for the brownouts and blackouts from the record-setting temperatures experienced throughout the state this summer.

The unintended consequences of lighting up indoor farms!

Feeding a growing global population using less land, water, and energy is a big
goal. It’s even more challenging when you are looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with rising input costs and supply chain shortages. This week we are joined by Chris Higgins, President and co-Founder of Hort Americas and founder of Urban Ag News. Chris gives us an update on new state legislation designed to regulate electricity use at indoor farms and the unintended consequences these policies can have on indoor vegetable grow operations.

Are climate scientists’ predictions finally coming true?

Historical climate data models are important for anticipating future risks, predicting the cause and effect, guiding adaptation decisions, and setting mitigation targets for now and future generations.

A Coronal Mass Ejection is coming; we just don’t know when!

Our guest this week is Geza Gyuk, Director of Astronomy at Chicago’s Adler
Planetarium. The 1859 Carrington Event, also known as the perfect solar superstorm, was the most intense Coronal Mass Ejection (large expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun's corona) in recorded history. These fast-moving geomagnetic waves wreaked havoc with technology and telegraph communications worldwide. With current society so heavily dependent on technology and electricity, Geza discusses just how detrimental it would be if a similar storm hit Earth today, what systems are in place to detect these storms and how you can be prepared.

Battery life is the new odometer for EVs

Traditionally mileage has been a key factor in determining a car’s value, but that
is not the case for electric vehicles. This week we spoke to our Guru of Gears,
Tom Appel, the publisher of Consumer Guide Automotive and the host of the
podcast Car Stuff, to take a look at how EVs are valued and resold as they age.

Eco-tourism – greenwashing or a novel way to protect sensitive ecosystems?

Hidden Lemur is a sustainable travel website that aims to give travelers better
access to ethical travel experiences. We spoke with Hidden Lemur’s Founder
and CEO, Conor Armor, to discuss the growing interest in eco-tourism and if
these sustainable travel destinations are minimizing social, physical, and
economic impacts on these sensitive environments.