If We Want to Keep Earth Habitable, All Is Not Lost

We don't have to leave Earth's fate to the philosophers, or to the astronauts. Mother Jones uses a fresh snapshot of our planet from NASA's Artemis II mission, nicknamed "Hello, World," as the launchpad for a pointed conversation about what it will actually take to keep our planet livable. In a special episode of the More to the Story podcast, which first broadcast on Earth Day, Commander Reid Wiseman, who took that particular photo, describes the whole orb glowing from pole to pole, which stunned the crew. "It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks," he says. The episode then pivots from awe to action, bringing in three heavyweight voices to address the challenges of keeping our blue marble habitable: former Vice President Al Gore, environmental justice advocate Catherine Coleman Flowers, and writer-activist Bill McKibben.

The three lay out the political and practical obstacles to tackling climate change—especially amid federal rollbacks of environmental rules—but they also make the case that the tools and momentum for real progress are already here. Their shared message: The situation is serious, but not hopeless, if people push for change now. They also don't think that who's in the White House should, on paper, make a difference on moving forward. "I don't think that environmental justice is a partisan issue," Flowers says. "I think environmental justice under the Trump administration is going to help people to understand why it's not a partisan issue, because a lot of people that would be impacted by no regulations will be those same people that thought that they would benefit from this presidency and the decisions that they're making." For the full set of ideas, strategies, and reasons for optimism, check out more here.