WRGB Studios-Schenectady, NY — This week, a United Nations report found that the Earth has missed its opportunity to prevent major global warming impacts, saying the planet has warmed above a previously set threshold.
Also this week, a judge struck down New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act, which passed the New York State legislature and was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in 2024. It would have forced the most prolific carbon emitters (including fossil fuel companies and countries), to pay a combined $75 billion to New York for infrastructure improvements related to weather events.
One of this week’s Power & Politics guests is Kevin Reed, a Professor at Stony Brook University who contributes to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report “Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and their Impacts”.
Reed’s work there focuses on “attribution science”.
“My work really focuses on trying to understand how different types of extreme weather events have changed or will change in the future due to climate change. And so our work really spans everywhere from trying to understand the fundamentals of the climate system and what controls the number of extreme events, say hurricanes, on the globe in any given year, all the way up through understanding as an event is unfolding, has climate change impacted that event? Or as we come out of that event and we try to become more resilient and rebuild, you know, we can think about how would that event look different in 5, 10, or 20 years,” Reed says.
Reed goes much deeper into that work, and how it could impact everything from lawsuits to policies as it continues to advance.
Also this week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced FEMA has officially denied the State’s appeal for a Major Disaster Declaration and $168 million following the February blizzard.
While the White House has denied the decision is political, the Governor says President Donald Trump is “playing political games”.
With that in mind, this week’s podcast also includes an excerpt of our conversation with Andrew Morris, Professor and Chair of the Department of History at Union College. He also recently wrote a book: “When Natural Disasters Became National Disasters: Hurricane Camille and the New Politics of Disaster Relief”
“There has emerged in the past year and a half a marked difference in approvals for disaster relief in red states, where there’s a Republican governor and Republican congressional representatives and senators, as opposed to blue states. There’s a really stark difference that is only explainable by the political representation, the political character, and that is something that is very, very different,” Morris says.
Meanwhile, we speak with both Ken Pokalsky, Vice President The Business Council of New York State, and NYS Senator Liz Krueger (D) to get multiple perspectives on the New York Climate Change Superfund Act.
As always, Holloway’s Headlines start the podcast via Power & Politics producer Olivia Holloway, breaking down George Pataki’s comments on 9/11 Memorial Ceremony attendees, Governor Hochul’s calls for the release of federal funding, and the Climate Change Superfund Act news.
The podcast ends with thoughts on the passing of Gloria Steinem.