DC Climate, Politics, and Sustainability Weekly

Colleagues in Climate Action and Sustainability,

Below please find this week’s lists of events, reports, peer-reviewed studies, news and commentary, and podcasts.

Dominating the calendar of events, both directly and indirectly, is DC Climate Week, with a roster of over 240 events, from Baltimore, MD, to Arlington, VA. That’s 60% more than last year. And the flagship events—Opening Ceremony, Earth Day Happy Hour, Leadership Forum, and Career Development Day—are all filled or filling.

Several of the events at area universities (six are represented this week!) are connected with DC Climate Week, including the star-studded reading of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King at Georgetown University on Tuesday night. In-person tickets are sold out, but the collective performance by Jesse Eisenberg, Kathryn Erbe,  Dr. Anthony Fauci, Erika Rose, Craig Wallace, Sam Waterston, Jumaane Williams, and others can still be viewed online.

Kudos to the governing board and staff of DC Climate Week!  We hope your week—our  week—is a great success!

That may go a long way toward offsetting the grim news and noise from other quarters.

Best,

Michael

P.S. If you would like to offer advance notice of an upcoming event at your institution, just include the necessary details and links in a reply to this email.

The Climate, Politics & Sustainability Weekly – Mon., April 20^th – Sun., April 26^th       

Multi-Day Event Coming This Week

       April 21–25 – Multi-Day – DC Climate Week (See Complete Schedule of Events Here) - DC    

DC Events – In-Person and/or Online

– Mon., Apr. 20 @ 08:30 AM – All Day – Collab. Res./Action to Transform Ed Systems – Brookings

– Mon., Apr. 20 @ 12:00 PM – Sustainability in Global Surgery: Lessons Learned – GW / PGS

– Mon., Apr. 20 @ 12:00 PM – World Development Report 2025: Standards for Dev. – World Bank

– Mon., Apr. 20 @ 01:00 PM – How Should Congress Reform Infrastructure Permitting? – AEI

– Mon., Apr. 20 @ 02:00 PM – Canada on Allied Burden-Sharing in WMD Threat Reduction – Stimson

– Mon., Apr. 20 @ 06:00 PM – Children’s Books Authors on Environment for Earth Day – P&P

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 08:30 AM – All Day – How Universities Can Work w Investors … – Duke in DC 

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 08:30 AM – Climate Challenges, Community Answers: Lessons from DC – GW ASF

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 09:00 AM – Building Panama’s Innovation Economy Through AI & Science – AC

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 09:00 AM – Better Finance, Stronger Forests: Perf.-Linked Instruments – World Bk

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 10:00 AM – Climate Finance as a Tool for Global Stability – Stimson Center

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 10:00 AM – Geospatial Monitoring & Forest Crime: Law Enforcement – WRI

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 11:00 AM – Climate Action, Close to Home – DC Climate Week / CAP

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 11:30 AM – Want to Work to Clean Up Fashion? Career Choices – W4WW/RWIT

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 12:00 PM – AI, Data & Africa: The Future of Global Innovation – Howard Univ CIG

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 12:30 PM – From Evid. to Power: Community Partners & Systems Change – GW ISO

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 02:30 PM – Transforming the Fed’s Operations for 21^st Century – Brookings

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 03:00 PM – Seabed Mining Under Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act – ELI

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 03:00 PM – Fashion & Climate Crisis: Policy & Innovation – Loop Labs / W4WW

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 03:30 PM – The Fifth Pillar: Where Higher Ed Goes from Here – New America

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 03:30 PM – What’s Next for Pakistan After the Islamabad Talks? – Atlantic Cncl

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 05:15 PM – Liberal Education: A Contested Question – American Enterprise Inst.

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 07:00 PM – Oedipus Project: Live Reading of Sophocles Play w All-Star Cast – GU

– Tues., Apr. 21 @ 07:00 PM – Water Wave Trivia Night (Virtual) re Careers in Water – Reservoir

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 08:30 AM – Climate In/Security w E. Sikorsky & K. Vinke – FES/HBF/Pocacito

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 09:00 AM – Implementing the Digital Euro Project – Peterson Inst. for Itnl Econ

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 09:00 AM – Long-Term Climate Strategies: An. Opp in a Changing World - WRI

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 10:00 AM – Sustainability Symposium / Earth Day Celebration – AU CECE OoS

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 10:00 AM – Europe’s Push for Greater Mineral Independence – Inst. Pol. Studies

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 10:30 AM – Pakistan at the Center: A Year of Change for Islamabad – Stimson

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 12:00 PM – Half-Day – Climate Change & Gender-Based Violence – Howard Univ.

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 12:00 PM – Screen People: Entertained Into State of Emergency – New America

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 01:00 PM – State Innovation to Addresss the Benefits Cliff – American Ent. Inst.

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 01:00 PM – Earth Day Festival – Georgetown University / Earth Commons

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 01:00 PM – How Should Educators Teach America’s Story? – Prog. Policy Inst.

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 02:00 PM – Cognitive Warfare, AI, and Security: Insights from E. Asia – Stimson

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 03:00 PM – Music & the Earth: Songs for World Peace, w Dr. Priya Parrota – B&P

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 04:00 PM – Protection Is Prevention: Reducing Child Maltreatment Fatalities – AEI

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 04:00 PM – Evng – DC Climate Week: Earth Day Happy Hour – Sycamore & Oak

– Wed., Apr. 22 @ 04:30 PM – Earth Day Sustainability Social – George Mason University AKC

– Thrs., Apr. 23 @ 09:00 PM – 2026 Conference on Internally Displaced People – GU / RI /OHCHR

– Thrs., Apt. 23 @ 11:00 AM – W. McKibben on Building Econ Projections for Better Policy – PIIE 

– Thrs., Apr. 23 @ 12:00 PM – Gas, the Gulf, and the “God Squad” – Environmental Law Institute

– Thrs., Apr. 23 @ 12:00 PM – Launch for New Fellowship for Journalism on Future of Work – New Am.

– Thrs., Apr. 23 @ 12:00 PM – Mapping Abortion Views Across the 50 States – Public Rel. Res. Inst.  

– Thrs., Apr. 23 @ 01:00 PM – The Future of Student Loans, w Undersecretary of Education – AEI

– Thrs., Apr. 23 @ 02:00 PM – Implications of Trump’s Iran Debacle: Is This End of Primacy? – Quincy  

– Thrs., Apr. 23 @ 04:00 PM – The Future of Climate-Health Policy: Lessons from US Exp. – CEIP

– Thrs., Apr. 23 @ 04:00 PM – Tracking Down Data: Where to Find Climate/Env Info in 2026 – EESI– Thrs., Apr. 23 @ 05:30 PM – Clean Energy Permitting: Obstacles & Opportunities – DC Law/ELI ($) 

– Thrs.. Apr. 23 @ 07:00 PM – 2026 Atlantic Council Distinguished Leadership Awards – Atlantic Cncl

– Thrs., Apr. 23 @ 07:00 PM – This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark, w author – P&P

– Frid.,  Apr. 24 @ 09:00 AM – ISO-GHG Protocol Product-Level Carbon Accounting – World Res. Inst. 

– Frid.,  Apr. 24 @ 12:00 PM – Legal Standards for Green Marketing Claims – Env. Law Institute ($)

– Frid.,  Apr. 24 @ 01:30 PM – Half-Day – Climate & Health Research Day – GW ASF REACH

– Frid.,  Apr. 24 @ 03:00 PM – Monthly Climate Change Briefing: April 2026 – Env. Law Institute

– Frid., Apr. 24 @ 07:00 PM – How to Be a Dissident, with Carl Beckerman – P&P / Atlantic

– Frid., Apr. 24 @ 07:00 PM – Radically Reframing Climate Change, w Will Hackman – P&P Wharf

– Satr., Apr. 25 @ 01:00 PM – Celebrating Earth Day, Arbor Day & STEM: Open House – UDC CAUSES

– Satr., Apr. 25 @ 03:00 PM – The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral by Diane Ackeman (re-release) – P&P

       Note: If any part of the title for an event has been italicized, then it’s focused on an author interview or book discussion.

New Reports and Books

Radically Reframing Climate Change: A Guide to Saving Ourselves by W. Hackman (Bloomsbury Publishing 2026, 264 pages, $27.95) local author

Building Capacity for Public Engagement on Solar Geoengineering by S. Jinnah et al (Cambridge Elements 2026, 114 pages, open access / free download)

The Impact of Ending U.S. International Media Assistance by D. Sabet & S. Abbot (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 2026, 50 pages, free download)

Tipping Points: Decision Making Under Deep Certainty by S. Kapnick et al (J.P. Morgan 2026, 23 pages, free download)

An Integrated Approach to Waterways Safety Risk Assessment for the U.S. Coast Guard by E. Cooper et al (Rand HSOAC 2026, 8 pages, free download)

Peer-Reviewed Studies

Env. Intrntl (March) – “Effects of Wet-Bulb Temp. & Air Pollution Exp. on Suicide Mortality”

Env. Politics (AdvOn) – “Beyond Denial: Climate Delay Discourses and Public Opinion … in US”

Nature Rvws: Biodiversity (May) – “Accelerating Coral Assisted Evolution to Keep Pace w CC”

PNAS (03.14) – “Performative Planning Creates Values Mismatch btw Wildfire Plans & Needs”

Sci. Adv. (April) – “Observational Constraints Project 50% AMOC Weakening by End of Century”

Popular Commentary, News and Analysis

Climate Connection (04.13) – “The 2026 World’s Cup Could Be the Dirtiest Ever” by JC Ponce

DeSmog (04.15) – “Despite Trump Actions, Most Dangerous CC Arg. Today Isn’t Denial—It’s Delay”

Gallup (04.14) – “Climate Change Concern Near Its High Point in the U.S.” by Jeffrey Jones

Grist (04.17) – “Ask a Climate Therapist: Why Should I Plan for My Future? w Leslie Davenport”

Guardian (04.17) – “Coral Reefs Nearing Extinction: 2026 Must Mark Turning Point” by J. Mamoa

Heatmap (04.17) – “The Six Weeks that Changed the Global Energy Economy” by Matthew Zeitlin

Inside Climate News (04.17) – “To Battle Climate Change, A Baltimore Church Turns to Nature”  

Lever (04.16) – “The Man Exxon Tried to Drill: The Corp Backlash Against Shareholder Activism”

New Republic (04.17) – “Democrats May Believe Climate Change Is Real. They Don’t Act Like It.”

Yale Env. 360 (04.09) – “More Troubling Picture of Sea Level Rise Is Coming into View” by F. Pearce

Podcasts & Radio Stories

Climate One – Podcast (04.17) – “Two Stories Prove Change Is Possible—Cities & Tribal Lands”

Global Optimism – Outrage & Optimism (04.16) – “It’s in Our Blood: Communities & Forever Chems”

Harvard Business – Climate Rising (04.15) – “Patagonia Provisions: Regen Ag & the Food System”  

Heated – Podcast (04.16) – “Detoxing My Life, Resentfully: Thoughts on Plastics, Power, Person”

Heatmap – Shift Key (04.15) – “Why Microsoft’s Carbon Removal Pullback Is Such a Big Deal”

ICN – Sunday Morning (04.19) – “America’s Dirty Secret: Sanitation Infrastructure, w CF Flowers”

Planet: Critical – Podcast (04.17) – “Tech Titans Won’t Save Us, with Paris Marx”

PRX – Living on Earth (04.17) – “Earth Day – 1970 vs Now” / ”Clearing the Air, w H. Ritchie”

Resources for Future – Resources Radio (04.14) – “Maximizing Minerals at Home, w Beia Spiller”

Volts – Podcast – “Doing Data Centers Not-Dumb Way” (04.15) / “Climate Fin. Interrupted” (04.17)