The DC Climate, Politics, and Sustainability Weekly

Colleagues in Climate Action and Sustainability,

With apologies for the delay, below please find this week’s lists of events, reports, peer-reviewed studies, news and commentary, and podcasts.

Four DC-area universities are represented by the events, report and study highlighted in yellow: American, George Mason, George Washington, and Georgetown. (As always, if you would like to request notice for something at or by your institution, just include the necessary details in a reply to this email.)

I would also note that cli-fi, or climate fiction, figures in three of the entries in this week’s newsmail. There’s the book reading/talk by Jenny Offill at Georgetown on Tuesday. There’s the collection of short stories, selected by novelist Kim Stanley Robinson, in this month’s issue of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. (See the third entry under Popular Commentary.) And there’s the Planet Critical interview with Heather Milligan listed under Podcasts.

If this week is anything like the last, we will need these distractions.

Best,

Michael

The Climate, Politics & Sustainability Weekly – Sun., Jan 18^th – Sat., Jan. 24^th       

DC Events – In-Person and/or Online

– Mon., Jan. 19 @ 09:30 AM – 2026 MLK Jr. Holiday Peace Walk, Rally & Parade – MLK Ave SE

– Mon., Jan. 19 @ 01:00 PM – Community Invasive Vine Removal at Oxon Run Park – Casey/CCAN

– Mon., Jan. 19 @ 07:00 PM – Being Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History w/ A. Burstein – P&P

– Tues., Jan. 20 @ 09:00 AM – Europeans Responses to Shrinking Spaces for Democracy – GMF

– Tues., Jan. 20 @ 12:00 PM – Smart Openness in US-China Scientific Collaboration – Quincy Inst.

– Tues., Jan. 20 @ 03:00 PM – Pol. Violence in America: Public Perceptions & Accountability – PRRI

– Tues., Jan. 20 @ 03:30 PM – Harnessing Neuroscience to Help Gen Z Navigate Path …– New Am

– Tues., Jan. 20 @ 05:00 PM – Teacher Well-Being & Retention in Sub-Saharan Africa – GW GSEHD

– Tues., Jan. 20 @ 06:00 PM – American Carnage: How Trump & Musk Butchered Govt. – B&P

– Tues., Jan. 20 @ 07:00 PM – Reading & Talk w/ Jenny Offill, author of Weather: A Novel – GU

– Tues., Jan. 20 @ 07:00 PM – Invisible Illness: From Hysteria to Long COVID, w/Mendenhall – P&P  

– Wed., Jan. 21 @ 08:30 AM – Rude Awakening: Shifting Course in a Warming World – WRI

– Wed., Jan. 21 @ 10:00 AM – What Does the Future Look Like for Yemen and STC? – AEI

– Wed., Jan. 21 @ 10:00 AM – Why Politicians Lie About Trade, w Dmitry Grozoubinski – Quincy Inst.

– Wed., Jan. 21 @ 11:00 AM – Putting Students Before Politics: Convers. w Rahm Emmanuel – CAP

– Wed., Jan. 21 @ 12:00 PM – Is Iran Reaching a Tipping Point? American Statecraft Prog. – CEIP

– Wed., Jan. 21 @ 12:30 PM – Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, 26^th Amend … w authors – GW SMPA

– Wed., Jan. 21 @ 01:15 PM – How Biomass Market Manager Reduces Catastrophic Fire Risk – S&SF

– Wed., Jan. 21 @ 02:00 PM – Staffing the Government: Trump’s Personnel Strategy – Brookings

– Wed., Jan. 21 @ 02:30 PM – Power & Priorities: How Americans View US Global Influence – CEIP

– Wed., Jan. 21 @ 03:00 PM – Bipartisan Solutions for Better Health Care – Bipartisan Policy Center

– Wed., Jan. 21 @ 05:00 PM – Combatting Overcriminalization: From Shark House to WH – Cato

– Thrs., Jan. 22 @ 08:30 AM – On the Road to India AI Impact Summit: Global AI Gov – Brookings

– Thrs., Jan. 22 @ 08:45 AM – Women in Policy, Coffee with Rep. Grace Meng – Prog. Pol. Institute  

– Thrs., Jan. 22 @ 10:30 AM – Why Radio Free Asia, RF Europe & Radio Liberty Matter – Hudson

– Thrs., Jan. 22 @ 12:00 PM – PFAS in 2025: Regulatory Changes at Federal & State Levels – ELI

– Thrs., Jan. 22 @ 12:45 PM – Parental Rights in Education After Mahmoud v. Tayler – AEI  

– Thrs., Jan. 22 @ 01:00 PM – Connected by Design: Advancing Youth Apprenticeship – New Amer.

– Thrs., Jan. 22 @ 04:30 PM – Reclaiming the Research University w Beong-Soo Kim (USC) – AEI 

– Thrs., Jan. 22 @ 07:00 PM – Getting to Reparations: Reckoning w Our Past, w D. Brown – P&P

– Frid.,  Jan. 23 @ 10:00 AM – Who Is Raising Our Children? Influence of Digital Time – World Bank

– Frid.,  Jan. 23 @ 03:00 PM – Monthly Climate Change Briefing: January 2026 – Env Law Institute

– Frid., Jan. 23 @ 03:00 PM – Dist. Pol. & Unequal Consequences in Nat. Res. Gov in Brazil – GU Eco

– Satr.,  Jan. 24 @ 10:00 AM – Invasive Vine Removal at RFK Campus – WA Bicyclists Assoc/CCAN

– Satr.,  Jan. 24 @ 05:00 PM – The Opinionated University: The Myth of Neutrality, w B. Soucek – 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

• The State of the Science 1 Year On by Writing Team (AGU/Eos 2026, 33 pages, free download)

• Visualizing the Loss of the American Climate Corps by WC Jayko et al (AU’s Center for Environment, Community & Equity 2025, 8 pages, free download)

• The 2025 Global Climate Highlights by C3S (Copernicus 2026, 39 pages, free download)

• Defining the Globe’s Flood Risk: The 15^th Risk Assessment by Research Team (First Street Foundation 2026, 53 pages, free download w/ registration)

• The Ecology of Authoritarianism: Tracing Russia’s Environmental Retreat Since the 2022 Invasion and Its Implications for Global Climate Action by V. Mirov (Heinrich Boell Foundation 2026, 42 pages, free download)

• A Review of Media Coverage of Climate Change and Global Warming in 2025 by M. Boykoff et al (Media and Climate Change Observatory 2026, 132 pages, free download)

• OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels in 2025: Policy Trends by D. Bourny & P. Avril et al (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 2025, 33 pages, free download)

• Political Violence in America: Perceptions, Polarization, and Accountability by M. Deckman et al (Public Religion Research Institute 2026, 32 pages, free download)

• Global Risks Report 2026: 21^st Edition by Research Team (World Economic Forum 2026, 102 pages, free download)

• Multilateral Development Banks: Nature and Biodiversity Mainstreaming by C. Neuneubel et al (World Resources Institute 2026, 43 pages, free download)  

  
  

Peer-Reviewed Studies

Comm. E&E (AdvOn) – “Large CO2 Emissions Avoidance in Improved Air Trans Efficiency”

Env. Comm (Dec) – “White Masculine Victimhood & Green New Deal’s War on Hamburgers”

Env. Res. Letters (Jan) – “A Critique of Climate Objectivity in Context of Global Injustice”

Jrnl Env Psych (Nov) – “Man Enough to Save the Planet? Masculinity Concerns & Atts re CC”

Nature Cities (AdvOn) – “The Climate Limits of Construction in Over 1000 Cities”

Nature CC (AdvOn) – “Megastudy on the Persuasiveness of Most-Cited Climate Messages”

Nature Food (Dec) – “Environmental Impacts and Monetary Costs of Healthy Diets Worldwide”

NPJ Climate Action (Jan) – “Arctic Driftwood Proposal for Durable Carbon Removal”

Science (01.15) – “A Theory of Change Approach to Enhance Post-2030 Sust. Dev. Agenda”

Science Advance (Jan) – “A New Era of Bioclimatic Extremes in the Terrestrial Arctic”

Popular Commentary, News and Analysis

Atlantic (01.18) – “Why the Trump Administration Is So Obsessed with Whole Milk” by Y. Tayag

Atmos (01.14) – “How Offshore Wind Factors Into Trump’s Lust for Greenland” by Miranda Green

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (Jan) – “And the Winners of Our Climate Fiction Contest Are …”

Climate Café (01.15) – “Pulling Out of 66 Intntl Orgs, Trump Turns Back on Science, Facts, Reason”

Deutsche-Welle (01.16) – “What EU-Mercosur Deal Might Mean for the Environment” by M. Kubler

Foreign Affairs (01.16) – “Less Foreign Aid, More Climate Risk: Massive Costs of Gutting USAID”

Grist (01.13) – “Major Agreement to Protect the Amazon Is Falling Apart After 20 Years” by F. Garza

Guardian (01.13) – “‘Bombshell’: Doubt Cast on Discovery of Microplastics Throughout Human Body”

NYT Mag. (01.18) – “The Scientists Making Antacids for the Sea to Help Counter Global Warming”

Time (01.17) – “The Women Saving America’s Climate Data” by Kyla Mandel  

Podcasts & Radio Stories

Climate One – The Podcast (01.16) – “Crop Shoot: Farmers Caught Up in Policy Turmoil”  

Heatmap – Shift Key (01.14) – “Heatmap’s Annual Climate Insider’s Survey Is Here”  

Inside Climate News – Sunday Morning (01.18) – “The Reality of Rapidly Warming World”

Liberal Patriot – Podcast (01.16) – “Why Rich Societies Are Breaking Down, w Brink Lindsey”

OIES – Podcast (01.12) – “The U.S. Ousts Maduro: Implications for the Oil Market & Beyond”

Planet Critical – Podcast (01.15) – “How Fiction Makes Sense of the Crisis, w Heather Milligan”

PRX – Living on Earth (01.16) – ‘Trump Ices Climate Diplomacy” / “Fungi & Climate Resilience”

RFF – Resources Radio (01.13) – “Benji Backer Wants to Make Nature Non-Partisan”

Volts – Podcast (01.14) – “Making the Electricity Grid Work Like the Internet, w/ EnergyNet”

Yascha Mounk – Podcast (01.17) – “HT Save American Democracy from Trump, w Ian Bassin”