Dannagal Goldthwaite Young is a professor of communication and political science at the University of Delaware. In addition to being an award winning scholar, she has also been an improvisational comedian. Her 2020 TED Talk (link below) explaining how our psychology shapes our politics and how media exploit these relationships has been viewed over 2 Million times. She publishes extensively in the popular press with essays and Op-eds in outlets including Vox.com, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. Her earlier book is Irony and Outrage: The Polarized Landscape of Rage, Fear, and Laughter in the United States.
Her book, WRONG: HOW MEDIA, POLITICS, AND IDENTITY DRIVE OUR APPETITE FOR MISINFORMATION, was just published by Johns Hopkins University Press.
As Jaime Settle, author of FRENEMIES: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA POLARIZES AMERICA, writes of it ‘Powerful, distinctive, and utterly compelling, Wrong argues that the way we satisfy our needs for comprehension, control, and community is shaped by our social identities, which are at the core of both the supply and demand for misinformation. Because politicians and the media know this fact, they behave strategically in order to structure politics through this perspective.”
We spoke with Dr. Young on November 7, 2023 via Skype.
Links to articles/videos pertinent to this interview:
As each month breaks historic records for the hottest ever recorded, we realize that hot though they have been, they may very well be the coolest we’ll ever experience in the future. As wild fires, smoke and floods devastate huge swathes of the globe, one asks what can be done? While many dither (or worse), young people take action. Through their courage and determination, with their adult allies, they demand their rights to a livable future in courts around the world.
On September 27, 2023 in Strasbourg, France, The hearing of 6 Portuguese youth plaintiffs in the historic lawsuit, Duarte Agostinho v. Portugal and 32 Others, took place at the European Court of Human Rights.
The plaintiffs want governments to set and meet science-based targets for cutting carbon emissions in the 33 countries: all EU member states, plus Norway, Switzerland, Russia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
The fact that the European Court of Human Rights elevated this case to its Grand Chamber demonstrates how seriously the Court takes allegations that the inadequate climate policies of these 33 States breach their legal obligation to prevent climate-related harm.
Among the third party interveners in Aghostino was the Center for International Environmental Law. We invited Nikki Reisch, the Director of the Climate & Energy Program, at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) to be our guest on Forthright Radio. At CIEL, Nikki works at the intersection of human rights and the environment, overseeing research, analysis, legal and policy advocacy related to climate change, its causes, consequences, and responses to it.
Prior to joining CIEL, Nikki Reisch was the Legal Director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, and a Supervising Attorney in the Global Justice Clinic at NYU School of Law. She was also an Adjunct Professor in the Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic at CUNY School of Law. Her work focused on human rights and environmental harms related to a range of domestic and international issues, including open-pit mining, surveillance of human rights defenders, immigration enforcement, torture, and arbitrary detention.
Her engagement in climate justice began with her five-year tenure as the Africa Program Manager at the Bank Information Center, where she worked to curb development finance for fossil fuels and supported front-line communities challenging extractive industry projects. In her subsequent position as the Policy Advisor on Forests and Climate Change at Rainforest Foundation UK, Nikki co-founded a global coalition tracking reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation in the UNFCCC negotiations and pursued transnational advocacy with partners in the Congo Basin to mitigate the human rights risks posed by climate change and policy responses to it.
She has litigated before domestic and international courts, appeared before UN treaty bodies and the accountability mechanisms of international financial institutions, and co-authored amicus briefs in several human rights cases. She is co-editor with Philip Alston of Tax, Inequality, and Human Rights (Oxford University Press, 2019) and has published other articles and reports on human rights and environmental matters.
In our far ranging conversation, which was recorded on October 3, 2023 via Skype, she told us “Sometimes when politics break down — as they have despite decades of climate negotiations — the law can break through.”
In our conversation, Nikki referred to the European Court of Human Rights decisions as binding on the “Member States of the EU.” She actually meant The Council of Europe (46 member states, including the 27 EU states).
The week beginning August 14th, 2023 has been historic for first rulings and actions for the environment and democracy. That morning, MT District CourtJudge, Kathy Seeley, rendered her masterful 103 page closely reasoned and well cited verdict in the case of Held v MT, ruling that the 16 youth plaintiffs’ constitutional rights under the Montana State Constitution were being violated by the Montana government’s laws and practices, including amendments to the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) that specifically prohibited consideration of climate change in the granting of permits by the Dept of Environmental Quality.
Ann Hedges of MEIC
We spoke with Anne Hedges of the MT Environmental Information Centerhttps://meic.org/, who testified in the case, as well as Claire Vlases, one of the youth Plaintiffs who testified.
Claire Vlases testifies as Judge Kathy Seeley listens intently
Then, on August 17, in The United States District Court for the District of Montana, Federal Judge Donald Molloy, rendered his judgment in favor of The Alliance for the Wild Rockies & Native Ecosystems Council suit against the US Forest Service, to protect the dwindling remnant grizzly bears population and to stop the Black Ram massive old growth logging project in its tracks. https://allianceforthewildrockies.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/093-ORDER-Granting-MSJ-2023-08-17.pdf This is historic, because it’s the first time in the Federal Courts that climate change was cited in a ruling. We spoke with Mike Garrity of the Alliance for the Wild Rockieshttps://allianceforthewildrockies.org/ about that decision.
Then, on Sunday, August 20th, Ecuador became the first country in history to restrict fossil fuel extraction through the citizen referendum process. Nearly 60% of Ecuadorian voters backed a binding referendum opposing oil exploration in Block 43, a section of Yasuní National Park, the most biodiverse area of the imperiled Amazon rainforest, which is home to uncontacted Indigenous tribes, as well as hundreds of bird species and more than 1,000 tree species.
Maya K. van Rossum
Finally, we spoke with Maya van Rossum, founder of Green Amendments for the Generationshttp://www.ForTheGenerations.org about her decades long efforts to secure Green Amendments in state constitutions nationwide. According to van Rossum, currently only 3 states benefit from Green Amendment constitutional environmental rights — Montana, Pennsylvania and New York. In addition to leading the effort that secured New York’s Green Amendment just over 2 years ago, and being responsible for the litigation that brought strength to Pennsylvania’s amendment, van Rossum is working to pass Green Amendments in 15 other states with more getting in contact since hearing about the Held victory.
It is worth quoting the relevant parts of the Montana State Constitution, upon which Judge Seeley based her verdict.
Article II, Bill of Rights, Section 3, Inalienable Rights:
All persons are born free and have certain inalienable rights. They include the right to a clean and healthful environment and the rights of pursuing life’s basic necessities, enjoying and defending their lives and liberties, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and seeking their safety, health and happiness in all lawful ways. In enjoying these rights, all persons recognize corresponding responsibilities.
(1) The state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations. (2) The legislature shall provide for the administration and enforcement of this duty. (3) The legislature shall provide adequate remedies for the protection of the environmental life support system from degradation and provide adequate remedies to prevent unreasonable depletion and degradation of natural resources.
I recorded the entire proceedings and produced Daily Audio Digests. After the trial, I produced archived editions of each witness’s testimony, as well as closing arguments. Unlike the trial transcript, from which the plaintiffs’ witnesses’ pre-rebuttal testimony was stricken, in these archived recordings of their testimony is intact. Here are the links to those recordings in the order in which they occurred:
Since the historic Held v. State of Montana trial began on June 12, 2023, in the Lewis and Clark County District Court in Helena, MT, Judge Kathy Seeley presiding, we have been recording and archiving the audio to preserve the record, to inform and allow listeners to hear for what transpired.
For the first time in the United States, youth plaintiffs were able to present their case in a court of law, that the state of Montana was denying them their inalienable constitutional rights under Article II Section 3 of the Montana State Constitution
“to a clean and healthful environment and the rights of pursuing life’s basic necessities, enjoying and defending their lives and liberties, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and seeking their safety, health and happiness in all lawful ways.” ….. were being denied and violated by the policies and actions of their government.
Further, that The State was in violation of their responsibilities as required underArticle IX, Environment and Natural Resources, Section 1. Protection and Improvement that “The state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations. Section 2. The legislature shall provide for the administration and enforcement of this duty. and Section 3. The legislature shall provide adequate remedies for the protection of the environmental life support system from degradation and provide adequate remedies to prevent unreasonable depletion and degradation of natural resources. ”
In this edition of Ecotones, we share the opening arguments given in Held v State of Montana on Monday, June 12, 2023, as well as the closing arguments from Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Here is a list of the unedited testimonies of witnesses in this trial in chronological order of their appearance:
This special edition of Ecotones is the final daily audio digest of the historic Held v State of Montana trial.
On the final day of this trial, one day before the summer solstice, on June 20, 2023, closing arguments were given before Judge Kathy Seeley, presiding judge of the Lewis and Clark District Court in Helena, MT.
Our Children’s Trust Senior Staff Attorney, Nate Bellinger, delivered the plaintiffs’ closing arguments, followed by Montana Assistant Attorney General, Michael Russell, delivering closing arguments for the State.
Before these remarks, plaintiffs’ attorney Philip Gregory, offered further information attacking the credibility of the State’s lone outside expert witness, economist Dr. Terry Anderson, submitting a report documenting errors of his sources and information, and asking the court to take judicial notice, which the court granted. The audio of this portion of the proceedings, which came before the closing arguments was problematic, and our best efforts only made marginal improvements, so we have put this portion at the end of this recording after the closing arguments.
We continue our coverage on this fourth day of the historicHeld v State of Montanaproceedings, sharing this audio daily digest from June 15, 2023.
In this edition, we feature the testimony of Peter Erickson, a climate change policy researcher for the Stockholm Environment Institute in Seattle, Washington.
He provided expert testimony on Montana’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions – via fossil fuel consumption, extraction, and infrastructure that the state of Montana permits – and how these emissions are both nationally and globally significant. “We are at a decision point about taking action on climate change,” Mr. Erickson said. “The world community has decided we must. Montana continues to issue fossil fuel permits.”
We have been recording and producing daily audio digests of the historic Held v State of Montana trial, brought by 16 youth plaintiffs asserting that their constitutional rights are being violated by the State of Montana, which began on June 12, 2023, in the Lewis and Clarke County District Court in Helena, MT, Judge Cathy Seeley presiding.
Dr. Mark Jacobson is cross-examined by Defense Attorney, Mark Stermitz as Judge Seeley presides.
We share this testimony from the morning of June 16, 2023 by Dr. Mark Jacobson, director of the Atmosphere/Energy program at Stanford University. Dr. Jacobson described the technological and economical feasibility to transition Montana off of fossil fuels by 2050 and supply its energy needs via water, wind, and solar (WWS). http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-mark-jacobson-testimony-6-16-23/
We have been recording and producing daily audio digests of the historic Held v State of Montana trial, brought by 16 youth plaintiffs asserting that their constitutional rights are being violated by the State of Montana, which began on June 12, 2023, in the Lewis and Clarke County District Court in Helena, MT, Judge Cathy Seeley presiding.
We share the testimony of the final two witnesses for the plaintiffs, Dr. Lise Van Susteren, an internationally recognized psychiatrist and expert on how climate change affects the physical and mental health of youth differently and more drastically than adults. http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-lise-van-susteren-testimony-6-16-23/
We will continue to record and produce these daily audio digests of the Held v State of Montanatrial as it continues on July 19, 2023 as the Defense presents their case with witnesses Terry Anderson, Christopher Dorrington and Sonja Nowakowski.
Welcome to this special edition of Ecotones. We continue our coverage on this fourth day of the historic Held v State of Montana proceedings, sharing this audio daily digest from June 15, 2023. In this edition, we feature three witnesses, but not in the order in which they actually testified on Thursday June 15th. Testifying first was youth plaintiff, Kian Tanner, followed by Montana Environmental Information Center Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, Anne Hedges, and then youth plaintiff, Claire Vlases.
Claire Vlases testifies on 6-15-23, while Judge Kathy Seeley listens intently
Next is testimony from Anne Hedges, who is the Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs at the Montana Environmental Information Center, including cross examination by Defense Attorney for the State of Montana, Bain Johnson (apology if his name is misspelled). http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-anne-hedges-testimony-6-15-23/
Due to radio broadcast time restraints, we were not able to include the testimony of the final witness on June 15, 2023, Peter Erickson, a climate change policy researcher for the Stockholm Environment Institute in Seattle, Washington. He provided expert testimony on Montana’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions – via fossil fuel consumption, extraction, and infrastructure that the state of Montana permits – and how these emissions are both nationally and globally significant. “We are at a decision point about taking action on climate change,” Mr. Erickson said. “The world community has decided we must. Montana continues to issue fossil fuel permits.”http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-peter-erickson-testimony-6-15-23/
We will include audio of his testimony, as well as those of others we could not previously share, in later programs.
We continue our coverage of the historicHeld v State of Montana proceedings with this audio daily digest of the hearing from June 14, 2023. Dr. Lori Byron continued her testimony from June 13th, discussing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and human generated catastrophic climate change. http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-dr-lori-byron-testimony-6-13-23/
After cross examination of Dr. Byron by Defense Attorney for the State of Montana, Mark Stermitz, attorneys for the plaintiffs called Dr. Shane Doyle to the witness stand, testifying on behalf of his daughters, two of the youth plaintiffs, Ruby and Lillian Doyle. http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-shane-doyle-testimony-6-14-23/
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