Reveal
The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX
How a Climate Doomsayer Became an Unexpected Optimist
About This Episode
More To The Story: Bill McKibben isn’t known for his rosy outlook on climate change. Back in 1989, the environmentalist wrote The End of Nature, which is considered the first mainstream book warning of global warming’s potential effects on the planet. His writing on climate change has been described as “dark realism.” But McKibben has recently let a little light shine through thanks to the dramatic growth of renewable energy, particularly solar power. In his latest book, Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization, McKibben argues that the planet is experiencing the fastest energy transition in history from fossil fuels to solar and wind—and that transition could be the start of something big. On this week’s More To The Story, McKibben sits down with host Al Letson to examine the rise of solar power, how China is leapfrogging the United States in renewable energy use, and the real reason the Trump administration is trying to kill solar and wind projects around the country.
Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Copy editor: Nikki Frick with help from Digital producer: Artis Curiskis | Deputy executive producer: Taki Telonidis | Executive producer: Brett Myers | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al Letson
Listen: Will the National Parks Survive Trump? (Reveal)
Read: Rooftop Solar Is a Miracle. Why Are We Killing It With Red Tape? (Mother Jones)
Read: Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization (W.W. Norton & Company)
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More Episodes
Inside America’s Race to Hide the World’s Money
SummaryThis episode of Reveal investigates the booming domestic trust industry, which has transformed the United States into a primary global destination for hiding assets. The hosts explore how wealthy individuals use trusts—legal mechanisms once reserved for the ultra-wealthy—to avoid taxes, protect assets from creditors, and maintain complete financial privacy. Through the story of entrepreneur Alessandro Chesar, the episode highlights the disparity between the sophisticated tools available to the rich and the financial realities faced by everyday Americans. Reporters Sally Hersch and Leah McGrath Goodman take listeners to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, an unlikely epicenter for this trillion-dollar industry. They reveal how states compete to enact the most lenient, secrecy-favoring laws to attract capital. Experts discuss how these practices, including perpetual trusts and structures that keep beneficiaries in the dark, contribute to extreme wealth inequality and complicate legal efforts to trace hidden funds. The episode paints a picture of a system where legal loopholes are actively cultivated to prevent the redistribution of wealth, ultimately questioning whether these secretive financial practices are fueling a new era of American aristocracy.
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