#1817 Worse on Purpose: Trump is Killing Our Response to the Climate Emergency

Air Date: 8/22/2026

Today we look at how the Republican Party made climate denial its policy more than twenty years ago and is now removing the government's ability to see the problem at all. The Environmental Protection Agency under Bush refused to regulate carbon in 2003, and now the Trump administration is dismantling the science that would help us both avoid worsening the climate emergency and mitigate the inevitable destruction to lives and property now baked into the system.

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Transcript

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TOP TAKES

KP 1: When It Comes to Climate Change, Is There a Point When Adaptation Isn't Enough - Consider This - Air Date 7-31-26

KP 2: Fire Climate Hot, Dry, Windy Days Are Becoming Common, Making Wildfires Harder to Control - Democracy Now! - Air Date 8-6-24

KP 3: Five Lies Republicans Tell About the Climate Crisis - The Hartmann Report - Air Date 8-9-26

KP 4: Is This How We Invade Greenland - The Rachel Maddow Show - Air Date 8-11-26

KP 5: Europes Summer of Fire The New Normal Part 1 - Outrage + Optimism The Climate Podcast - Air Date 7-30-26

KP 6: Climate Wayfinding A Compass for the Climate Crisis Part 1 - Sea Change - Air Date 5-22-26

(00:52:11) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

An Update on the Show

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DEEPER DIVES

(01:00:01) SECTION A: ON THE GROUND

A1: Executive Disorder Spokane Wildfires, Abdul Wins Michigan Primary, Munition Shortage Part 1 - It Could Happen Here - Air Date 8-7-26

A2: Wildfires Rage Across the Okanagan Part 1 - The Current - Air Date 8-10-26

A3: Farmers Struggle with Crops as Climate Change Makes Weather Less Predictable - PBS Newshour - Air Date 6-23-26

A4: Wildfires Rage Across the Okanagan Part 2 - The Current - Air Date 8-10-26

(01:29:50) SECTION B: EUROPE ON FIRE

B1: Wildfires Are Burning Through Europe Part 1 - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 8-4-26

B2: Europes Summer of Fire The New Normal…