'BradCast' 3/17/2022 (Guest: Bill McKibben on 'Heat Pumps for Freedom!')
b"On today's 'BradCast':\\xa0 Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a dark and ominous warning to Russian citizens who dare to voice criticism of his horrific, escalating invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin experts say Putin is becoming more erratic and unpredictable as his war against Ukraine bogs down and Western sanctions pummel the Russian economy.\\xa0 Ukraine cut off another pressure point from Russia by fully connecting to the European Union electric grid. But the European Union remains heavily dependent on Russian fossil fuel imports, which in turn fund much of Russia's economy and its war machine. Environmental author, journalist and activist BILL MCKIBBEN, founder of Third Act.org and publisher of 'The Crucial Years' newsletter, has an ingenious solution that helps fight fascism and climate change, while adding jobs, beefing up U.S. manufacturing and securing Europe. McKibben discusses his proposal, which is gaining steam among Democratic policymakers, to replace tens of millions of Europe's fossil fuel-burning furnaces and gas boilers with new, next-generation electric heat pump technology made in America. McKibben explains the win-win-win concept: how cutting Europe's fossil fuel dependence permanently undermines Putin's ability to use energy as a weapon, how President Biden can use executive authority and create jobs by ramping up US manufacturing and a domestic supply chain for heat pumps, help the U.S. and the E.U. meet climate goals and reduce fossil fuel pollution, and much more. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest 'Green News Report.'"