Podcast: Hope In the Headlines with Peter Prengaman

<sup>[00:00:05] Narrator:
Real stories, real change, rooted in the power of nature.
You're listening to Unearthing Optimism from the Arbor Day Foundation.

[00:00:23] Dan Lambe:
Hi, I'm Dan Lambe. Today we're joined by Peter Prengaman, global climate and environmental news director at the Associated Press. The AP is a not-for-profit news agency and is one of the oldest, largest, and most respected outlets in the world. Over the course of his career, Peter has reported from more than 15 countries. Now, he and his team are bringing global environmental challenges into sharper focus for millions of readers.

In this episode, we talk about Peter's own personal experience as a journalist covering a changing planet, and the people and places giving him hope. Peter, welcome to Unearthing Optimism. I'm ecited to have this conversation with you today.

[00:01:06] Peter Prengaman:
Thanks, Dan. I'm excited to be here.

[00:01:08] Dan Lambe:
I am a news junkie. I am checking news all throughout the day, and the Associated Press is definitely one of the places I go to get my news. It is an institution.
But for our listeners and for those who may not be as familiar with the Associated Press, do you mind just giving a background on the scope and scale of this entity?

[00:01:29] Peter Prengaman:
So the AP is 180 years old, very old news organization. We are all around the world. We try to cover breaking news first and foremost wherever it's happening and wherever breaking news would be interesting to wider audiences.

And that means we are covering everything from natural disasters to wars to big political decisions. Of course, sports, a huge part of what we do.

And we cover news in a way that we give it to other news organizations or sell it to other news organizations, so it's syndicated for thousands of news organizations around the world. So a lot of times you may be reading as a viewer or a reader something and not even know that it came from the Associated Press, and you may be looking in your local newspaper or a website or online social media and that material actually came from Associated Press.

[00:02:27] Dan Lambe:
It's incredibly powerful as an outlet. I do. Anyone who was paying attention, you're seeing AP stories showing up from the "Dallas Morning News" to the "New York Times" to the "Miami Herald," everywhere, and it's coming from the Associated Press, so it's incredibly influential.

And we have not worked together, but I did see you host a panel in Climate Week last September in your offices in New York City, and it was a great panel.

And again for our listeners, my understanding is your title is Global Climate and Environmental News Director. Can you help everyone understand what does that mean? What does that job look like?

[00:03:06] Peter Prengaman:
Yeah. It's kind of a mouthful of a title.

I lead a team of journalists around the world who are focused on climate and environment. As you know, huge umbrella of topics and stories within that. We cover everything from extreme weather to green energy transition to environmental degradation to environmental restoration projects to solutions, climate solutions.

We cover policy. We try to hold companies and countries accountable to different promises that they make around the environment to cutting pollution. So our remit kind of changes almost every day depending on the stories, depending on what's happening around the world, but with a focus on climate and environment and a real attempt to make sure that this area crosses into all aspects of life in our storytelling.

Because climate and environment, as you know, is not just a science story, it's a fashion story. It's a business story. It's a technology story. It's a policy story. There are so many. It's a political story. There are so many different aspects of climate and environment and the charge of our team is to try to connect all of those things in stories around the world.

[00:04:22] Dan Lambe:
Tell us a little bit more about that. That's a fascinating way to get people to pay attention in a little bit different fashion.

[00:04:29] Peter Prengaman:
Yeah, absolutely. So I can give two examples just from the last two days. Yesterday and today we had stories that we published on fashion. One story looking at denim, on jeans, and how jeans are incredibly environmentally intensive, we'll say. It just takes so much water to produce even one pair of jeans.

And then specifically denim is also really environmentally intense.

So we had a story looking at ways that people are trying to make jeans more sustainably. Some of the technology that they're using instead of these stones that were used, using ozone, doing the distressing in the dry environment versus using water to do it.

So that, for example, and then today we have a story looking at clothing rentals and how clothing rentals are, yes, better for your pocketbook, which is important, but not that environmentally friendly depending on the kind of rental that you're using. So if you go to a local store and you rent a dress or a tux or whatever, that's pretty good because there isn't a lot of transportation or shipping.

But if you use a company that has to send something across the US, then there are emissions associated with that. So both of these stories take it from a ground level. Here I'm at the denim factory or here I'm at this particular rental place. Here are things that you can do to save money Here are things to think about from a climate standpoint.

And so if you are interested in fashion, and many people are interested in fashion, I have a couple of teenagers who are very interested in fashion, there's a good chance that they may actually watch that story. And so that's part of reaching people in different ways.

[00:06:21] Dan Lambe:
Well, you just talked about not only the story, but also solutions and more, I know you've got a big team that you work with. How do you challenge your team to put effort towards covering solutions and the people creating them? It isn't just like, "Here's the problems," but how do you help your team focus on telling that hopefulness and make sure we're giving attention to where those solutions are showing up?

[00:06:48] Peter Prengaman:
I think I do that in a couple of ways. One, just really encourage people to remember to have fun. As journalists, not everything has to be serious and weighty. And so to have fun in thinking about the possibilities of different technologies and different initiatives that people are doing.

The second thing is, a really big thing for us is focusing on people. And always, who are the characters in your stories? Who do you want to interview? Who are you going to use to tell the story of whatever particular solution it is? And so, I really encourage that. I think as people, we're naturally interested in other people, and that helps.

[00:07:28] Dan Lambe:
You've got a heck of a team. So what would you say your North Star is while leading this global coverage about the environment?

[00:07:37] Peter Prengaman:
Yeah, I think I would expand on people for this. It really is our North Star. When we launched the team in 2022, the idea was that we would go across disciplines, in all these different areas, fashion, technology, business, sports, and tell the climate environment stories through that. To do that, you need people. You need really good characters.

And I think climate change, in the end, is a people story. And so that is our North Star. That's the thing that we always talk about in every story, whether it's a study story, whether it's policy, and then, of course, people being impacted from extreme weather or being forced to migrate because of climate change. You can't get away from it, and we don't want to get away from it. It is our North Star. Climate is a people story, full stop.

And I think if you tell stories like that, you are able to get more people engaged. I think if there was any air of climate journalism in its history, let's say 10 years ago or 15 years ago, it was too much of a focus on science. Science is the basis of everything we do. It's super important, but not enough focus on people, how people are being impacted, how people are benefiting, how people are thinking about these things, how people are engaging in restoring their communities or doing replanting of tree projects. These are great stories, but they all come back to people.

[00:09:09] Dan Lambe:
I agree. It's a way to capture people's attention and make it more relative to them, like how they might be experiencing it in their lives.

Well, we talked earlier about how the Associated Press is one of the oldest, largest, most respected news agencies in the world and has long prided itself on being nonpartisan. And in an era where it can be divisive to even say the phrase climate change, how do you navigate the impartiality about the problems facing the planet?

[00:09:42] Peter Prengaman:
It's a tough one, but at the same time, it's not that tough if you step back and you think about two things.

I think the first is that we can't, and we should not, engage in two-sideism in some ways when it comes to what's happening to the planet. The science is very clear. It's been established over decades. We've known for 150 years plus, carbon dioxide into the atmosphere heats the planet. And climate science in the last 30, 40 years has just so well established this.

So the second thing also to remember is, although we are a climate and environment team, it's not our job to advocate for any one solution or anything, in fact. It's our job to present things in as impartial and as factual way as possible to then give the audience, whether it's just regular people or policymakers, as much information as possible so that they can make their own choices.

And so I think if you remember those two things, one, science is science, and second, it's not our job to tell anybody what to do, that you'll be okay.

[00:10:54] Dan Lambe:
Well, thanks for sharing that. And I know you have been a journalist for a while. You've worked in a lot of different countries around the world, not always just focusing on the environment.
But I'm curious if there was a particular moment or place early in your career that really opened your eyes to how impactful environmental challenges can be.

[00:11:16] Peter Prengaman:
I would mention two things. Early in my career, I was based in the Caribbean, in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and covered many, what we called at those moments, natural disasters.
And this is going back 2003, 2004, 2005, where I would cover hurricanes, for example, and there was no mention of climate. These were just acts of God. And they are natural. Hurricanes are natural. But what's not natural is the intensity and the speed of the wind and some of these things that climate change has pushed.

So I think in those early times, I saw how powerful mother nature really could be, and that left a strong impression on me.

And then if you speed up, 2010, I was based in the South, I was based in Georgia, and I was sent to the Gulf to help cover the 2010 oil spill, if you remember this, the Deepwater Horizon and just thousands, millions of barrels of oil that go into the ocean.

I think what struck me there is a couple of things, like how complicated Our relationship with oil can be, because on one hand, this oil had destroyed an ecosystem, but on the other hand, there were not that many people that were criticizing the oil industry for that. And the reason for that is because it's a big part of the economy, right?

And so I think that really struck me as like, this is complicated, right? And we need to embrace the complicated nature of it. And then the other part of it was just how destructive things can be to the environment and how hard it can be to clean up.

So I think those two things really still stick a lot in my mind, many years later as I lead this team that focuses on climate and environment.

[00:13:03] Dan Lambe:
Well, I know you spent some time in Brazil as well, so I'd like to dig into that. Anytime you talk about the significance of the environment, one of the places that often comes up is the Amazon.
And the Arbor Day Foundation, we have planted millions of trees, both planted in the rainforest, but also help to protect rainforest, working with local partners and other global non-government organizations for all the reasons you have reported on, and that everyone knows it's about carbon sequestration, fresh water supplies, home to some of the most critical wildlife.

But still for a lot of people, when they hear about the Amazon, it's just this far-off rainforest that they've either read about or heard about or dreamed about. Brazil is where most of the Amazon rainforest is.
Can you speak to how you personally saw the impact of the rainforest, whether that was environmentally or culturally or economically? I would just love to hear your personal experience with that.

[00:14:07] Peter Prengaman:
The time that I really realized how important the Amazon was, was the first time I went. I think for me, even as a journalist and writing stories about deforestation, which is something that we follow a lot and I would write stories on the latest deforestation rates. That's something that we even cover closely to these days.

You do think of the Amazon as this far-off place, right? And just this massive forest. And it is that. You don't think of the Amazon as a living thing necessarily that involves people.
And what really struck me the first time I went, the first time I went, I actually took my family on a trip to the Amazon, and our kids were little then, and so we went on forest walks and different things where they would show these fire ants and just show all kinds of incredible things.

The thing that struck me was how much the Amazon is really a people story as well. There are so many people who live in the Amazon. There are, of course, indigenous peoples. There are, of course, tribes, uncontacted tribes. Of course, I didn't see them. They're uncontacted. But then there are also just so many river dwellers, people who live along the rivers in different parts of the Amazon.

And the Amazon really is this huge living thing that includes people. And to realize that was an aha moment for me and really shapes how I work with... We have two reporters who cover the Amazon, who are dedicated to the Amazon. One's in Brazil and one's in Colombia.

And so we do all kinds of stories on different indigenous peoples, on different solutions that the Amazon present, on all the risks to the Amazon, on the deforestation, on the politics of the Amazon. The Amazon is a living thing and is incredibly, of course, important for the planet, but also really a people story.

[00:16:05] Dan Lambe:
As you were describing that, Peter, it just really made me think about for a lot of people, they don't get into the forests. It's like this romantic notion of forests, which is maybe just fenced off or something like that. But as you were describing the Amazon, it's like a lot of the forests we see even here in the United States. They are working forests. They need to be managed. They are creating economies. It's where people live, work, and play, and that's a part of what makes these forests successful.

You have said that the more people understand the problems facing the planet, the more compelled they may feel to act. Do you still feel that way? The reason I'm asking is we hear and read about this growing angst and quote unquote climate dread people are experiencing. They're trying to figure out can they even do anything about it. Do you still feel like the more people know about it, the more they feel compelled to act?

[00:17:03] Peter Prengaman:
I do. I believe in general that information is power, and our education and our knowledge help shape our decisions. It doesn't mean that you read one AP story, hopefully you read many, on the environment and you go, "Oh, I'm going to make all these changes, and I'm going to buy an EV, and I'm going to stop eating meat, and I'm going to call my local representative." No, that's not the way the world works.

But I think the more that you know, the more it just is in the background, and you subconsciously will probably make better decisions for the environment, just being more knowledgeable. It's also really important to understand that small changes really do make a big difference. I think sometimes people think about the environment, and it's overwhelming. It's like, "Well, what can I do? I'm just a drop in the ocean." But if you make decisions locally that are good for your environment, those also help nationally and internationally.

So I think the way to think about it is if you care about things, think about just your own place. Is there garbage that you could pick up? Can transportation become more efficient? Can you carpool? Can you do things that will make the air quality better where you live? Just focus on that, and that ... helps the overall climate.

[00:18:26] Dan Lambe:
I feel that way, too. As we speak with people around the country and around the world, there is still a hopefulness, and there is a desire to be making a difference. And I agree, when you're more informed, you're more likely to know how to act and where you can make a difference.
If there was one thing you could get everyone to understand about the challenges in the environment that we're facing now, what would it be?

[00:18:51] Peter Prengaman:
I think it would be, if I could wave a wand, would be to get everybody to lock in, really focus on temperature and understand the subtleties and the importance of temperature. Because even tenths of a degree matter a great deal in warming.

.01 temperature rise can mean the difference of how much salt is coming into a landscape that then permeates the crops that are next to it. A small temperature rise can mean X more inches of sea ice melt, which raises the level of the sea and creates problems on coastlines, including in the US.
This small temperature matters. And so if people focused on that, I think people would be more informed and probably insist on different choices from their local representatives and just think about climate in a different way.

[00:19:37] Dan Lambe:
We hear people focus on heat and extreme heat a lot, and we know that's been a big problem. It's interesting to hear you use the word temperature as opposed to just extreme heat. I do feel like we're making progress. At the Arbor Day Foundation, we see projects, programs, partnerships shaping up around the world that are making a real difference in people's lives. Where do you see progress being made?

[00:20:10] Peter Prengaman:
I think we're making progress in a lot of areas. Maybe the one where I think is the biggest, globally, is just the adoption of renewable energies.

The conversation has really shifted in the last decade, we'll say, and maybe even more the last two or three years, from renewable energy is good for the planet to renewable energy is just cheaper, right? And it's just more cost-effective. It can be rolled out faster than a lot of fossil fuel projects.

And when you see such wide adoption, which is happening in a lot of surprising places like Pakistan, which has gone all-in on solar, for example, you realize that the economics of this have really changed. And that's progress, because if you can start to use fuels that have much less impact on the environment, the wide curve of warming, or the sharp curve, is going to go down. So I see it in there.

I see it in a lot of the young people in the progress. I think our kids are much more knowledgeable about the planet than we certainly, I'll speak for myself, than I was at their age. Their level of understanding of what's happening is really heartening, really heartwarming that there's such a level of understanding.

So I see progress there. Speaking about trees, I see a lot of progress in the understanding of what works for replanting and what doesn't. I think a lot of tree projects historically have failed for different reasons. The things have been planted in the wrong places, or they haven't had the oversight or the care. I think we're getting better at that, whether it's in Oregon, my home state, or in the Amazon of what we plant where.

So I see lots of progress.

[00:21:58] Dan Lambe:
That's part of what I see, too, is some of it is just having the courage to try, the courage to build some partnerships, test some programs, that willingness to not quit, and the hopefulness that we can continue to forge a path through collaboration and partnerships.

So I'm glad to hear you see that as well, because I know there is a lot coming your way, and it must be daunting for you and your team. How do you coach your team to avoid burnout, to avoid just absolute frustration over the amount of sometimes bad news that they may need to be reporting on? Do you turn to nature? Do you turn to your family? How do you deal with that and help manage your team to make sure they're finding space to recover?

[00:22:51] Peter Prengaman:
I do that in a number of ways. I think I'll start with myself. I love nature in so many ways, and I'm always trying to find time and ways to be out in nature. I like to ski. For example, one of my sons is a Scout, a Boy Scout, and I'm very involved with him and his troop, and we go on camping trips and hiking trips.

So when I'm out in nature, it does two things. I think it helps me relax and kind of unwind from work and from a lot of the stresses of life and just covering this subject. And then it also helps remind me what's at stake. When you're in a forest, it's like, wow, this is something to preserve. This is something to take care of.

So that said, on a personal level, is really trying to be outside as much as possible. For my team, I try to encourage people to take on different assignments. Everybody has beats, but it's okay to come off your beat and do something that is a little bit different, to try a different form of storytelling, to do a story that is not quite on your beat, just to keep it fresh.

And then just remind people to have fun and to don't just pick doom and gloom stories. Really come to the table with things that you think can be helpful for the world and that you want to wrestle with.

[00:24:20] Dan Lambe:
I'm sure that is well-received by your team to have that kind of flexibility.
Because listen, not everyone connects through science or policy alone. We've talked about science and how important it is. Sometimes people need art or poetry or storytelling that open people up, and I saw that you write poetry. And I'd just love to ask you about that.

Poetry, about your work, about your life, about the world you're living in. Why do you think different forms of engagement matter, especially when we talk about something as big as the future of the planet?

[00:24:53] Peter Prengaman:
Every day, I think about a couple of things when it comes to our stories. I think, who's reading AP stories, who isn't reading AP stories, and what can we do to engage the people who are not? And if I take that and then move to poetry or art or different forms of storytelling, ultimately what I'm saying is, how do we bring new people into the fold? How do we meet people where they are?

And I think we do that by exactly meeting them where they are, understanding that as great as a traditional story is, it is not going to reach a lot of people. And so we've got to think about other ways to reach people, and that can be through art. It can be through comedy. We've done stories on comedians bringing climate change into their work. It can be through fashion. Fashion is a really big one. It can be through business and technology.

It can be through poetry. I would love it to be through poetry a lot more. I love poetry myself. It could be through comics. These are some areas that you can also try.

So I think, like you said, you just got to keep trying things and keep trying to engage new people, and you can't do that by doing the same thing. You just have to keep trying different things.

[00:25:59] Dan Lambe:
So you've covered a lot of stories in a lot of unique ways, your team has as well. I'm just curious if there are any specific examples that you can recall of places, people, or communities that you've covered that just kind of stopped you in your tracks and genuinely gave you a sense of hope.

[00:26:36] Peter Prengaman:
Yeah. I would say one story that really gave me hope actually has to do with replanting is along the Louisiana coast, and this was a story that my team did a couple of months ago. And it involves volunteers who were kids when Hurricane Katrina hit, and wide swaths of the Gulf Coast, and particularly in Louisiana, were just completely wiped out. Right?

And so there's this group of people who are working to restore some of the trees in those areas, some of the vegetation and the mangroves. And I see something like that, and I go, "This is just really cool." There's a storybook piece to this of people who lived through Katrina, who now are adults, young adults, saying, "We want to restore these parts of wetlands." So, that's the kind of story where I think this just gives me incredible hope, and again, it's the younger generations. It's the people. You keep going back to it.

And we've been planting trees in the Gulf Coast for 20 years, following with Katrina recovery. It takes decades for that kind of recovery, and I would say the same thing. It's those people and their hopefulness, their resiliency, their determination is what inspires us to keep going and find ways to support their work.

[00:27:58] Dan Lambe:
So one of the last things we do with all of our guests, this is Unearthing Optimism, and we are the Arbor Day Foundation, so we do talk about trees a lot. So I've got to ask you, Peter, is there a tree story you have from your life that you might want to share? Is there a favorite tree you have? Is there a tree you love? Can you tell us a tree story?

[00:28:18] Peter Prengaman:
God, how many do I get to tell? So no, I love trees, and not just because I'm on this podcast. I really love trees, and I'm a tree watcher and have learned a lot about trees over the years. I think that although I've been in the Amazon, been blessed to travel a lot and cover a lot of stories, I think the trees that I remember the most and that I like the most are pine trees in northern Arizona, in the Coconino Forest.

I lived in Arizona for four years in Phoenix before moving to New York three years ago, and just the smell of those pine trees. And I would smell them going up to Flagstaff, being in the Flagstaff area, and I would smell them when I ski. They are so strong that even when it's really cold, you can smell them, and I think they take me to, I don't know, a happy place in my mind.

And I think it's not one specific moment or a story like that, but just a feeling. It's kind of like sometimes you listen to a song from back in the day or something, and it takes you to that moment of whenever. And whenever I smell those trees, it just kind of...
I've been back a few times in Arizona since we moved and make a real point to go to Flagstaff and to spend some time in Coconino Forest and just smell the trees, the pine trees.

[00:29:43] Dan Lambe:
Thanks for sharing that.

So you're living in New York City now. I just have to ask, are there any key natural areas you go to escape to in New York City? I get to New York City at least four or five times a year, and there's some amazing green space there. There are some amazing boulevards. People don't realize how many trees there are in New York City.

But are there any kind of key natural spaces, maybe other than the obvious ones, any kind of key spaces that you're like, "Hey, never realized I could find so much nature in this city."

[00:30:12] Peter Prengaman:
In the city, less so. I'd say Central Park, of course, right? And that's probably the obvious one that you're thinking of.

I love to go to Central Park and walk and then also rent bikes sometimes with my kids, which is just amazing.

But I would say the best nature of New York is in New York State, upper state New York, and that's been the biggest surprise for me. I like the city. It's okay. But what I really like about New York are the Adirondacks and the Catskills mountains and all the trees in those areas.

I've explored all the way up to the border of Canada and into Montreal and then the western part of the state, the Finger Lakes, for example, outside of Rochester. Those nature places are just incredible, and I've been able to experience a lot of them camping and hiking in the last three years. So yeah, big plug for upper state New York.

If you come to the city, it's fine, but after a day or two, go see something else.

[00:31:12] Dan Lambe:
Peter, thanks for the time today, and thanks for the work you do. It is hard work. It is important work, and what I really just want to say is thanks for helping to provide information, because information makes us all more ready to act, all more prepared and informed. And so thanks for what you do.
Thanks for the conversation, and we look forward to continuing to follow the great work you and your team are doing at the Associated Press.

[00:31:37] Peter Prengaman:
Thank you. Thanks for having me. This was a lot of fun speaking with you.

[00:31:41] Dan Lambe:
That was Peter Prengaman, reminding us that climate change is not just a scientific story. It's a human one, shaped by the places we live, the communities we build, and the stories we choose to tell.
To our audience, thank you for tuning in to Unearthing Optimism, and if today's episode moved you or inspired you, we hope you'll subscribe, leave a review, and share the show with a friend.
Until next time, keep planting those seeds of hope.</sup>