Commonwealth Club of California Podcast CLIMATE ONE: Mother is Mothering
May 8, 2026
Neha Mankani, founder of the Mama Baby Fund and climate advisor, shares frontline midwifery work and community resilience in Pakistan. Dominique Browning, co-founder of Moms Clean Air Force, talks about mobilizing millions of parents for cleaner air and strategic EPA engagement. They trade stories of caregiving, climate risks to pregnancy, low-tech health solutions, and mom-led political power.
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Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Reframe Climate From Polar Bears To Children
- Framing climate as a children's health issue shifted the conversation from distant impacts to immediate bodily harm.
- Browning emphasized children's heightened vulnerability—faster breathing, developing brains—making pollution's harms tangible to parents.
Unexpected Evangelical Ally On Mercury
- Browning reached beyond progressive circles and won support from the Evangelical Environmental Network on mercury rules by appealing to fetal health.
- Most anti-abortion leaders declined, but Mitch Hescox became a key ally in strengthening mercury regulations.
Fight Rollbacks By Targeting State Power
- When federal rollbacks accelerate, shift activism to state and local levels where governors and mayors can enforce protections.
- Browning cites New Mexico's stronger methane rules as an example of effective state-level action against federal rollbacks.