Climate One

In the US, we’ve become accustomed to climate – like nearly everything else – being politicized. Even when potential solutions might benefit everyone, a zero-sum mentality has taken hold where there’s an “us” and a “them” and progress for them comes at the expense of us. “Racism in our politics and policymaking is distorting our ability to respond to big problems and to advance collective solutions,” says political strategist Heather McGhee. But does it have to be this way? Can we look to the UK and elsewhere for a different model? Is it even possible to make the whole planet a winner?

Guests:

Heather McGhee, Political Strategist & Author, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together 

Rebecca Willis, Researcher & Author, Too Hot to Handle? The Democratic Challenge of Climate Change

We have been nominated for a Webby!

Please give us your vote as the Best Science and Education Limited Series in the 25th Annual People's Voice Award below:

https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2021/podcasts/limited-series-specials/science-education

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Guests:

Tamara Conry, Camp Fire survivor 

Julia Fay Bernal, director of Pueblo Action Alliance 

Britt Wray, postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University focused on the intersection of mental health and the climate crisis

The impacts of climate change may come fast or slow. A wildfire amplified by drought may rip through a town in a matter of hours, or rising seas may take years to destroy a neighborhood. Health impacts may show up in months, or take the form of devastating cancer rates that rise over a decade. Regardless of speed or intensity, the climate emergency will impact us all. How do we live alongside climate disruption?

This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

Related Links:

Pueblo Action Alliance

Eco-anxiety and Gen Dread

We have been nominated for a Webby!

Please give us your vote as the Best Science and Education Limited Series in the 25th Annual People's Voice Award below:

https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2021/podcasts/limited-series-specials/science-education

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For many of us, the story of the American wilderness begins when Europeans arrived on these shores and began conquering it. The wide open spaces of the American West loom large in our country’s mythology.

But what often gets written out is the history and culture of those native societies who were here to begin with — and whose relationship to this land is very different. And while one-percenters have contributed generously to preserve and protect the pristine wilderness they love, the people who work for them are often struggling, working two or three jobs.

How are public and private land interests competing in the American West? Can conservation and recreation coalesce in a way that is inclusive of all communities?

Guests:

Dina Gilio-Whitaker, American Indian Studies Lecturer, California State University San Marcos

Justin Farrell, Author, Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West (Princeton University Press, 2020)

Diane Regas, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Trust for Public Land

Jessica Newton, Founder, Vibe Tribe Adventures 

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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Speakers:

Julian Brave NoiseCat, Vice President of Policy and Strategy, Data for Progress 

Julie Pullen, Director of Product, Jupiter Intelligence 

Alicia Seiger, Managing Director, Sustainable Finance Initiative, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University

The COVID-19 shutdown has hit women and minorities hardest: four times as many women as men dropped out of the workforce in September 2020, with Latina and Black women seeing the highest levels of unemployment.

The Biden Administration’s COVID recovery plans promise to prioritize climate and equity alongside economic growth—can those values carry over to a post-pandemic workforce that doesn’t leave anyone behind? “The solutions to climate expand far beyond simple carbon math,” says Alicia Seiger of Stanford University. How will climate resilience be built into America's economic recovery?

Related Links:

The American Rescue Plan

Data for Progress

Jupiter Intelligence

Precourt Institute for Energy

The All We Can Save Project

Waterfront Alliance

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Guests:

Sandra Kwak, CEO and Founder, 10Power

Donnel Baird, CEO, BlocPower

Andreas Karelas, Author, Climate Courage: How Tackling Climate Change Can Build Community, Transform the Economy, and Bridge the Political Divide in America 

Summary: As the spring of 2021 arrives, it would be hard to design a more challenging — or more promising — moment for implementing climate solutions. Americans are reeling from an economic shutdown that’s pushed many out of the workforce, and widened the gap between the wealthy and the poor. In this brave new post-Covid world, can President Biden step up where Obama couldn’t? 

“I'm delighted about what I'm seeing from the Biden-Harris team,” notes Donnel Baird, CEO of BlocPower. “Climate justice and racial equality are wedded together alongside employment, alongside public health and working our way out of these kinds of four simultaneous crises we’re dealing with.” From big tech to clean energy, what are the opportunities for scaling new solutions — and where do inequity and politics continue to set us back?

Related links:

10Power

BlocPower

Climate Courage

Re-volv

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Warmer, shorter winters may sound like an impact of climate change that would inspire more joy than despair. But rising temperatures and decreasing snowpack won’t just transform water supplies and species ranges. It will also disrupt a multi-billion dollar winter sport industry, including the jobs and local economies associated with them. 

“If we're not able to ski or snowboard anymore,” says Mario Molina, CEO of Protect Our Winters, “the least of our concerns will be the activities that we participate in.” So how are winter sports enthusiasts and others preparing to weather the storm?

Speakers:

Elizabeth Burakowski, Assistant Professor, Earth Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire

Kit DesLauriers, National Geographic Explorer; Skimountaineer 

Geraldine Link, Director of Public Policy, National Ski Areas Association 

Mario Molina, CEO, Protect our Winters

Related Links:

Protect Our Winters

Higher Love: Climbing and Skiing the Seven Summits

National Ski Areas Association

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Guests:

Céline Cousteau, Explorer and Filmmaker

Davis Guggenheim, Director, An Inconvenient Truth; Founder, Concordia Studio 

Cristina Mittermeier, National Geographic Photographer; Co-Founder, SeaLegacy

While IPCC risk assessments and emission projections can help us understand climate change, they don’t exactly inspire the imagination or provoke a personal response to the crisis. But a growing league of storytellers is using photographs, films and the human experience to breathe life into the cerebral science of climate change and conservation. “It's not the blockbuster, big-splash film,” says explorer and filmmaker Céline Cousteau, “It's truth, it’s intimacy, and some of it is ugly and some of it is beautiful.” So how far can images and sound go to inspire a global climate response?

Related Links:

He Named Me Malala

My Octopus Teacher

SeaLegacy

Tribes on the Edge

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True to his campaign promise, President Biden dove right into the climate crisis on Day One, signing a stack of executive orders that signaled his determination. But how effective are they? 

“Executive orders, I think, are often very splashy when they're introduced, and they get a lot of attention,” notes Axios reporter Ben Gemen. “I think the better way to look at an executive order is sort of firing a starting gun for an extraordinarily long race.” But while he faces certain blowback from Republicans in Congress, there are signs that when it comes to conservative thought, the wind may be changing.

What can the Biden Administration accomplish using existing authority? How much will conservatives and businesses step in and step up on climate?

Guests:

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), Chair of House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis

Rich Powell, Executive Director, ClearPath

Ben Geman, Energy Reporter, Axios

For complete show notes, visit our website.

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Just two months into 2021, deadly winter temperatures left millions of Texans without water and power. Meanwhile, California is preparing for another year of intense drought, and Wall Street millionaires are moving their remote work to Florida, ground zero for flooding and sea-level rise.

“We think about the Earth as a system,” says Marshall Shepherd, director of Atmospheric Sciences Program at the University of Georgia, “so we can't understand climate change unless we understand changes in the Arctic, or in the ocean circulations, or in the biosphere, and so forth.”

“Hope or waiting and seeing is no longer a valid risk mitigation strategy."

Guests:

Katharine Mach, Associate Professor, Marine Ecosystems and Society, University of Miami

Marshall Shepherd, Director, Atmospheric Sciences, University of Georgia

For complete show notes, visit our website.

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“The long-term energy future of America is not going to be written in fossil fuels,” declared John Kerry last April. President Biden recently appointed the former Secretary of State to a top position in his climate cabinet - United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.

Joe Biden did not start his campaign as the “climate candidate.” But as he starts his second month as president, he is looking at everything through a climate lens – from jobs and infrastructure to international diplomacy, public health and social justice.

“He really is a person who was engaged somewhat in climate, but I don't think it was as yet sort of ingrained into him,” said former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “Well, it is now!”

McCarthy and Kerry are just two of the climate leaders that President Joe Biden has tapped to put his ambitious climate plan into action. In this program, we revisit conversations with these and other Climate One guests from the past year that have been named to prominent roles in the Biden-Harris administration.

Speakers:

Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington

Gina McCarthy, Former President & CEO, NRDC Action Fund

John Kerry, Former U.S. Senator and Former Secretary of State

Sonia Aggarwal, Former Vice President of Energy, Energy Innovation

Brian Deese, Former Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable Investing, BlackRock

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In the past decade, narratives of a dystopian climate future have helped connect people with heroes in worlds decimated by climate disruption and industrial expansion. In today’s real world, scientists are looking to geo-engineering and other human innovations to preserve the wellbeing of life on Earth. “What we’re missing is a way to galvanize people to support policies that are actually gonna change,” says Jeff Biggers, founder of The Climate Narrative Project.

So how can climate storytelling help us reckon with our changing environment? Do we need a new climate narrative to help us understand and solve the climate emergency?

Guests:

Jeff Biggers, Founder, The Climate Narrative Project

Elizabeth Kolbert, Staff Writer, The New Yorker

Kim Stanley Robinson, Science Fiction Author

Related Links:

Climate Narrative Project

Resistance: Reclaiming an American Tradition

The Ministry for the Future

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future

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Experts have warned us that COVID-19 is just one example of climate change-related diseases on the rise. And while climate disruption, environmental health and the current pandemic may seem like three distinct problems, to those in the health and environmental justice field, that’s not the case.

"All of them are connected," says Adrienne Hollis of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "And the underlying cause is systemic racism."

"If you want to address pandemics, and you want to address climate change, you’ve got to focus on equity," agrees Aaron Bernstein of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. "And the solution, and the great news in some ways, is that these actions you need to take are one and the same."

How are heat, lack of sanitation, and other environmental issues killing Americans in underserved communities? A conversation on what happens when climate, health, and poverty converge.

Guests:

Catherine Coleman Flowers, Founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice; Author, Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret  (The New Press, 2020)

Adrienne Hollis, Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists

Aaron Bernstein, Interim Director, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health 

For complete show notes, visit our website.

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With a new pro-science, pro-climate action administration in the White House, there are more pathways — and far greater political will — than ever before for the clean energy transition. The question is now less about what can be done to act on climate, and more about how soon. 

“We have the best opportunity in more than a decade now to see federal climate action through legislation,” says Leah Stokes from UC Santa Barbara. So how quickly can a new administration turn around a gutted EPA, myriad environmental law rollbacks, and a legacy of climate denial from fossil fuel companies?

Guests:

Michael Mann, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science, Penn State University

Leah Stokes, Assistant Professor of Political Science, UC Santa Barbara

Related Links:

Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad

The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet

Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States

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A decade ago, a nationwide survey showed that only around twelve percent of Americans were seriously concerned about climate change. Today, public perceptions have changed. 

“The alarmed are between a quarter and 30% of the public,” says Edward Maibach. “That makes them the largest single segment of Americans…as their name implies, they’re alarmed about climate change.”

How does understanding the perceptions of a broadly concerned public enable our leaders to create lasting change? How do climate concerns break down across political, economic, and regional divides?

A conversation with Anthony Leiserowitz and Edward Maibach, recipients of the tenth annual Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication. At a time when understanding climate perceptions has never been more important, Dr. Leiserowitz and Dr. Maibach have exemplified the ability to be both scientists and powerful communicators through their work on the public’s understanding of climate change, including the seminal Global Warming’s Six Americas project.

Guests:

Anthony Leiserowitz, Director and Senior Research Scientist, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

Edward Maibach, Director, George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication

Host: Greg Dalton

Related Links:

Global Warming’s Six Americas

Yale Climate Connections Podcast

Climate Matters – Jim Gandy

Climate Matters in the Newsroom

White House Fact Sheet: President Biden’s Executive Actions on Climate Change

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Hopes and expectations are high for President Biden’s first weeks in office. His recovery plans promise to take on COVID-19, a battered economy, and a rapid clean energy transition in a way that doesn’t leave communities behind. But Navajo Nation, which until recently was home to the largest coal-fired power plant in the U.S., has been left out of economic and energy plans for a long time.

“The community that has been the provider is the one that has the most homes that don't have access to electricity,” notes Wahleah Johns, Co-Founder and Director of Native Renewables. Can the incoming administration improve energy access for all Americans while phasing out fossil fuels?

Guests

Loretta Lynch, Former President, California Public Utilities Commission

Wahleah Johns, Co-Founder & Director, Native Renewables

Paula Glover, President, Alliance to Save Energy; former President and CEO, American Association of Blacks in Energy

Jeremiah Baumann, Director of Federal Policy, Energy Innovation

Visit our website for more information on today's episode.

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Incoming President Biden faces an unimaginable set of challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a gutted economy and a nation reeling from the recent capital attack. With all of that and more on his plate, what of Biden’s plans to fight climate change?

“This President-elect has shown that he is absolutely committed to addressing the issue of climate,” says former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. “Because it affects everything.”

Advancing a bipartisan climate agenda will be a hard sell. But in his nearly four decades in the Senate, Biden has made friends and earned respect from his Republican peers.

“That isn’t gonna fix everything, of course not,” admits former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. But if you start with that...there are enough Republicans in the Senate who will respond to that.”

Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode.

Guests:

Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey, former EPA Administrator

Chuck Hagel, former U.S. Secretary of Defense; former Republican Senator from Nebraska

John Podesta, Founder, Center for American Progress; former Hillary Clinton Campaign Chairman

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Questioning science, funding vocal climate denial groups, and encouraging the focus on personal carbon footprints are corporate America’s preferred tools for shifting the responsibility for action on climate from industry to the individual. “Companies that are very much pro-climate action, that are acting in their own operations, are mostly silent on public policy,” says Bill Weihl, former Sustainability Director at Facebook.

But with more workers holding their employers accountable and the start of a departure from shareholder-first capitalism, is the role of the corporation shifting?

Visit our website for more information on today's episode.

Guests: Mike Toffel, Senator

John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management, Harvard Business School; Founder, Climate Rising Podcast

Emily Atkin, Climate Journalist, Heated Newsletter & Podcast

Bill Weihl, Founder and Executive Director, ClimateVoice; Former Sustainability Director, Facebook

Barbara Freese, Author, Industrial-Strength Denial: Eight Stories of Corporations Defending the Indefensible, from the Slave Trade to Climate Change

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Twenty years ago, Julia Roberts won an Oscar for her portrayal of maverick environmental activist Erin Brockovich in the film of the same name. These days, in addition to her work on water safety and toxins in communities, Brockovich has taken on the climate emergency. In her mind, the connection is fundamental. “Climate change is about too much water, not enough water, no water, drought, flooding,” Brockovich says, adding, “It’s becoming real because it's tangible, it's touchable. You're running from it, you’re breathing it. You're swimming in it. You could be drowning in it. I just think it's here.”

Also, New York Times reporter Tatiana Schlossberg on how everyday choices – like deciding what to eat, wear or binge-watch – may impact the planet more than you think. And two experts on sustainable apparel uncover the hidden carbon footprint stuffed in our drawers, closets and gym bags.

Visit our website for more information on today's episode.

Guests:

Erin Brockovich, Author, Superman's Not Coming: Our National Water Crisis and What We the People Can Do About It (Pantheon, 2020)

Tatiana Schlossberg, Author, Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You Have (Grand Central Publishing, 2019)

Rebecca Burgess, Founder and Director, Fibershed

Amina Razvi, Executive Director, Sustainable Apparel Coalition

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President-elect Joe Biden says he will infuse climate change into every corner of his agenda. That’s becoming evident looking at his emerging team. "You're already seeing signs from the nominees and the people they’re choosing that climate is going to be a part of every single agency," says Christy Goldfuss, Senior Vice President for Energy and Environment Policy at the Center for American Progress. But it will take more than staff buy-in to get the country to net-zero emissions.

When he’s sworn in on January 20th, Biden will likely be facing a Republican-led Senate that opposes his climate goals. He’s announced an ambitious plan designed to achieve a one-hundred-percent clean economy and net-zero emissions by 2050, and is assembling a team of heavy hitters to get the job done. But he faces criticism from both sides. Republicans claim his plan is too expensive. Sunrise Movement and other progressives accuse him of not being ambitious enough.

Join us for a discussion about the Biden climate agenda -- what he hopes to accomplish and what he can get done, with or without congressional support.

Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode.

Guests: Scott Segal, Partner, Bracewell LLP

Christy Goldfuss, Senior Vice President, Energy and Environment Policy, Center for American Progress J

ared Blumenfeld, Secretary for Environmental Protection, California

Amy Westervelt, Founder, Critical Frequency Podcast Network; Host, Drilled Podcast

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Maintaining a consumption-driven economy while keeping emissions down seems more and more like a pipe dream -- is it time to re-think capitalism altogether? “The only thing it requires is a massive cultural and political movement changing the rules that constrain capitalism,” says Rebecca Henderson, author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire, “but as soon as we can do that we’re done.” Short of a whole new capitalism, can the stock market be used as a tool for climate action? We may not all be managing billions in assets, but can we use our nest eggs to help finance a green economy? Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests (Part 1) Rebecca Henderson, John and Natty McArthur University Professor, Harvard University Hope Jahren, Researcher, Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics, University of Oslo This program was originally broadcast on June 26, 2020. Guests (Part 2) Brian Deese, Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable Investing, BlackRock Lori Keith, Portfolio Manager, Parnassus Investments Pratima Rangarajan, CEO, Oil and Gas Climate Initiative This program was originally broadcast on April 24, 2020.

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Throughout a 45-year career as an environmental regulator, Mary Nichols has been a powerful champion for climate action and cutting emissions. Having been called everything from “Trump's nemesis” to “the most influential environmental regulator of all time,” Nichols has both taken on automakers and collaborated with them. Environmentalists have cheered her moves to limit carbon emissions, while occasionally criticizing her for not doing enough for disadvantaged communities. So where does California’s climate leadership go from here, and what’s ahead for a new national climate agenda in 2021? Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guest: Mary Nichols Chair, California Air Resources Board This program was recorded via video on November 17, 2020.

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“Unprecedented” is one of the most overused words of 2020, but it reflects the superstorm of disruption brought on by an overlapping pandemic, racial justice awakening, and presidential election. For the first time ever, climate change galvanized a record number of voters to elect Joe Biden to the Presidency. How has the focus on climate shifted in a year shaped by multiple social and economic crises? Join us for a look back on a year of climate conversations like no other. Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests (in order of appearance): Justin Worland, Senior Climate Correspondent, TIME Katharine Wilkinson, Vice President, Project Drawdown Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Marine Biologist; co-author, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis Darryl Molina Sarmiento, Executive Director, Communities for a Better Environment Kevin de Léon, Los Angeles City Councillor; Former President, California State Senate Susan Clayton, Professor of Psychology; Chair of Environmental Studies, College of Wooster Peter Atwater, Adjunct Professor of Economics, College of William & Mary Aaron Bernstein, Interim Director of The Center for Climate Health and the Global Environment, Harvard School of Public Health Amy Jaffe, Director, Program on Energy Security and Climate Change, Council on Foreign Relations Kathleen Day, Finance Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University Tamara Toles O’Laughlin, North America Director, 350.org Gina McCarthy, President, NRDC Action Fund; Former Administrator, US EPA Saul Griffith, Founder and Chief Scientist, Otherlab Chase Purdy, Author, Billion Dollar Burger: Inside Big Tech’s Race for the Future of Food. Sophie Egan, Author, How to Be a Conscious Eater: Making Food Choices That Are Good for You, Others, and the Planet Hui He, China Regional Director, International Council on Clean Transportation Colin McKerracher, Head of Transport Analysis, BloombergNEF

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Is this the end of the road for the internal combustion engine? California isn’t the first major economy to ban gas-powered cars and trucks, and it won’t be the last. Fifteen countries, including some of the world’s top auto markets, have announced plans to phase out gas-powered engines as a step toward a 100% zero-emission vehicle future. It’s a bold move, but a critical one for climate. Transportation emits more greenhouse gas than any other sector of the US economy, and 15% of all global emissions come from road transport. What does this mean for drivers, for automakers, for infrastructure and for businesses that depend on a gas-powered economy? Can we get to a zero-emission future quickly enough? Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests: Part 1 Craig Scott, Group Manager, Toyota North America Katie Sloan, Clean Energy and Electrification Executive, Southern California Edison; Board Member, CalStart Emily Castor Warren, Senior Policy Advisor, Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Guests: Part 2 Colin McKerracher, Head of Advanced Transport analysis at BloombergNEF Hui He, ICCT China Regional Director This program was recorded in November 2020 and is underwritten by the ClimateWorks Foundation.

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In this program, we revisit two Climate One programs from earlier in the year. First, events of the past year, including the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black citizens by police, have shone a glaring spotlight on the racism embedded in every aspect of American society. How can we amplify and advocate for leaders of color in the fight against climate change? Can art help us process our changing climate? The story of climate change is typically told in the language of facts and figures, graphs and charts. But through dance, music, sculpture and other media, artists can reach people on a deeper and more emotional level, designing cultural moments that can bring us together - and bring us to tears. Choreographer Alonzo King sees the union of art and science as the perfect balancing act. “There is nothing that exists that you can create that does not have science -- it's impossible,” says King. “There's nothing that doesn't have music. It's impossible.” Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests: Part 1 Mustafa Santiago Ali, Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization, National Wildlife Federation Glynda Carr, CEO and Co-Founder, Higher Heights for America Robert Bullard, Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy, Texas Southern University This program was first broadcast on July 3, 2020. Guests: Part 2 Alonzo King, Choreographer and Founder, LINES Ballet Nora Lawrence, Senior Curator, Storm King Art Center Additional Speaker: Adam Schoenberg, Composer This program was generously underwritten by the Sidney E. Frank Foundation and was first broadcast on August 28, 2020.

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Harvest season is especially hard this year as the pandemic strains farmers and food systems, highlighting a deeply divided and often unjust America. Black farmers are no strangers to the intersection of these challenges, as structural racism in the food system makes it increasingly challenging for non-white farmers to own and profit from land. Is small-scale, regenerative agriculture a solution to climate disruption? How have years of redlining and discriminatory real estate policies shaped land ownership in the US? How is climate gentrification shaping access to land? Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Amber Tamm, farmer and horticulturist Chris Newman, farmer and co-founder, Sylvanaqua Farms Andrew Kahrl, Professor of History and African-American Studies, University of Virginia

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What is the role of power in deciding the fate of a planet? 2020 has seen a reckoning with various forms of power embedded in racial, gender, and generational identities. As we think about a transfer of U.S. presidential power, what can we learn about how other types of power are shaping our climate and our future?

“It is precisely for people when they vote to not just think of the vote as voting for health or voting for schools or libraries, but to start connecting the dots,” says Dorceta Taylor, an original leader of the environmental justice movement. “That's another dimension of power.”

Guests:

Dorceta Taylor, Professor, Professor of Environmental Justice, Yale School for the Environment

Jamie Margolin, Co-Executive Director, Zero Hour; Author, Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It

This program was recorded via video on October 26, 2020 and September 15, 2020.

Visit our website for full show notes.

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Can we break up the political logjam on climate? “The brokenness of our politics,” says Republican political strategist Stephen Schmidt, “is that we have 90% agreement on a dozen different solutions that we cannot get through the state or federal legislative processes -- because of the systemic brokenness of politics.” Not long ago, Democrats and Republicans basically agreed on climate change. Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger put California at the head of the charge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Senator John McCain crossed the proverbial aisle to co-sponsor three versions of the Climate Stewardship Act -- none of which made it through the senate. In today’s ultra-partisan climate, when even wearing a face mask is seen as a political statement, can both parties ever get on the same page? “I do think that one of the aspects, if we want to move climate change forward as an issue,” Schmidt continues, “is that the two sides, they’re gonna have to learn to speak American to each other.” Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests: Steve Schmidt, Co-Founder, The Lincoln Project; Former Senior Presidential Campaign Strategist, John McCain Varshini Prakash, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Sunrise Movement, co-author, Winning the Green New Deal: Why We Must, How We Can (Simon & Schuster, 2020) This program was recorded on September 18 and September 24, 2020.

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Environmental groups like NRDC, 350.org, and Greenpeace helped move climate onto the presidential agenda last year, pushing Joe Biden and other Democrats’ stance on bold action. Now organizers and advocates are backing recovery plans that bolster clean energy jobs, help strengthen communities, and dismantle systems that exploit people and the planet. “We’re not calling for a referendum on business as usual,” says Tamara Toles O'Laughlin, North America Director of 350.org, “we’re calling for the end of business as usual.” Can activism finally bring America’s political ambitions in line with climate science? Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests: Annie Leonard, Executive Director, Greenpeace USA Gina McCarthy, President & CEO, NRDC Action Fund Tamara Toles O'Laughlin, North America Director, 350.org This program was recorded via live stream on September 22, 2020.

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Pathways for reducing carbon emissions include electrifying transportation, replacing fossil fuels with wind and solar power. But in this time of national reckoning on racial and economic disparities there is growing support for a more holistic approach. This view holds that the climate crisis won’t be resolved until we first address the systemic imbalances that have fueled it - racism, capitalism, white supremacy and patriarchy. In their new book, All We Can Save:Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, co-editors Katharine Wilkinson and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson bring together the voices of women artists, writers and changemakers who are at the forefront of climate action. “The work that we’re doing is instigating or nurturing a feminist climate renaissance,” says Johnson, “which is what we feel the climate movement so desperately needs right now.” Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist Katharine Wilkinson, Vice President, Project Drawdown Co-editors, All We Can Save:Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis Christine Nieves Rodriguez, Co-founder and President, Emerge Puerto Rico. Sherri Mitchell, author, Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change Heather McTeer Toney, National Field Director, Moms Clean Air Force Jainey Bavishi, Director, Mayor's Office of Resiliency, New York City

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Technology has helped the world survive, thrive and stay connected through the COVID-19 lockdown. As countries look toward re-opening in a post-pandemic world, does tech hold the same promise in the fight to solve climate change?

From mapping weather patterns with pinpoint accuracy using artificial intelligence, to engineering algae that gobbles up carbon dioxide, climate tech is ripe with breakthroughs. “The technology is there,” says inventor and entrepreneur Saul Griffith, ”it’s now down to the politics and the financing.”

Guests:

Saul Griffith, Founder & Chief Scientist, Otherlab Valerie Shen, Chief Operating Officer, G2VP

Michael Wilshire, Head of Strategy, Bloomberg NEF

This program was recorded on August 18, 2020.

For full show notes, visit our website.

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Twenty years ago, Julia Roberts won an Oscar for her portrayal of maverick environmental activist Erin Brockovich in the film of the same name. These days, in addition to her work on water safety and toxins in communities, Brockovich has taken on the climate emergency.

“Climate change is about too much water, not enough water, no water, drought, flooding,” Brockovich says. “I think it's becoming real because it's tangible, it's touchable. You're running from it, you’re breathing it. You're swimming in it. You could be drowning in it. I just think it's here.”

Superman’s not coming to protect our water or environment, writes Brockovich in her latest book — and neither are corporations, politicians or the “gutted” EPA. “Climate change will be about our response, our preparedness, our defending ourselves,” Brockovich maintains. “And not just thinking that because you can’t see it, it’s not going to happen.” An unfiltered conversation with an environmental icon.

Guest:

Erin Brockovich, Author, "Superman's Not Coming: Our National Water Crisis and What We the People Can Do About It" (Pantheon, 2020)

This interview was recorded via video on September 11, 2020. Visit our website for more information.

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From pipelines to clean power, the world’s biggest economies are brokering developments in oil, gas, and renewables that will shape climate and politics for years to come. But COVID, plummeting oil prices, and expectations for diversity and sustainability are changing the way successful industries must do business.

“This isn't about supply and demand, this is about the economies being open or closed,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Yergn. Will the pursuit of energy and economic efficiency help solve our global dependence on fossil fuels — or leave many societies behind?

Guests:

Daniel Yergin, Author, The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations

Roger Martin, Author, When More is Not Better: Overcoming America’s Obsession with Economic Efficiency

This program was recorded on August 24 and September 14, 2020.

Visit our website for more information on today's episode.

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Wildfires are nothing new – they’ve been part of the west’s ecology for millennia. But burning fossil fuels and suppressing the burning of forests over the past century have led to larger, more frequent and ever-more catastrophic wildfires. And burning trees release carbon dioxide. California’s fires now are so big and fierce that they threaten to erase the state’s progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And even for those miles from the flames, the smoke from raging wildfires presents an extra danger in the age of coronavirus. "How and when exposure to wildfire smoke increases the likelihood of infection with COVID-19, we’re still trying to figure that out," says Vin Gupta of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. "But there is a clear symmetry between exposure and the likelihood of infection." Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests: Part 1: Wade Crowfoot, California Secretary of Natural Resources Julie Cart, Reporter, CalMatters Part 2: Leroy Westerling, Professor of Management of Complex Systems, University of California Merced Part 3: Vin Gupta, Affiliate Assistant Professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington Additional speaker: Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Director of the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council. This episode was recorded in August 2020.

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The cost and health burdens of electricity production have long been higher for low-income communities of color than for wealthy white ones. But for many of those communities the fossil fuel industry is also a source of jobs, tax dollars, and cheap energy. “It makes it difficult for anyone to speak out against the hand that’s feeding them,” says Ivan Penn, Alternative Energy Reporter for the New York Times. “The NAACP would typically support the positions of the utility companies.” So is the industry an example of community leadership, manipulative greenwashing — or something in between? Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Speakers: Derrick Hollie, President, Reaching America Jacqueline Patterson, Director, NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program Ivan Penn, Alternative Energy Reporter, The New York Times Vien Truong, Climate Justice Director, Tom Steyer PAC Additional Speaker: Andres Soto, Richmond Community Organizer, Communities for a Better Environment This program was recorded via video on August 11, 2020.

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Can art help us process our changing climate? The story of climate change is typically told in the language of facts and figures, graphs and charts. But through dance, music, sculpture and other media, artists can reach people on a deeper and more emotional level, designing cultural moments that can bring us together - and bring us to tears. Choreographer Alonzo King sees the union of art and science as the perfect balancing act. “There is nothing that exists that you can create that does not have science -- it's impossible,” says King. “There's nothing that doesn't have music. It's impossible.” A conversation about art, beauty and humanity in the age of climate disruption. Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests: Alonzo King, Choreographer and Founder, LINES Ballet Nora Lawrence, Senior Curator, Storm King Art Center Additional Speaker: Adam Schoenberg, Composer This program was generously underwritten by the Sidney E. Frank Foundation and was recorded via video on August 6, 2020.

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Miami may be the poster child of rising waters in the U.S., but further inland, states are grappling with torrential flooding that is becoming the new norm. The Great Flood of 2019 caused destroyed acres of farmland and caused billions in damage throughout the Midwest. And scientists predict that there’s more climate-related precipitation to come. What does that mean for America’s aging infrastructure?

“It’s absolutely going to fail for future climate events,” warns Martha Shulski of the Nebraska State Climate Office. “If you're not planning for the climate of 2040 or 2060 then there's going to be failure. There's going to be impacts in a very extreme way perhaps.”

What happens when there is too much water — or not enough? “The problem with water is we treat it as if it’s, you know, inexhaustible,” says Betsy Otto, Global Water Director at the World Resources Institute. How are companies and communities planning for a future of water saturation and scarcity?

Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode.

Guests:
Julia Kumari Drapkin, CEO and Founder, ISeeChange
Ed Kearns, Chief Data Officer, First Street Foundation
Martha Shulski, Director, Nebraska State Climate Office; Nebraska State Climatologist
Betsy Otto, Global Water Director, World Resources Institute

Additional interview:
Jack Mulliken, farmer in Northeast Nebraska

This program was recorded on July 28 and August 4, 2020, and is generously underwritten by the Water Foundation.

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Science has given us a realistic picture of what Earth will look like with unmitigated climate change: increased extreme weather events, crippled economies, and a world where those with the least are the hardest hit. By creating community and sharing feelings of fear and determination, “you can rely on each other and feed off each other…having an ecosystem of all these different people and entities and organizations that are involved in this great transformation effort is so critical,” says Project Drawdown VP Katharine Wilkinson. What would a radically re-envisioned future look like? What solutions do we need to replace tomorrow’s doom-and-gloom projections with thriving equitable cities, renewed political consciousness and carbon-free economies? A conversation on reimagining our role in creating climate solutions. Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests: Eric Holthaus, Author, The Future Earth: A Radical Vision for What's Possible in the Age of Warming (HarperOne, 2020) Katharine Wilkinson, Vice President, Project Drawdown Additional Speaker: Michael Méndez, assistant professor of environmental planning and policy at the University of California, Irvine This program was recorded via video on July 21, 2020.

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For many of us, the story of the American wilderness begins when Europeans arrived on these shores and began conquering it. The wide open spaces of the American West loom large in our country’s mythology. But what often gets written out is the history and culture of those native societies who were here to begin with - and whose relationship to this land is very different. In some places like Jackson Hole, Wyoming, one-percenters contribute generously to preserve and protect the pristine wilderness they love, while the people who work for them are often struggling, working two or three jobs. “The idea of ...giving your time and philanthropy to protect nature is through this elite sort of white lens that can be based on, you know, this romanticized view of nature,” Farrell says. “And a nature that for example for Yellowstone had to remove certain people to create that Eden.” How are public and private land interests competing in the American West? Can conservation and recreation coalesce in a way that is inclusive of all communities? Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests: Dina Gilio-Whitaker, American Indian Studies Lecturer, California State University San Marcos Justin Farrell, Author, Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West (Princeton University Press, 2020) Diane Regas, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Trust for Public Land Additional interview: Jessica Newton, Founder, Vibe Tribe Adventures This program was recorded via video on July 7, 2020.

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The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to cut U.S. carbon emissions by 7.5% in 2020 — exactly the rate needed globally to meet the climate goals outlined in the Paris Agreement.

Can other major economies like China and Europe make plans to decarbonize at the same rate without throwing their economies over a cliff? What happens when the world’s top clean energy exporters are also the top greenhouse gas emitters? With post-COVID economic recovery plans taking precedence, will the transition to a clean economy be pushed to the back burner?

Guests:

John Kerry, Former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State

Justin Wu, Head of Asia-Pacific, Bloomberg NEF

David Sandalow, Inaugural Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University

Julia Poliscanova, Senior Director of Vehicles & E-mobility, Transport & Environment

Lisa Fischer, Senior Policy Advisor, E3G

This program was recorded between April 21 and June 26, 2020.

Visit our website for complete show notes.

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Racism, police and the pandemic are dominating hearts and headlines, but will they translate to votes in national and regional elections? One study found wavering Trump voters rank immigration and climate change as top reasons for a possible vote change, but it’s unclear if that will materialize. Other studies contend climate doesn’t even rank on the minds of swing voters.

Young, liberal Americans are leading the charge on climate, but Bernie Sanders learned they are more likely to protest than vote. What issues are top of mind for Obama-Trump voters in swing states? How will the Coronavirus and racial justice crises of 2020 impact voters this cycle?

Guests:

Tiffany Cross, Co-Founder, The Beat DC; Author, Say It Louder! Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy

Rich Thau, President & Co-founder, Engagious

Rick Wilson, Republican Political Strategist

This program was recorded via video on June 23, 2020.

For full show notes, visit our website.

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Expanding oil extraction and clean energy, supporting capitalism while fighting climate change: can humans ever really have it all? In their new books, authors Hope Jahren and Rebecca Henderson explore how a healthy climate might coexist with a consumption-driven economy — and what we need to change to get the best of both worlds. Meanwhile, is Norway the perfect example of having it all — or just a walking contradiction? Like “a drug dealer who doesn’t use its own product”, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is the largest in the world, supported exclusively by petroleum revenues. As they continue to explore new avenues for drilling, the country has also moved away from using the fossil fuels they produce, electrifying their economy and leading in climate friendly technologies. Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests (Part 1): Hope Jahren, Researcher, Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics, University of Oslo Rebecca Henderson, John and Natty McArthur University Professor, Harvard University Guests (Part 2): Richard Milne, Nordic and Baltic Correspondent, The Financial Times Sveinung Rotevatn, Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment Part 1 of this program was recorded on April 7, 2020. Part 2 of this program was recorded on May 25, 2020.

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America's latest oil boom began with a bang, literally, on Earth Day, 2010. That’s when an offshore oil rig owned by BP exploded, killing eleven workers and spilling nearly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. John Hofmeister, co-founder of Citizens for Affordable Energy, was in Washington D.C. at the time.

“We simply have to get what are called negative emissions. The oil and gas industry, I think, is supremely qualified to have the scale, to have the engineers, to have this expertise, to undertake problems like that.” But can this tiger change its stripes? Heather Richards, who follows the oil industry for Energy & Environment News, is not so sure.

“Even though [the oil and gas business] has expertise, I don't think it's necessarily quite as easy to shift this industry,” she says. “It's difficult I think from this seat to say with great confidence ‘we’re just gonna move into the offshore wind, we’ll just do that.’”

Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode.

Guests:

John Hofmeister, Former President, Shell Oil Company; Founder and Chief Executive, Citizens for Affordable Energy

William K. Reilly, Former U.S. EPA Administrator; Co-Chair, National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Heather Richards, Energy Reporter, Energy & Environment News

This program was recorded via video on May 19, 2020.

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How do we go about feeding a planet that’s hotter, drier, and more crowded than ever? The connection between global warming and the dinner table isn’t always obvious when we go to the grocery store. But our choices about how we put food on our plates, and what we do with the waste, contribute to as much as one third of total greenhouse-gas emissions. How can we continue to feed the planet without destroying it in the process? Can a clean, climate-resilient food system be built to distribute calories in a way that is efficient and equitable?

Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode.

Guests (Part 1):
Twilight Greenaway, Contributing Editor, Civil Eats
Amanda Little, Professor of Journalism, Vanderbilt University

Guests (Part 2):
Mark Kurlansky, Author, MILK! A 10,000-Year Food Fracas
Anna Lappé, Author, Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork)

Part 1 was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of San Francisco on June 18, 2019.
Part 2 was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of San Francisco on May 16, 2018.

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After decades of relying on imported oil, the U.S. achieved the unthinkable and became the world’s largest producer. Production has doubled over the past decade, and in February reached its highest level ever - thirteen million barrels a day. But as it turns out, all of that overabundance has led to a different kind of oil crisis. “We’re producing more oil and gas than ever,and this industry’s stocks are tanking,” says Amy Harder, energy reporter for Axios. Meanwhile, renewables are experiencing unprecedented growth. What will be the lasting impact of the COVID-19 recession? What is the future of energy in a post-pandemic world? Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests: Amy Harder, Energy Reporter, Axios Jason Bordoff, Founding Director, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University Scott Jacobs, CEO and Co-founder, Generate Capital Julia Pyper, Host and Producer, Political Climate Podcast Additional interview: Chris Rawlings, founder of Veteran L.E.D. This program was recorded via video on May 6, 2020.

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