Climate One – Details, episodes & analysis

In the face of hurricanes, wildfires, droughts and other fossil fueled disasters, it’s easy to feel hopeless about the future of the climate. But marine biologist, and co-founder of The All We Can Save Project, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson asks us instead to focus on the question, “What if we get it right?”  Johnson’s new book, also titled “What If We Get It Right?” features such climate luminaries as Third Act Founder Bill McKibben and Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen, whom we also feature in this week’s episode. In their different ways, they have all been at the forefront of enacting solutions at the nexus of science, policy and justice.  Guests:  Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Marine Biologist; Co-founder, The All We Can Save Project Bill McKibben, Author, Educator, Environmentalist Abigail Dillen, President, Earthjustice 🎟️ Join Climate One live in San Francisco on December 9 for our celebration of 2024 Schneider Award Winner Leah Stokes! Tickets are on sale now. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today for just $5/month. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before Justin J. Pearson became a national voice for common sense gun regulation, he was a strong advocate for climate and environmental justice, having worked to defeat a multi-billion-dollar crude oil pipeline that could have poisoned Memphis’s drinking water and taken land from South Memphis residents.  Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb is working to make climate a top priority in his traditionally fossil fuel-friendly city. From his first press conference where he discussed making Cleveland a “15-minute city,” to his current push to electrify municipal fleets and decarbonize the city “block by block,” Bibb is leading his city to advance climate solutions and close the racial wealth gap. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today for just $5/month. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we take a trip to Mexico, a petrostate that just elected climate scientist Claudia Sheinbaum as its next president. She’s also the former mayor of Mexico City, the largest city in North America, which has been going through a major water crisis due to climate change. It’s at risk of running out of water — and it has been for a long time. In fact, much of the country is coping with drought and heat waves exacerbated by climate change. Christine Colvin, a hydrogeologist with WWF International, was in Cape Town, South Africa, at the height of a recent megadrought. The city was approaching Day Zero, when it would not be able to supply water to residents. Colvin says that of all the ways climate disruption impacts our lives, the most critical may be to our relationship with water.  "If the climate crisis is a shark, then water are its teeth. This is the thing that’s really going to bite us first and hardest."  Guests: Oscar Ocampo, Coordinator for Energy and Environment, Mexican Institute of Competitiveness Christine Colvin, Water Policy Lead, WWF International 🎟️ Climate One has three exciting live shows on the calendar featuring conversations with Tom Steyer, Jane Goodall, and Justin Pearson. Tickets are on sale now. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today for just $5/month. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a 20-year career as a tech reporter for CNET, the New York Times, and the public radio program Marketplace, Molly Wood has come to see the climate crisis as an engineering problem requiring an acceleration of investment. And so, after producing the acclaimed climate podcast “How We Survive” for Marketplace, she left that program to begin a new career in venture capital. What are the limits of media in changing human behavior? And what is the role of capital in addressing the climate crisis, even while considering that capitalism itself may be incompatible with survival?  Guests: Molly Wood, Climate Solutions Investor, Podcaster Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, fossil fuel companies have claimed to support climate science and policy. Many have recently pledged to hit net zero emissions by midcentury. Yet behind the scenes, they fight those very same policies through industry associations, shadow groups, and lobbying – all while spending vast sums on advertising and PR campaigns touting their climate commitments. This week we focus on the PR and consultancy firms helping fossil fuel companies delay the transition to clean energy while claiming they are on the side of climate protection. Guests:  Michael Forsythe, Reporter, New York Times Dr. Benjamin Franta, Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Climate Litigation Lab, Oxford Sustainable Law Programme. Jamie Henn, Founder and Director, Fossil Free Media Christine Arena, former Executive Vice President, Edelman; Founder, Generous Films For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves through global energy markets, destabilized international food security, and continues to keep the world wondering whether the war will accelerate the transition to clean energy or lead to renewed dependence on fossil fuels. Climate One hosts Greg Dalton and Ariana Brocious review the top climate stories of the year, from the war’s global impacts, to the passage and signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, to the recent international climate summit in Egypt. This special episode features excerpts from some of Climate One’s most profound interviews of 2022, including conversations with such luminaries as Jamie Raskin, Wanjira Mathai, and Anand Giridharadas. Guests: Roman Zinchenko, Co-founder, Greencubator Amy Myers Jaffe, Director of NYU’s Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab Gina McCarthy, Former White House Climate Advisor, Former EPA Administrator  Jamie Raskin, U.S. Representative, Maryland’s 8th Congressional District  Anand Giridharadas, Author, The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy  Chloe Maxmin, Maine State Senator Wanjira Mathai, Vice President and Regional Director for Africa, World Resources Institute  David Munene, Programs Manager, Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa  Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson, Reporter, The Guardian; Host of An Impossible Choice podcast  David Wallace-Wells, Columnist, New York Times Magazine; Author of The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming  Gavin McCormick, Co-founder, Climate TRACE For show notes and related links, visit www.climateone.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every year, Climate One grants an award in memory of pioneering climate scientist Steve Schneider, who fiercely took on the denial machine from the 1970s until his death in 2010. This year's recipient is German physicist and ocean expert Dr. Stefan Rahmstorf. Dr. Rahmstorf says we’re running toward a cliff in a fog. What can science tell us where that cliff is – and how to avoid it?  In a time of oceanic changes happening at an unprecedented pace, Dr. Rahmstorf exemplifies the rare combination of superb scientist and powerful communicator. He works to convey the impact of climate disruption on ocean currents, sea level rise, and increasing extreme weather events fueled by warmer oceans.  We also talk with past Schneider Award winner Ayana Elizabeth Johnson about the need for broader inclusion among climate leaders. What can the study of past ice ages tell us about our climate future? And what should be the role of scientists in the public sphere? Guests:  Stefan Rahmstorf, Co-Head of Research, Department on Earth System Analysis of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK); Professor of Physics of the Oceans, University of Potsdam Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist, writer For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s become common for homeowners to install solar panels to provide themselves with emission-free electricity. But increasingly more attention is being paid to decarbonizing things inside the home – the machines that heat and cool water and air, dry our clothes and cook our food. The Inflation Reduction Act includes many ways for homeowners and renters to start to electrify their lives. And in some places, builders are developing highly efficient, all electric homes from the get-go. What more is needed to make our buildings greener and get away from fossil fuels? Guests: Mark Chambers, Sr. Director Building Emissions & Community Resilience, White House Council on Environmental Quality Bruce Nilles, Executive Director, Climate Imperative Contributing Producer: Cody Short, WBHM For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over a 20-year period, methane is 80 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Yet those responsible for releasing methane into the atmosphere often don’t even know how much they themselves are emitting. And methane is only one of many harmful air pollutants that result from our dependence on burning fossil fuels.  Now, research coalitions, citizen scientists and activists are using a slate of new tools to detect and report emissions. They’re also using many of the same tools to shine a light on exactly how and where other deadly fossil fuel pollutants, like nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, are affecting community health. Such data could become a critical tool for regulation, leading to greater emissions reductions.   Guests: Davida Herzl, Co-founder and CEO, Aclima Kendra Pinto, Four Corners Indigenous Community Field Advocate, Earthworks  Gavin McCormick, Co-founder, Climate TRACE For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard made headlines recently when he announced that he and his family had transferred their $3 billion stake in the storied outdoor gear company to a special purpose trust and nonprofit that would give away $100 million a year, specifically to environmental causes. Patagonia has a long history of donating at least one percent of its profits – and 100% of profits made on Black Friday – to grassroots environmental non-profits. Yet even with this massive gift, and Laurene Powell Jobs’ own recent $3.5 billion pledge, climate philanthropy still only accounts for a small fraction of all charitable giving. This Thanksgiving weekend, we look back to our 2016 interview with Yvon Chouinard and bring the story up to date with Inside Philanthropy’s Michael Kavate. Guests: Yvon Chouinard, Founder, Patagonia Michael Kavate, Staff Writer, Inside Philanthropy For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices