Climate One
796 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 502 ratingsWe’re living through a climate emergency; addressing this crisis begins by talking about it. Co-Hosts Greg Dalton and Ariana Brocious bring you empowering conversations that connect all aspects of the challenge — the scary and the exciting, the individual and the systemic. Join us.
Subscribe to Climate One on Patreon for access to ad-free episodes and the Climate One Discord server.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Two Heroes Challenging the Powerful
May 19, 2023 07:01 - 58 minutesMaking the necessary changes to address climate disruption will take massive collective action. But sometimes, a single individual can make an extraordinary difference. At age nine, Nalleli Cobo, suffering headaches, heart palpitations, nosebleeds, and body spasms, became an activist, driven to fighting to shut down the local oil well responsible for her ailments. Separately, Marjan Minnesma brought a historic lawsuit holding the Dutch government accountable for its failure to protect its cit...
Amy Westervelt on Drilling, Denial and Disinformation
May 12, 2023 07:01 - 56 minutesAmy Westervelt has made a career out of exploring the underbelly of the oil industry through complex and compelling storytelling. Through her investigative series Drilled, including her latest season Light Sweet Crude, focused on the new wave of oil colonialism, Westervelt dives deep into the true crimes of the fossil fuel industry’s biggest players, including their misinformation and PR campaigns about the climate emergency, their unfair dealing and record of environmental disasters. Her nar...
Get Up, Stand Up: What Actions Move the Needle?
May 05, 2023 07:01 - 1 hourFrom the Boston Tea Party to the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter, activists have long sought to bring pressing issues into the public consciousness. Climate activism is no different. This past Earth Day spawned a new ripple of climate activism. Activists protested at the headquarters of BlackRock in New York City, smeared paint on the casing around an Edgar Degas statue and even tried to block the entrance of the White House Correspondents dinner in DC. But that’s not the only sty...
Lights, Camera, Inaction: Where is Climate’s Starring Role?
April 28, 2023 07:01 - 1 hourHollywood has been slow to include climate in its stories. Executives fear it won’t sell – that it’s too overwhelming or depressing. Apple TV+ has just released the series Extrapolations, which revolves entirely around the climate crisis. But it’s an outlier. We ask writer, producer and director Scott Z. Burns – who also worked on the films Contagion and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth – and Anna Jane Joyner of the climate story consultancy Good Energy about why climate doesn’t play a more pr...
Missed Connections: Modernizing Our Multiple Grids
April 21, 2023 07:01 - 56 minutesThousands of renewable energy projects are ready to be built and start producing fossil-free power, but they’re stuck in a long limbo for one essential piece of the puzzle: getting connected to the grid. A slow and inefficient federal permitting process and insufficient transmission capability are prohibiting renewable energy projects from going online. To make matters even more difficult, the U.S. lacks a centralized grid. That means adding layers of complexity to an already slow process. Th...
Bitcoin Uses a Ton of Energy — On Purpose. Is it Worth It?
April 14, 2023 07:10 - 59 minutesStudies estimate that global bitcoin mining uses more electricity than most countries, and that bitcoin mining may be responsible for about 65 megatons of carbon dioxide a year, comparable with the emissions of Greece. Some bitcoin operations are bringing old coal plants back on line, even as lobbyists for the bitcoin mining industry argue that mining operations can have a positive impact on the climate by creating more demand for carbon-free power. But even if all of the power were derived f...
Two Voices on Climate That Will Surprise You
April 07, 2023 07:01 - 57 minutesIt’s easy to write off people outside our own ideological bubbles, even when we may have many goals in common. But as the effects of the climate crisis become more apparent, we need leaders from all political and industrial perspectives to work together. In the U.S., climate is a polarizing issue where it’s too easy to assume that one side is working to reduce emissions and the other side is defending the status quo. But that’s only a caricature of reality. There are people from many ideologi...
White House Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi on Willow and Biden’s Climate Agenda
March 31, 2023 07:01 - 58 minutesBiden’s policy wins have secured vast amounts of funding for the energy transition, and that money is just beginning to flow, with new programs becoming available to everyday Americans. With hundreds of billions tagged for chip and battery plants, climate smart agriculture, rail, modernizing the electric grid, and tax incentives for citizens to run their homes and cars on electricity, ensuring these dollars and programs have real impact is now the name of the game. White House National Clima...
Yes, Happiness and Climate Action Can Go Together
March 24, 2023 07:01 - 55 minutesOur brains have evolved over millions of years to deal with immediate and direct challenges, but they’re not so great at processing large existential threats, like the climate crisis. Understanding why people behave the way they do could be a critical step in bringing about more meaningful climate action. Despite having the technical ability we need to stay under 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, we’re on a path to surpass that number by the early 2030s. Yet doom and gloom framing can drive peo...
A Global Just Transition — For Whom?
March 17, 2023 07:10 - 58 minutesAccording to the United Nations Development Program, 54 countries, accounting for half the world’s population, face such critical debt burdens that they simply cannot finance climate adaptation and mitigation on their own. Most of these same countries are in the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world, setting them up for compounding disasters. At the same time, every nation on earth is being asked to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels — which enabled the richest countries to devel...
Stop, Listen, What’s that Sound?
March 10, 2023 08:01 - 54 minutesEvery place we inhabit has its own tapestry of sound, whether you’re hiking through the woods or sitting in a cafe with a friend. And not only are sounds a part of our sensory experience, but they can give us vital information about the health of our ecosystems. As the planet warms and we lose biodiversity, those sounds are changing. The natural world isn’t the only space where the soundscape is changing. Electrifying everything will have a direct effect on the sound of urban centers. What wi...
Has Hydrogen’s Moment Finally Arrived?
March 03, 2023 08:01 - 56 minutesNot long ago, it was said that “hydrogen is the fuel of the future - and always will be.” Now, with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law tagging $9.5 billion for developing a domestic hydrogen economy, this simplest of all elements is increasingly being discussed as a viable pathway for long-distance trucking, shipping, and hard-to-decarbonize industries like cement and steel. But how clean is clean hydrogen, really? And what will it take to make green hydrogen a cost-competitive option in appli...
Housing Density as a Climate Lever with Scott Wiener
February 24, 2023 08:01 - 55 minutesThe lack of affordable housing in the U.S. has contributed to a homelessness crisis and has forced people to move farther away from urban centers. Inevitably, that increases car travel and emissions. One solution is to increase density in areas where jobs and infrastructure exist to accommodate more people. But some aren’t comfortable with the idea of their neighborhoods growing, and building multi-story apartments in urban cores usually costs more per square foot than one or two-story houses...
Climate Smart Agriculture with Secretary Tom Vilsack
February 17, 2023 08:01 - 58 minutesAgriculture is responsible for around 11% of U.S. carbon emissions. And yet soil holds the potential for massive carbon sequestration. Conventional agriculture focuses more on crop productivity than soil health, relying on pesticides, fertilizer, and other practices that contribute to climate-changing emissions rather than reduce them. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack advocates for a federal initiative focused on supporting “climate smart” agriculture for commodity crops that comprise t...
What We’re Watching in Climate Now
February 10, 2023 08:01 - 57 minutes2022 was a banner year for climate – both in terms of climate-fueled disaster and historic federal investments in clean energy, electric vehicles and home electrification. The questions now: How will the programs be implemented ? How will the money be spent – and who will benefit? This week, we examine the coming trends in raw material prices, the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, new investments in clean tech, tighter rules on pollution and western water negotiations. Guests: Felicia ...
Saket Soni on the People Who Make Disaster Recovery Possible
February 03, 2023 08:01 - 59 minutesWho cleans up and rebuilds our communities after floods, fires, and hurricanes? COVID redefined America's definition of “essential workers,” but many who help communities recover from climate disasters remain underpaid and overlooked. In 2006, labor organizer Saket Soni got an anonymous call from an Indian migrant worker in Mississippi who had scraped together $20,000 to apply for the “opportunity” to rebuild oil rigs after Hurricane Katrina. The caller was only one of hundreds lured into G...
Blue Carbon: Sinking it in The Sea
January 27, 2023 08:01 - 58 minutesWhen most of us think about using nature to remove carbon dioxide from the air, we think of trees. Yet blue carbon, a new name for storing carbon dioxide in coastal and marine ecosystems where it can no longer trap heat in our atmosphere, may have even greater potential. Salt marshes and mangroves have carbon-capturing capacity that may surpass that of terrestrial forests. Seagrasses, for example, currently cover less than 0.2% of the ocean floor, but store about 10% of the carbon buried in t...
Activism, Art and Environmental Justice
January 20, 2023 00:01 - 59 minutesArt can inspire community and conversation, provide fresh insights into understanding history, and cultivate connection. It can challenge your worldview and shift perspectives. This week we discuss how art and activism can work together to elevate some of the vast inequities that exist between those who benefit from fossil fuel energy and resource extraction and those who suffer its impacts. Guests: Ladonna Williams, Program Director, All Positives Possible Doug Harris, documentary filmmaker ...
Activism, Art and Environmental Justice
January 20, 2023 00:01 - 59 minutesArt can inspire community and conversation, provide fresh insights into understanding history, and cultivate connection. It can challenge your worldview and shift perspectives. This week we discuss how art and activism can work together to elevate some of the vast inequities that exist between those who benefit from fossil fuel energy and resource extraction and those who suffer its impacts. Guests: Ladonna Williams, Program Director, All Positives Possible Doug Harris, documentary filmmaker...
REWIND: Coping with Climate through Music
January 13, 2023 08:01 - 54 minutesMusic and social movements have historically gone hand in hand. Folk music played a unifying role for the labor movements in the United States. Music was central to the protests against the Vietnam War and in favor of Civil Rights. As more people become aware of the climate crisis, music is starting to reflect that. But there is still no one song or artist inspiring climate action the way music catalyzed other movements. Why aren’t more musical artists raising the alarm over the growing clim...
REWIND: Molly Wood on Tech, Money and Survival
January 06, 2023 08:01 - 54 minutesAfter 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 cri...
Revisiting The Enablers: The Firms Behind Fossil Fuel Falsehoods
December 30, 2022 08:01 - 56 minutesFor 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 clai...
This Year in Climate: 2022
December 23, 2022 08:01 - 57 minutesRussia’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 climat...
Stefan Rahmstorf: 2022 Schneider Award Winner
December 16, 2022 08:01 - 54 minutesEvery 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 combinatio...
Green Buildings: Cooking Without Gas
December 09, 2022 08:01 - 1 hourIt’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 mor...
What’s in My Air?
December 02, 2022 08:01 - 59 minutesOver 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 t...
Yvon Chouinard: Giving It All Away
November 25, 2022 08:01 - 59 minutesPatagonia 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 Lau...
Yvon Chouinard: Giving It All Away
November 25, 2022 08:01 - 59 minutesPatagonia 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 La...
In Person at COP27: Funding the Global Energy Transition
November 18, 2022 08:01 - 55 minutesClimate One has been at this year's UN climate summit, COP27, where one of the issues at the forefront of the conversation has been “loss and damage” – the idea that rich countries who have historically emitted the vast majority of climate-disrupting pollution should have to pay for the resulting suffering borne by those least responsible for the problem. At the same time, the whole world needs to drastically reduce its emissions and transition to clean energy – and that costs money, too. Wh...
On the Ground at COP27: Tallying Payments and Progress
November 11, 2022 08:01 - 1 hourThe 27th UN convention on climate change, known as COP27, is now underway in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. When Climate One spoke with Egyptian Ambassador Wael Aboulmagd in October, he argued that progress at this year’s summit would be more rapid than in past years, because this year, the focus is on implementation rather than negotiation. And for the first time, loss and damage — what richer nations owe poorer ones for the climate impacts their emissions have caused — is on the agenda. How will ...
On the Ground at COP27: Tallying Payments and Progress
November 11, 2022 08:01 - 1 hourThe 27th UN convention on climate change, known as COP27, is now underway in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. When Climate One spoke with Egyptian Ambassador Wael Aboulmagd in October, he argued that progress at this year’s summit would be more rapid than in past years, because this year, the focus is on implementation rather than negotiation. And for the first time, loss and damage — what richer nations owe poorer ones for the climate impacts their emissions have caused — is on the agenda. How will t...
Kamala Harris and Gina McCarthy: Views From The Inside
November 04, 2022 07:01 - 54 minutesIt’s been a big year for U.S. climate policy. Three major pieces of legislation: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act have all become law, ushering in the largest commitment of federal money toward the climate crisis to date. In a bipartisan vote, the Senate also finally ratified the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which will help phase out some of the most potent greenhouse gasses. Gina McCarthy has helped shepherd these achi...
Anand Giridharadas: Persuaders in a Hot and Polarized World
October 28, 2022 07:01 - 55 minutesIn a democracy, meaningful change often requires adapting views and building coalitions. Some believe finding common ground and building rapport is the best way to change minds. Others believe activism and protests are key to raising awareness. Increasingly, however, the acts of listening and persuasion are left out, as each side is convinced that the other is unmovable. Anand Giridharadas is a journalist, columnist, on-air political analyst, and author. His latest book, The Persuaders: At ...
Two Hemispheres, One Story: Reporting on Rising Seas
October 21, 2022 07:01 - 54 minutesTwenty of the world’s richest countries – mostly in the Global North – are responsible for 80 percent of the carbon pollution that’s driving extreme weather and supercharging natural disasters. Yet poorer countries in the Global South are experiencing climate-induced disasters first and worst. Wealthier and whiter countries in the Global North are being hit by climate disruption as well, but they also have more resources to adapt. We talk with two award-winning journalists, one from each hemi...
Bonus COP27 Preview: Egyptian Ambassador Wael Aboulmagd
October 14, 2022 19:21 - 44 minutesThe Paris Agreement requires every country to declare their own nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, for reducing emissions. Last year at COP26 in Glasgow, it became clear that even the updated targets would – at best – limit warming to 2.4°C, almost a full degree above the 1.5° goal. But even more important than goals or promises is how every country turns policy into reality. This year’s COP27, hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt, is being framed as “the implementation COP,” where...
Countdown to COP27: Feeling the Heat
October 14, 2022 07:01 - 1 hourFor decades, scientists and activists have called for action to slow the pace of global warming. The political process has struggled and largely failed to keep up with the growing climate crisis. But through annual summits known as the United Nations Conference of the Parties, or COP, countries have finally started to commit to reducing their emissions. At last year’s climate summit, nations that make up about two thirds of the global economy committed to reducing emissions enough to try to l...
Countdown to COP 27: Feeling the Heat
October 14, 2022 07:01 - 1 hourFor decades, scientists and activists have called for action to slow the pace of global warming. The political process has struggled and largely failed to keep up with the growing climate crisis. But through annual summits known as the United Nations Conference of the Parties, or COP, countries have finally started to commit to reducing their emissions. At last year’s climate summit, nations that make up about two thirds of the global economy committed to reducing emissions enough to try to l...
Political Climate: The Midterm Forecast
October 07, 2022 07:01 - 55 minutesWith the US midterm elections looming, the window for enacting meaningful climate policy may be closing. November’s elections will determine which party controls Congress, and that will have far reaching implications for the planet. Historically, the midterms have been bad news for the party in control of the White House, but the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act may have changed that calculus. Where do voters stand goin...
Risky Business: Underinsured Against Climate Disaster
September 30, 2022 07:01 - 58 minutesIn recent years, hundreds of thousands of people in high-risk disaster areas across the US have been dropped from their insurance policies, leaving them both physically and financially vulnerable. At the same time, premiums have sky-rocketed, making insuring homes and businesses out of reach for many. And federal insurance and relief programs have come under scrutiny for payouts that contribute to inequality. The insurance industry wasn’t set up to account for climate change, which is incre...
The Inflation Reduction Act Passed. Now What?
September 23, 2022 07:01 - 56 minutesIn August, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. The IRA allocates around $370 billion over ten years to invest in renewable energy, make EVs more affordable, address climate inequities, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help mitigate the climate crisis. But like any law, the way the money is doled out matters, and the law’s implementation will ultimately determine its success. Some of the IRA money moves through state governments, including some that are outright h...
Molly Wood on Tech, Money and Survival
September 16, 2022 07:01 - 54 minutesAfter 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 recently left that program to begin a new career in venture capital. Now, in conversation with Climate One Host Greg Dalton, Molly Wood explores the limits of media in changing h...
No Going Back: EVs and Clean Tech Tipping Points with Albert Cheung
September 09, 2022 07:01 - 54 minutesIn the tech world, there’s a common belief that once a new device hits 5% market penetration, it rapidly goes from a niche to mass adoption. According to Bloomberg, the US has just passed that critical 5% tipping point for new EV purchases. Norway, an oil-rich country, was first to hit that 5% mark in 2013 and today boasts a stunning 86% of new cars being fully electric. Now California is driving the US along a similar road away from gasoline and diesel by passing a new law that will only all...
Bridging The Great American Divide
September 02, 2022 07:01 - 1 hourMost Americans support climate action, but you wouldn’t know it from Congress or the courts – or from most of the media. People on both the left and the right experience the same devastating floods, the same life-threatening heatwaves and the same catastrophic wildfires. Yet individuals tend to socialize within insulated political tribes, operate in completely different information bubbles and see the problems and solutions through different lenses. How can we learn to bridge ideological divi...
Ukraine and the Middle East: Climate Action in Conflict Zones
August 26, 2022 07:01 - 56 minutesRussia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused horrific damage and casualties, in spite of Ukraine’s remarkable efforts to defend itself. The conflict has disrupted energy markets, grain shipments and is still destabilizing the global economy. All of this has shoved climate further down the list of international priorities, as has happened so many times before. Yet within conflict zones, many brave individuals and organizations work every day to stave off the even greater threat of climate catastro...
Will Sustainable Aviation Ever Take Off?
August 19, 2022 07:01 - 54 minutesFor those of us who love to travel, climate guilt weighs heavily. Civil aviation accounts for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and that number is going up. But while electrifying cars and trucks is already well underway, flying planes on anything other than liquid fuels remains devilishly difficult. Despite that difficulty, there are options. Sustainable aviation fuels, or SAFs, hold the most promise, as they can theoretically drop right into existing engines and infrastructure. B...
The Inflation Reduction Act: What’s in the Sausage?
August 10, 2022 22:48 - 1 hourFor nearly six decades, the US government passed no comprehensive climate legislation. Now that’s changed. The Inflation Reduction Act contains approximately $370 billion of investments in clean energy and climate solutions. But not everyone is happy. To get through the Senate, the bill offered carrots to entrenched fossil fuel interests, along with investments in renewable power. Many in disadvantaged communities, who so often bear the brunt of climate-induced disasters, feel they’ve been le...
REWIND: Climbing, Conservation and Capitalism
August 05, 2022 07:01 - 54 minutesRick Ridgeway estimates he’s spent about five years of his life sleeping in tents, often in the world’s most remote places alongside fellow outdoor adventure luminaries. Ridgeway worked for Patagonia for 15 years and was behind the company’s infamous “Don’t Buy This Jacket” ad campaign, which paradoxically advocated sustainability and increased sales. Outdoor companies like Patagonia may push for sustainability, but they largely still present a mostly white, wealthy experience with nature, w...
Patti Poppe: Reinventing Utilities During a Climate Emergency
July 29, 2022 07:01 - 1 hourAs the CEO of the California utility giant PG&E, Patti Poppe is charged with navigating the company through massive wildfires, disrupted energy markets, and lingering public distrust of the utility. The company is undergrounding 10,000 miles of electric lines, working with GM and Ford on incorporating power from electric vehicles into homes and the grid, deploying batteries at large power plants, and pushing to change net metering rates that pay homeowners for electricity generated on their r...
Turning Down the Heat: Decarbonizing Cement and Steel
July 22, 2022 07:01 - 54 minutesAlong with aviation, the construction industry is one of the hardest to decarbonize sectors in the global economy. Cement and steel production together are responsible for about 15% of global CO2 emissions. But look around our modern world and it’s hard to imagine doing without these materials. Carbon-negative cement has been talked about for years, and innovations in steel production show promise as well, but is either technology ready for primetime? And what about replacing these materials ...
Turning Down the Heat: Decarbonizing Cement and Steel
July 22, 2022 07:01 - 54 minutesAlong with aviation, the construction industry is one of the hardest to decarbonize sectors in the global economy. Cement and steel production together are responsible for about 15% of global CO2 emissions. But look around our modern world and it’s hard to imagine doing without these materials. Carbon-negative cement has been talked about for years, and innovations in steel production show promise as well, but is either technology ready for primetime? And what about replacing these materials...