Climate One

Joe Manchin grew up in the coal fields of West Virginia, the grandson of a miner and the son of a small-town grocer. His worldview was shaped by a place where energy isn’t an abstract policy debate; it’s the identity of the community and vital for economic survival. Manchin was portrayed as a bit of a villain in liberal circles for his role in blocking or slowing down Biden-era policy goals, including climate policy. Yet he was also the architect of the biggest climate legislation the country has ever enacted: the Inflation Reduction Act. Now, in the midst of the Trump administration dismantling climate policy and basic political norms, Manchin is calling for a return to compromise and “common sense.”  Episode Guests:  Joe Manchin, Former US Senator, West Virginia  Thomas Ramey, Commercial and Nonprofit Solar Evaluator, Solar Holler For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org Highlights:  00:00 - Intro 05:27 - Joe Manchin on his first senate run  10:42 - Joe Manchin on Build Back Better 19:26 - Joe Manchin on how the Inflation Reduction Act was written  22:51 - Joe Manchin on the dismantling of the IRA 27:21 - Joe Manchin on the effects of climate  31:02 - Joe Manchin on West Virginia’s transition to clean energy  37:10 - Joe Manchin on the state of the country  38:10 - Joe Manchin on how to make the country better  42:56 - Joe Manchin on working together  44:20 - Thomas Ramey on growing up in West Virginia 50:08 - Thomas Ramey on how he talks about solar energy 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. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The UN climate convention known as COP30 is now underway in Brazil. As the nations of the world gather to discuss their efforts to rein in climate disruption, the facts are clear: we’re not doing enough, fast enough, to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. Climate-fueled disasters are increasingly impacting nearly every part of the world. And in Belém, Brazil, near the heart of the Amazon rainforest where the conference is being held, organizers have promised that Indigenous voices will play a bigger role than in the past. They’ve also billed this as an “implementation COP” where past promises will be turned into action. What practical steps can we hope countries achieve in this year’s negotiations? Episode Guests: Ilana Seid, Permanent Representative of Palau to the United Nations; Chair, Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Davi Neustein, Sustainability Consultant; Advisor to Marcelo Behar, COP30 Special Envoy  Deborah Sanchez, Director, CLARIFI (Community Land Rights and Conservation Finance Initiative), Rights and Resources InitiativeFor show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Highlights: 00:00 - Intro 00:30 – Voters responding to energy and affordability in most recent election 02:00 – COP30 is happening in Brazil, opening remarks by UN leaders 07:00 – Major items on the COP30 agenda 10:30 – Davi Neustein on deliberate choice to hold COP30 in Belém 14:00 – Brazil can speak to Global South and Global North 19:00 – Neustein’s hopes for the COP30 action agenda 21:30 – Weeks before COP, Brazil approved new oil drilling in Amazon 27:00 – Ilana Seid shares climate impacts to her home nation of Palau 29:30 – What an “implementation” COP means 35:30 – Is there a need for a new narrative around climate change? 42:00 – Deborah Sanchez shares story of securing land rights for her community 47:00 – Example of a project funded through CLARIFI (Community Land Rights and Conservation Finance Initiative) 51:00 – How COP goal of elevating Indigenous voices is working out in reality 55:00 – What can we learn from the Amazon and how its managed 56:30 – Climate One More Thing ***** 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. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fossil-fueled climate disruption is driving political instability around the world. The relationship between climate disasters and conflict are well-established — and also complicated. Even in war-torn regions like Israel and Palestine, people work across political and ethnic divides to address humanitarian and climate crises. The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies has helped bring together Israelis, Palestinians, Moroccans, and Jordanians to study and tackle shared environmental challenges. How does climate disruption reshape cross-border relations? And can climate cooperation become a force for peace? Episode Guests:  Peter Schwartzstein, Environmental Journalist; Climate Security Researcher Fareed Mahameed, Assistant Director, Center for Transboundary Water Management, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies Liana Berlin-Fischler, Associate Director, Center for Applied Environmental Diplomacy, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Highlights:  12:42 Peter Schwartzstein on seeing the link between climate and violence 21:02 Peter Schwartzstein on the importance of governance  22:56 Peter Schwartzstein on better governance examples 27:17 Peter Schwartzstein on the danger of climate induced violence in the US 31:13 Peter Schwartzstein on new paths for cooperation  36:49 Liana Berlin-Fischler on moving to Israel  37:59 Fareed Mahameed on “fixing the world” 42:16 Fareed Mahameed on being compelled to help  47:05 Fareed Mahameed on figuring out what a community needs most  51:30 Liana Berlin-Fischler on the Jumpstarting Hope in Gaza project 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. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Human-caused climate change is fueling extreme floods, wildfires, rising seas, and record-breaking heat all around the world. At the same time, some of the most senior U.S. government officials and other powerful actors are actively defunding climate programs, dismantling research institutions, erasing decades of environmental data, and launching direct attacks on climate professionals. This week’s episode is about what it’s like to be a climate scientist, researcher, or environmental professional trying to do meaningful work in a country with a government that increasingly doesn’t want it. Many have faced harassment, threats, or dismissal — or live in fear that their funding will be frozen or cut. How does it feel to do climate work not just in an era of climate denial, but of deliberate climate erasure?  Episode Guests: Rachel Rothschild,  Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Law School Brent Efron, Senior Manager for Permitting Innovation, Environmental Policy Innovation Center J. Timmons Roberts, Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology, Brown University **For show notes and related links, visit ⁠climateone.org/podcasts.⁠ Highlights:  00:00 – Intro 03:00 – Brent Efron on how he got into climate work 05:30 – Efron relates a casual date he had in DC 08:00 – Efron is contacted by Project Veritas, who plans to release a video they recorded of his comments about his work at the EPA during the date 11:00 – Hate and public backlash following his remarks, as well as the EPA 13:00 – Efron is contacted by EPA investigators and the FBI 17:30 – His new job in climate policy and how it feels to be doing that work again 21:30 – Rachel Rothschild explains climate superfund laws 25:00 – An organization uses FOIA to request Rothschild’s emails with environmental groups, then filed a lawsuit 32:00 – Personal and professional toll it has taken on her 37:00 – Needing to have threat monitoring 41:00 – How she thinks about her work as a teacher 42:30 – J. Timmons Roberts explains his work on links between offshore wind opposition groups and entities tied to fossil fuel interests 48:00 – Marzulla Law sends a letter to Brown University demanding Roberts’ work be redacted 52:30 – Universities in vulnerable position right now 58:45 – Why uncovering climate obstruction work is so important 59:45 – Climate One More Thing *** 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. Ad sales by ⁠Multitude⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So much of the conversation about the climate crisis focuses on prevention. But no matter how well we succeed on that front, climate-induced disasters are already causing hundreds of billions of dollars of damage worldwide every year — not to mention destroying livelihoods and causing deaths. We're seeing those impacts today, and we need to be ready. Adaptation does not mean giving up on trying to rein in heat-trapping pollution; it’s facing reality. The way we adapt can be creative and empowering. But what does that kind of adaptation look like?  Episode Guests:   Susannah Fisher, Principal Research Fellow, University College London; Author of "Sink or Swim" Nick Mott, Multimedia Journalist; Author of “This Is Wildfire”  Tanya Gulliver-Garcia, Director of Educational Impact, Center for Disaster Philanthropy This episode features a field piece by David Condos, who originally reported the story for KUER in Salt Lake City, Utah. For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/audio/adaptation-when-prevention-isnt-enough. Highlights: 00:00 Intro 4:06 Susannah Fisher on her findings as a research student 7:43 Susannah Fisher on transformational changes 11:52 Susannah Fisher on the realities of climate migration 17:41 Susannah Fisher on the future of adaptation 22:47 Susannah Fisher on international cooperation 27:01 Susannah Fisher on surprising connections 30:35 Nick Mott on who is responsible for protecting your house 33:09 Nick Mott on the next level steps for protecting from wildfire 39:58 Field piece by David Condos on reusing sewage water 44:38 Tanya Gulliver-Garcia on what mutual aid is 48:20 Tanya Gulliver-Garcia on a mutual aid response to climate disasters 53:35 Climate One More Thing *** 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. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We know what needs to be done to ward off the worst impacts of global climate disruption: rein in heat-trapping pollution, reverse deforestation, build resilient systems. But how we do those things is the trick. Every second counts. The sooner we act, the more lives saved, the more jobs protected and the more futures secured.  So how do we orchestrate the vast change we need in a short amount of time? World Resources Institute President Ani Dasgupta gives his honest take on the lack of progress since the Paris Agreement was signed 10 years ago — and maps a path forward. Guests: Ani Dasgupta, President and CEO, World Resources Institute (WRI); Author, “The New Global Possible” Jonathan Foley, Executive Director, Project Drawdown Nikhil Swaminathan, CEO, Grist Highlights:  00:00 – Intro 01:46 – Importance of the Paris Accords in terms of multilateralism 04:00 – Backlash to climate action  07:00 – The market is producing the technology we need, but we also need to deploy them at scale 12:00 – How do we get companies producing the bulk of emissions to change course? 16:00 – Addressing climate disruption is a societal choice about what we value 20:40 – Why COP is essential and also disappointing and maddening 23:30 – Unpacking climate finance and why it’s so important 27:30 – Addressing justice isn’t a choice but an imperative when it comes to climate 31:00 – How to keep focused and remain optimistic in this current moment 37:00 – We have everything we need right now to solve climate change 41:00 – Project Drawdown’s analysis of what climate tools do and don’t work 45:00 – So many missed climate opportunities 52:00 – Tradeoffs of tools like batteries  58:00 – Climate One More Thing ***** 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. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we have a special episode to share with you from TED’s brand new podcast, Speed & Scale. Speed & Scale was created to help combat the doom and gloom that comes when thinking and learning about climate change. The hosts Anjali Grover and Ryan Panchadsaram interview experts from around the world on the measurable changes they’re making to combat the climate crisis and create a better future for the planet – and for those of us living on it.  In this episode, Ryan and Anjali reflect on what to do about fossil gas, and they are joined by some incredible people coming up with bold solutions. The kind of solutions that save billions of dollars for energy companies – and consumers. Check out more episodes of the TED podcast Speed & Scale wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Romm, a clean energy policy expert and author, discusses the shifting narrative around hydrogen's role in clean energy. Eleanor Smith, a community organizer for the Navajo Nation, shares her concerns about a proposed hydrogen pipeline and its historical context of fossil fuel exploitation. Hilary Lewis, who focuses on green steel solutions, explains how hydrogen can revolutionize steel production while navigating current challenges. Together, they explore hydrogen's efficiency, competition from electrification, and its niche applications in industry.

Legendary primatologist Jane Goodall died on October 1. In a 2024 conversation on the Climate One stage with Co-Host Greg Dalton, the indefatigable Goodall was focused on three intertwined crises: biodiversity loss, climate change and environmental inequity. Her message from that night still resonates: Vote like your children’s lives depend on it — because they do.  Guests: Jane Goodall, Ethologist, conservationist For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. 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. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Finding one's voice in climate action can come in many forms. Author and activist Taylor Brorby grew up in Center, North Dakota as a fourth-generation member of a fossil-fuel family. He struggled to find his place as a young gay kid who loved art, music, nature and poetry. Over time, he turned that tension into writing that challenges the fossil fuel industry, makes space for others stuck in a broken system, and inspires a more just future.  Suzie Hicks felt the weight of climate concerns but after college, didn’t know what to do with those feelings. After doing an internship at the New England Aquarium, they realized they could merge their love of performing with a career focused on climate. With the help of a sunflower puppet named Sprout, Suzie created a children’s show that teaches kids about climate change through a frame of possibility and hope, not doom and gloom.  Guests: Taylor Brorby, Activist, Author, “Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land” Suzie Hicks, Climate Media Maker and Educator – Intro For show notes and related links, visit ⁠ClimateOne.org⁠. *** 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. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices