Climate One

Land use, pollution and the climate crisis are driving what may be the largest mass extinction event since the dinosaurs. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that the planet has seen an average 68% drop in mammal, bird, fish, reptile and amphibian populations since 1970. In order to help address species collapse, over 190 countries – signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Biodiversity – recently agreed to an ambitious new plan, called 30x30, which aims to conserve 30% of the world’s land and waters by 2030. Will the framework be enough to bring biodiversity back from the breaking point? This episode is supported in part by Resources Legacy Fund.Guests:Tanya Sanerib, International Legal Director, Center for Biological DiversityIan Urbina, Director and Founder, The Outlaw Ocean Project Jennifer Tauli Corpuz, Managing Director of Policy, Nia Tero For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many on the left say that the growing climate crisis is the inevitable result of unbridled capitalism – industries seeking profits above all else. In “The Big Myth,” Naomi Oreskes (who brought us “Merchants of Doubt”) points to a concerted effort from American business groups to propagate the myth that only markets free of government regulation can generate prosperity and protect political freedom. “If we actually had appropriate regulations, appropriate rules of the road, we wouldn't be in this position of having to beg corporate leaders not to destroy the planet,” Oreskes says.This myth has grown so pervasive that American citizens now put more faith in CEOs than in religious leaders, according to David Gelles, author of “The Man Who Broke Capitalism.” What should be done to change the narrative?Guests:Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard David Gelles, Reporter, The New York TimesKate Khatib, Co-Director, Seed CommonsFor show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Making 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 citizens from climate change. For these activists, addressing climate disruption isn’t just about preventing future harm, it’s about instigating change now. Guests: Nalleli Cobo, Cofounder, People Not PozosMarjan Minnesma, Founder, Urgenda FoundationFor show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amy 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 narrative podcasts shine a light on stories oil companies would rather keep in the dark, and on those individuals who try to hold them accountable. Guest:Amy Westervelt, Investigative Journalist; Executive Producer, Critical Frequency Podcast NetworkFor show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From 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 style of activism that’s happening. Some are working from within big institutions to effect change. So what actions really move the needle?Guests: Dana Fisher, Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland Rose Abramoff, Earth Scientist and Climate Activist  Ilana Cohen, Lead Organizer, Fossil Fuel Divest HarvardFor show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollywood 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 prominent role in scripted entertainment. Guests:Scott Z. Burns, Writer, Director, ProducerAnna Jane Joyner, Founder and CEO, Good EnergyFor show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thousands 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. The Biden administration is focused on streamlining the permitting process, boosting funding and helping navigate this new energy future. What will it take to modernize our multiple grids?Guests:Pat Wood III, CEO, Hunt Energy NetworkJennifer Gardner, Vice Chair, Western Energy Imbalance MarketJosé Zayas, Executive Vice President of Policy and Programs, American Council on Renewable EnergyL. Michelle Moore, CEO, GroundswellFor show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Studies 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 from green sources, is bitcoin mining really the best use of renewable electricity? This episode features a report by multimedia journalist Lily Jamali of the public radio program Marketplace, who takes us inside a crypto mining facility in upstate New York.Guests:Rolf Skar, Senior Advisor, Greenpeace USABrittany Kaiser, Chair of the Board, Gryphon Digital MiningThomas Cmar, Senior Attorney, Earthjustice For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’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 ideological backgrounds trying to address the climate crisis. So how can common ground be found between environmentalists on the left and Republicans on the right? And what does an EV-driving member of the ConocoPhillips board have to say about reducing emissions?  Guests: John Curtis, U.S. Representative (R-UT)Arjun Murti, Partner, Veriten; Director, ConocoPhillips boardFor show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Biden’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 Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi plays a leading role in coordinating the implementation of the biggest investments in clean energy the U.S. has ever made. This week he joins us to discuss the complicated maze of industrial policy intended to create a more just economy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Guest:Ali Zaidi, White House National Climate AdvisorFor show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices