Climate One

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coronavirus outbreaks in food markets, food plants, and farmworker communities have impacted food access and put a spotlight on food insecurity. Farmers are hurting as supply chains for fresh, perishable foods shrivel, while food banks have seen a surge in demand that has required distribution support from the National Guard. “Farmers saw a lot of increased demand direct to consumer, which requires extra labor, extra packaging -- just so much time essentially creating a whole new business model,” says Lisa Held, Senior Reporter with Civil Eats. Will COVID-19 change our food system for good? Visit climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts for more information on today's episode. Guests: Lisa Held, Senior Policy Reporter, Civil Eats Karen Ross, Secretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture Helene York, Professor, Food Business School, Culinary Institute of America Additional speakers: Shay Myers, CEO, Owyhee Produce Gabriel Morales, Program Director, Brandworkers This program was recorded via video on July 30, 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices