Climate One

From floods and fires to heavy snow and hurricanes, recent years have brought a raft of extreme weather disasters costing the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars in damages. How do we fight back? The mayors of three cities on the front lines of climate change – Houston, Miami, and Columbia, South Carolina – discuss what their cities are doing to recover, rebuild and prepare for the next mega-storm. And Seattle Times reporter Jon Talton explains why he thinks fighting climate change should be our biggest priority. Guests: Jon Talton, Economics Reporter, Seattle Times Steve Benjamin, Mayor, Columbia, SC Francis Suarez, Mayor, Miami, FL Sylvester Turner, Mayor, Houston, TX Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fighting climate change isn’t cheap. Where’s the money coming from? Major philanthropic organizations like Hewlett and Bloomberg are at the forefront of addressing climate change, but could smaller funders be more in touch with grassroots needs? Are big donors out of touch – or just stretched too far? Where is the money coming from, where is it going, what are the biggest wins and what missteps are being made along the way? Greg Dalton is joined by donors big and small for a discussion on harnessing the power of the purse in the fight against climate change. Guests: Tate Williams, Science and Environment Editor, Inside Philanthropy Larry Kramer, President, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Farhad Ebrahimi, Founder, Chorus Foundation Sarah Shanley Hope, Executive Director, The Solutions Project Dan Chu, Executive Director, Sierra Club Foundation Joe Speicher, Executive Director, Autodesk Foundation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just ten years ago, an entire state running on 100% renewable electricity seemed fanciful. But this dreamy vision became reality when, with the backing of big utilities, California committed to 100% use of zero-carbon electricity by 2045. A statewide pledge to go carbon-neutral by 2045 raised the stakes even higher. So what will it take for California to achieve such a feat? Will Governor Gavin Newsom embrace climate initiatives started by former Governor Jerry Brown? Join us in a discussion of California’s surprise gambit to take the world’s fifth largest economy to net zero. Guests: John Hofmeister, Former President, Shell Oil Company; Founder and Chief Executive, Citizens for Affordable Energy Bob Holycross, Global Director, Sustainability and Vehicle Environmental Matters, Ford Motor Company Mary Nichols, Chair, California Air Resources Board Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many of us find it daunting to talk with our neighbors, colleagues and family members about climate change. But climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe says that having those difficult conversations is the first step towards solving the problem. Hayhoe is known as a “rock star” in the climate world for her ability to talk to just about anyone about global warming. She is joined by Stanford atmospheric scientist Noah Diffenbaugh for a conversation about communicating climate change in transparent, engaging, and accessible ways. Guests: Katharine Hayhoe, Professor and Director, Climate Science Center, Texas Tech University Noah Diffenbaugh, Kara J. Foundation Professor and Kimmelman Family Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to cutting emissions, there are many paths to success. Sweden, France, South Korea, and Ontario have all taken steps to replace fossil fuels with nuclear, hydro and renewable energy, while China is expanding electric car and battery production. But the absence of U.S. climate leadership is causing heads of state to ease off their goals, and violent protests in France against higher diesel taxes are casting a shadow over efforts to combat climate change. Join us for a discussion about who’s moving ahead and who’s moving backward in the transition to a clean energy economy. Guests: Sonia Aggarwal, Vice President, Energy Innovation Joshua Goldstein, Professor Emeritus of International Relations, American University Staffan Qvist, Consultant, Qvist Consulting Limited Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over a century ago, the industrial revolution brought wealth and opportunity to a generation of American innovators. It also brought us dirty coal power and a sky clogged with carbon emissions. The good news? There’s a new generation of entrepreneurs eager to make their fortune by fighting global warming. Creative start-ups are coming up with fresh, climate-friendly ideas for getting around town, powering your cell phones, and even eating breakfast. And there are a growing number of forward-thinking venture capitalist firms eager to seek out and nurture those innovative thinkers Guests: Lidiya Dervisheva, Associate, G2VP Davida Herzl, CEO and Co-Founder, Aclima Gabriel Kra, Managing Director, Prelude Ventures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can changing our consciousness hold off the climate apocalypse? When we think about the enormity of climate change and what it’s doing to our planet, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, even shut down, by despair. But is despair such a bad place to be? Or could it be the one thing that finally spurs us to action? A conversation about climate change, spirituality and the human condition in unsettling times.Guests:Roy Scranton, Author, "We're Doomed. Now What?" (Soho Press, 2018)Matthew Fox, Co-Author, "Order of the Sacred Earth" (with Skylar Wilson, Monkfish, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Climate change isn’t just an environmental problem – it’s also a health hazard. Air pollution and changing weather patterns give rise to heat-related illnesses, asthma and allergic disorders. Hurricanes and other disasters leave hospitals scrambling to save patients without power and resources. According to the Centers for Disease Control, insect-borne diseases have tripled in the United States in recent years – and warmer weather is largely to blame. Jonathan Patz, of the Global Health Institute calls climate change “one of the most important public health challenges of our times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In its infancy, the Paris Agreement carried the promise of a truly global climate solution. Supporters still say the Agreement is the first step in setting the global economy toward a sustainable future, but U.N. reports now say current commitments are only a fraction as strong as they need to be, and critics say it's dangerously delusional to think the pact is ambitious enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. Katharine Mach, Senior Research Scientist at Stanford University, and Trevor Houser, Partner at the Rhodium Group, join host Greg Dalton for a Paris checkup, three years on. Guests: Katharine Mach, Senior Research Scientist, Stanford University Trevor Houser, Partner, Rhodium Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The math is clear: lowering greenhouse gas emissions is not enough to keep the earth below 1.5 degrees Celsius of post-industrial warming. The latest science states that actively removing carbon from the atmosphere — storing it in rocks, soil, trees, and even turning it into products like concrete — is critical to restore the carbon and energy balance. To keep our planet from dangerous levels of warming, we’ll need to go carbon negative. Which natural and technological approaches are the most promising? Three experts and host Greg Dalton discuss the necessary negatives for a stable climate. Guests: Noah Deich, Executive Director, Carbon180 Diana Donlon, Director, Soil Centric Mike Biddle, Managing Director, Evok Innovations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices