Are GMOs the answer to our planet’s food shortage? Or are they jeopardizing our crops by creating a destructive cycle of Roundup resistance? Like many issues these days, it depends on who you listen to. Supporters of genetically modified organisms say that altering the DNA of corn and other crops is just another tool in the farmers’ toolbox. While, opponents maintain that modified crops are dangerous to our health. Guests: Scott Kennedy, Filmmaker, ""Food Evolution"" John Purcell, VP and Global R&D Lead, Monsanto Company Austin Wilson, Environmental Health Program Manager, As You Sow Dr. Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, Senior Scientist, Director Grassroots Science Program, Pesticide Action Network This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on May 25, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Buffalo Springfield sang in 1967, “There’s something happening here…” But today’s youth revolution is happening far beyond the Sunset Strip. The Trump administration’s dismissal of climate change as a legitimate concern is energizing a new generation of teenage activists. Emboldened and supported by groups like Earth Guardians, Heirs to Our Oceans and the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE), young people are taking their knowledge of climate science into the streets and into the courts, pressing for environmental change and for more government action now to protect their future and ours. UPDATE: Since this discussion was held the fossil fuel trade association, which aligned itself with the federal government, changed their minds, and asked to withdraw from the case. Phil Gregory, one of the attorneys representing the 21 young people suing the federal government, explains what that withdrawal means. Guests: James Coleman, High School Senior; Fellow, Alliance for Climate Education Lou Helmuth, Deputy Director, Our Children's Trust Corina MacWilliams, Co-director, Earth Guardians 350 Club, South Eugene High School This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on March 16, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Californians are accustomed to living through wet times and dry times, but lately things are getting more extreme and much more difficult to predict. After five years of severe drought, Californians are now talking about what it means to have too much water at once. The end of the drought is a blessing, but the state may need to find $50 billion to repair dams, roads and other infrastructure threatened by floods. The damaged spillway at Oroville dam highlighted what happens when the state doesn’t keep its water system in good working order. How is California preparing for the whiplash of going from really dry to really wet years? What will it take to fix the system that delivers the water that keeps us alive and lubricates our economy? How will the state and federal governments work together to modernize the water system that grows food that lands on dinner tables across the country? This program is made possible by support from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation. Guests: Don Cameron, General Manager, Terranova Ranch Inc. Felicia Marcus, Chair, State Water Resources Control Board Buzz Thompson, Director, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on May 24, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They were an unlikely group of activists; Native American youths concerned about teen suicide sparked the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)—a movement which ultimately spread across the country. Veterans and others joined in, traveling to the construction site and showing solidarity with activists. Protesters objected to the $3.8 billion pipeline route, which they say threatens freshwater supplies and disrespects ancestral lands. Guests: Pennie Opal Plant, Co-founder, Idle No More SF Bay L. Frank Manriquez, Indigenous California artist and activist Lynn Doan, Bloomberg News This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on May 11, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do the baby boomers owe millennials a clean planet? Or is it every generation for itself? Consumption-crazed baby boomers are leaving their younger counterparts with a mountain of debt and a destabilized climate. Yet they still rule the roost politically. In his new book “A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America,” Gen-Xer Bruce Gibney argues that the aging baby boomers who make up most of congress are holding up progress -- and it’s time they got out of the way. How do we span the generation gap? What can boomers do to engage future generations and help empower them in the fight against climate change? Guests: Carleen Cullen, Founder and Executive Director, Cool the Earth Bruce Gibney, Author, A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America Professor Michael Ranney, Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Education, U.C. Berkeley Wilford Welch, Speaker on Sustainability and Resilience This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on May 8, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cities around the country are reshaping their economies for a greener future. Mayors and chambers of commerce are promoting smart growth and moving toward cleaner energy, cleaner cars, and cleaner buildings, with or without support from Washington. On today’s show we discuss how local businesses and political leaders in red states and blue states are growing their economies, cutting carbon pollution, and preparing for the challenges of climate disruption in their own communities. Guests: Diane Doucette Co-Founder and Executive Director, Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy Elizabeth Patterson, Mayor, Benicia, CA Carl Pope Former Executive Director, Sierra Club Rod G. Sinks City Council Member, Cupertino, CA This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on May 4, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Lone Star State leads the country in wind power, thanks to legislation signed by Governor Bush; clean energy has breathed fresh air into Texas’ economy. Kip Averitt, Former Chair, Texas Clean Energy Coalition Stephanie Smith. COO, Greencastle LLC Pat Wood III, Principal, Wood3 Resources This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on April 25, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can you do if you care about putting your money to work toward a cleaner economy? Join us for a conversation on pressuring companies and personal brands. Host: Greg Dalton Guests: Shannon Coulter, Co-founder, #GrabYourWallet Annie Leonard Executive Director, Greenpeace USA This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on April 19, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will the arrival of robotic cars lead to the blissful end of traffic? Or will they instead put drivers out of work and clog our streets more than ever before? Amory Lovins, Cofounder and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute Emily Castor, Director of Transportation Policy, Lyft Gerry Tierney, Associate Principal, Perkins + Will This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on April 12, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can the far right and far left come together on clean energy? Join us for a meeting of the minds between staunch members of both the Tea Party and 350.org. Debbie Dooley, President, Conservatives for Energy Freedom, Co-founder, Tea Party Movement May Boeve, Executive Director, 350.org Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator (D) Rhode Island This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on April 29, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices