“You would much rather breathe the air in any American city than breathe it in Beijing – thank you, EPA,” said former Secretary of State George Shultz, who served as Secretary of Treasury under President Nixon during the 1973 OPEC Oil Embargo. Although gas shortages shocked Americans 40 years ago, the drive to become more energy independent has since lost momentum. “Crises are not enough,” said former CIA Director Jim Woolsey. “Whether they’re potential crises or existing crises, people will ignore them after a little bit of time.” They discussed the need for choices at the gas pump, how innovation can lead the economy and the impacts of human-caused climate change. “If you don’t like the science, use your eyes – a new ocean has been created in the Arctic,” Shultz said. “We should be taking out a strong insurance policy.” Unlike past environmental policies that came from Republican presidencies, the divided, accusatory politics of today are fundamentally wrong, he said. “I’m sick of it, frankly,” Shultz said. “We’ve got to find things that improve our security, make economic sense and deal with this climate issue together.” George Shultz, Former U.S. Secretary of State Jim Woolsey, Former CIA Director This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on October 18, 2013 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The Delta is not just a canteen to supply water…it’s a place that a lot of people live and work and call home,” said Kip Lipper, Chief Councilor for Energy and the Environment at the Office of the Senate Pro Tempore. California’s water future will lead to higher prices and higher uncertainty, and “the climate change piece is a huge part of that,” according to Former Deputy U.S. Secretary of Interior David Hayes. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta requires restoration, but can it meet the conflicting demands of Californians? “You’re looking at an enormous bill and that’s going to push up the price of water,” said Los Angeles Times reporter Bettina Boxall. This discussion with politicians, a reporter and a researcher from the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences tackles the challenges surrounding the West Coast’s largest estuary. Bettina Boxall, Reporter, Los Angeles Times David Hayes, Former Deputy US Secretary of Interior Jay Lund, Director, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences Kip Lipper, Chief Councilor for Energy and the Environment, Office of the Senate Pro Tempore This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on October 15, 2013 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“We have the potential to use grazing lands and use cattle and livestock to help slow climate change,” according to UC Berkeley professor Whendee Silver. Grasslands are under-represented in land conservation, yet they cover about 40 percent of the Earth’s surface and have a big impact by storing greenhouse gases so they don’t enter the atmosphere. While discussing conservation projects, the speakers turned to the larger problems of overpopulation and consumption. “Our generation and the ones short to follow have to come to terms with the fact that there are other ways of managing human societies, because this one is not sustainable,” said former Patagonia CEO Kristine Tompkins, founder of Conservacion Patagonica. Experts addressed the challenges of land conservation, restoration ecology and growing populations in an era of climate disruption. “We’re working in one of the last four places in the world where these native grasslands remain,” said Pete Geddes, managing director of the American Prairie Reserve. Kristine Tompkins, Founder and President, Conservacion Patagonica, Former CEO, Patagonia Whendee Silver, Professor of Environmental Science, UC Berkeley Pete Geddes, Managing Director, American Prairie Reserve This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on October 3, 2013 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"I will attest to the fact that the federal government actually has left the building," said Kofi Bonner, president of Lennar’s Bay Area Urban Division. Rather than depending on funding from Washington, successful cities and metropolitan areas are taking development into their own hands. As rising sea levels threaten coastal communities, sustainable planning is an “economic imperative,” said Bruce Katz of the Brookings Institution, author of The Metropolitan Revolution. San Francisco is a great example of how a city can thrive without national assistance, according to Mayor Ed Lee. "When we talk about innovation, this city's had a history of innovation," Lee said. This captivating conversation offers a refreshing view on how cities and metropolitan areas power the global economy. “America is the most resilient society and the most innovative economy...this time around it will come from the communities,” Katz said. Kofi Bonner, President, Bay Area Urban Division, Lennar Bruce Katz, Vice President, Brookings Institution Ed Lee, Mayor, San Francisco This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on September 19, 2013 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline, some researchers argue its production makes it less than environmentally friendly. University of California, Davis professor of agricultural economics Colin Carter says ethanol is not a low-carbon fuel in part “because of greenhouse gases put out by other countries that have torn down forests to produce corn.” Pacific Ethanol CEO Neil Koehler claims corn-based fuels are cleaner than petroleum and reduce greenhouse gases. Critics say corn that could be used for feeding livestock is now going into gas tanks, and U.S. ethanol policies may have driven up food prices by 20 to 30 percent. Does corn have a place in powering America’s future? Colin Carter, Professor, Agricultural Economics, UC Davis Neil Koehler, CEO, Pacific Ethanol Michael Marsh, CEO, Western United Dairymen This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on August 21, 2013 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Climate change will be the biggest health issue of my grandchild’s lifetime and my great-grandchildren’s lifetime…we will be looking at somewhere in the range of half a billion lives being affected profoundly by the impacts of climate change,” according to Dr. Richard Joseph Jackson, professor at the UCLA School of Public Health. As increasing temperatures amplify natural disasters and impact water supplies, people in the U.S. and around the world will face greater health health risks. Meanwhile, resource scarcity may lead to worldwide conflict, like “putting a vice on an existing crisis – there’s no guarantee it’ll flame up, but it makes it more likely,” said UC Berkeley Law School professor Andrew Guzman. This conversation offers a sobering view of the cost of rising temperatures, along with solutions for a more sustainable future. Andrew Guzman, Professor, UC Berkeley Law School; Author, Overheated: The Human Cost of Climate Change Richard Joseph Jackson, Professor, UCLA School of Public Health; Host of the four-part public TV program, Designing Healthy Communities This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on June 27, 2013 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An emerging area of economics aims to put a price on nature as a way of justifying preserving it in societies dominated by the wisdom of markets. A mountain stream, for example, provides many economic benefits beyond people who own property near it or drink water from it. The same is said of bees that pollinate our food, wetlands that cleans water, and trees that drink up carbon dioxide. If nature were a corporation it would be a large cap stock. Putting a precise tag on something long seen as free is a conceptual leap. However many large companies are starting to realize the extent to which their profits rely on well operating ecosystems. Larry Goulder, Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics, Stanford Tony Juniper, Associate Professor, University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership; Special Advisor to The Prince of Wales International Sustainability Unit This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on July 25, 2013 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is “the most profound [energy] revolution that we’ve had in decades,” said San Francisco Chronicle reporter David Baker. Thanks to fracking, natural gas is cheap and abundant. However, water contamination may prove to be a huge problem as monitoring efforts are “woefully inadequate,” therefore we don’t really know what’s happening, said ProPublica reporter Abrahm Lustgarten. “If you taint somebody’s drinking water, you have destroyed their property value... That should be a big warning sign to people that this is not something you can monkey around with,” Baker said. This conversation with two reporters attempts to explain the fine line between the profits and liabilities associated with hydraulic fracturing, the process of injecting water or steam into shale rock at high pressure to extract petroleum or natural gas. David Baker, Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle Abrahm Lustgarten, Reporter, ProPublica This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on July 19, 2013. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a pattern between the way we do business and the changes in our climate. “The companies that are the biggest polluters make the biggest profits,” according to Amy Larkin, author of Environmental Debt: The Hidden Costs of a Changing Global Economy. Companies like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are changing the rules to run a more socially conscious business. According to John Hofmeister, former President of Shell Oil USA, “social cost could be the game changer that warrants the way we look at future environmental debt.” Both Larkin and Hofmeister agree that the government must play a large role in changing the rules of business if we have any hope of solving the climate crisis. A conversation with a leading environmentalist and former oil executive on the costs of pollution and cleaning up capitalism. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on July 8, 2013. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hurricane Sandy and the devastating Colorado fires of 2012 underscore the idea that climate disruption is amplifying natural disasters, if not causing them. Forest fires in Colorado have been “economically devastating for communities,” says former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr. In the East, Superstorm Sandy and other extreme weather events have caused massive destruction and large bills for coastal communities. “Different states and different countries are going to adapt in different ways,” says Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey. Both former governors emphasized the importance of clean energy sources. There is an “economic development opportunity” in the green energy economy says Ritter. Nuclear energy, says Whitman, is an option that creates lots of jobs and no greenhouse gasses. A conversation with two former state chief executives on bridging the partisan divide and adapting to climate change. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on June 19, 2013 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices