Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Tom Steyer rose to public prominence as the billionaire investor and climate organizer who ran for president in the 2020 election on a climate-first platform. While he didn’t secure the Democratic nomination, his dedication to supporting and advancing climate solutions has remained steadfast. In his new book, “Cheaper, Better, Faster: How We’ll Win the Climate War,” Steyer argues that we are in a defining moment: we face the daunting, existential threat of climate change. And yet, with this great challenge comes a great opportunity for innovation, global leadership and economic growth. But can capitalism, the system that helped create and exacerbate the climate crisis, be the system that fixes climate chaos? Guests:Tom Steyer, Co-Executive Chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, Investor, Author Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science, HarvardSupport Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today for just $5/month.🎟️ Climate One has three incredible live shows on the horizon! Join us for conversations featuring Jane Goodall, Justin J. Pearson, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Bill McKibben, and Abigail Dillen. Tickets are on sale now.For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. military is one of the world’s largest consumers of fossil fuels. And its carbon pollution is equally huge. At the same time, climate disruption is already amplifying crises and conflicts around the world — making climate change, in the words of one military expert, “a threat multiplier.”The Department of Defense has been making moves to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. The Air Force has recently invested in electric aircraft, and several bases are tapping into geothermal energy — capturing heat from deep underground. Others are building their own microgrids — islands of electricity that can run on clean sources. This week we explore how the U.S. military is trying to balance global security with climate threats.This episode also features a reported story by NPR’s Quil Lawrence, originally broadcast on NPR’s All Things Considered on October 2, 2023.Guests:Sherri Goodman, Secretary General, International Military Council on Climate & Security Neta C. Crawford, Montague Burton Professor of International Relations, University of Oxford📞 With the presidential election just a few months away, many of us are experiencing increased anxiety and uncertainty. If you're finding it challenging to manage your stress or are looking for support during this tense time, we want to hear from you. We’re inviting you to call in with your questions for our expert therapist, who will provide insights and practical advice on how to cope that may be shared in an upcoming episode.Call ‪(650) 382-3869 to leave us a voicemail ‬and let us know what you’re feeling. Thanks for sharing!Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today for just $5/month.🎟️ Climate One has three incredible live shows on the horizon! Join us for conversations featuring Jane Goodall, Justin J. Pearson, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Bill McKibben, and Abigail Dillen. Tickets are on sale now.For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Has the U.S. Constitution become a threat to American democracy? Does it need to be dramatically changed or replaced if secession is to be avoided?Join us as Erwin Chemerinsky returns to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to share his deeply troubled thoughts of the Constitution’s inherent flaws. The dean of the UC Berkeley law school came to the sobering conclusion that our nearly 250-year-old founding document is responsible for the crisis now facing American democracy.Chemerinsky points out that just 15 of the 11,848 amendments proposed since 1789 have passed, and he contends that the very nature of our polarization results from the Constitution’s “bad bones,” which have created a government that no longer works or has the confidence of the public. Yet he says political Armageddon can still be avoided if a new constitutional convention is empowered to replace the Constitution of 1787, much as the Founding Fathers replaced the outdated Articles of Confederation. And if that’s not possible? He has an even more radical proposal: That Americans must give serious thought to forms of secession―including a United States structured like the European Union―based on a recognition that what divides us as a country is, in fact, greater than what unites us.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bankruptcy is the busiest federal court in America. In theory, bankruptcy in America exists to cancel or restructure debts for people and companies that have way too many debts—a safety valve designed to provide a mechanism for restarting lives and businesses when things go wrong financially.Legal scholar Melissa B. Jacoby argues that bankruptcy has also become an escape hatch for powerful individuals, corporations, and governments, contributing in unseen and poorly understood ways to race, gender, and class inequality in America. When cities go bankrupt, for example, police unions enjoy added leverage while police brutality victims are denied a seat at the negotiating table; the system is more forgiving of civil rights abuses than of the parking tickets disproportionately distributed in African American neighborhoods. Across a broad range of crucial issues, Jacoby reveals the hidden mechanisms by which bankruptcy impacts everything from sexual harassment to health care, police violence to employment discrimination, and the opioid crisis to gun violence.Join us for a special online-only program with Professor Jacoby in conversation with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People think they know what an autocratic state looks like: There is an all-powerful leader at the top; he controls the police; the police threaten the people with violence; there are evil collaborators, and maybe some brave dissidents.But in the 21st century, that bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are underpinned not by one dictator, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, surveillance technologies, and professional propagandists, all of which operate across multiple regimes, from China to Russia to Iran. Corrupt companies in one country do business with corrupt companies in another. The police in one country can arm and train the police in another, and propagandists share resources and themes, pounding home the same messages about the weakness of democracy and the evil of America.So what can be done?Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times bestselling author Anne Applebaum says that international condemnation and economic sanctions cannot move the autocrats. Even popular opposition movements, from Venezuela to Hong Kong to Moscow, don't stand a chance. The members of “Autocracy, Inc.,” as she dubs the movement, aren't linked by a unifying ideology, like communism, but rather a common desire for power, wealth, and impunity.Applebaum joins us for a special online program to share her urgent call for the world’s democracies to fundamentally reorient their policies to fight a new kind of threat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The leaders at the top of the Republican Party want the U.S. to double down on carbon-intensive oil and gas — and avoid reckoning with the damage they cause.  As temperatures continue to rise, a majority of young Republican voters say clinging to that stance could spell trouble for the sustainability of the GOP. And yet, conservatives aren’t a monolith when it comes to climate. A small wing of the party is warming up to the idea of climate action. The question is: Can those Republicans, who take climate seriously, move the needle on bipartisan climate action? Guests: Emma Dumain, Reporter, E&E NewsHeather Reams, President, Citizens for Responsible Energy SolutionsMariannette Miller-Meeks, U.S. Representative (R-IA 1st District) and Chair of the Conservative Climate CaucusDanielle Butcher Franz, CEO, American Conservation Coalition📞 With the presidential election just a few months away, many of us are experiencing increased anxiety and uncertainty. If you're finding it challenging to manage your stress or are looking for support during this tense time, we want to hear from you. We’re inviting you to call in with your questions for our expert therapist, who will provide insights and practical advice on how to cope that may be shared in an upcoming episode.Call ‪(650) 382-3869 to leave us a voicemail ‬and let us know what you’re feeling. Thanks for sharing!Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today for just $5/month.🎟️ Climate One has four upcoming live shows, featuring Tom Steyer, Jane Goodall, Justin J. Pearson, and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. Tickets are on sale now.For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Paul Alan Cox is an American ethnobotanist whose scientific research focuses on discovering new medicines by studying patterns of wellness and illness among Indigenous peoples. Chosen by Time magazine as one of 11 Heroes of Medicine, Dr. Cox leads a remarkable team of world-class scientists. Their objective is singular: to improve patient outcomes for individuals suffering from Alzheimer's, ALS and Parkinson's disease—known collectively as "tangle diseases." His team has sought to discover how to stop protein tangles in the brain. This has led to new ways to prevent, diagnose, and slow the progression of these debilitating diseases.Join us for this fascinating deep dive into a hopeful new look at tangle diseases.MLF Organizer: Robert Lee Kilpatrick A Health & Medicine Member-led Forum program. Forums and Chapters at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2020, Latinos became the second largest ethnic voting group in the United States. They make up the largest plurality of residents in the most populous states in the union, as well as the fastest-growing segment of the most important swing states in the U.S. Electoral College. Fitting neither the stereotype of the aggrieved minority voter nor the traditional assimilating immigrant group, Latinos are challenging both political parties' notions of race, religious beliefs, economic success, and the American dream. Given their exploding numbers—and their growing ability to determine the fate of local, state, and national elections—many people would think the two major political parties would understand Latino voters. After all, their emergence on the national scene is not a new phenomenon. But the parties still don’t.Mike Madrid, veteran political consultant and author of the new book The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy, says that Republicans, not because of their best efforts but rather despite them, are just beginning to see a movement of Latinos toward the GOP. Democrats, for the moment, still win a commanding share of the Latino vote, but that share is dwindling fast. Madrid draws on 30 years of research and campaign experience at some of the highest levels on both sides of the aisle to address what might be the most critical questions of our time: Will the rise of Latino voters continue to foment the hyper-partisan and explosive tribalism of our age, or will they usher in a new pluralism that advances the arc of social progress? How and why are both political parties so uniquely unprepared for the coming wave of Latino votes? And what must each party do to win those votes?The answers will shape our democracy for years to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on July 21, and in the few weeks since, Vice President Kamala Harris has garnered enough delegates to become the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. During the Democratic National Convention in a couple of weeks, the party will feature its new challenger to Donald Trump.For months, Biden had trailed Trump in the polls, but Harris has since rallied the hopes of Democratic Party voters. Now the 2024 presidential election is a toss-up, and there are signs that Harris' momentum is upending the race.On August 12, please join us for a conversation about what to expect at the 2024 DNC, and how the introduction of Harris's running mate, Tim Walz, may impact the contest for the battleground states.Stuart Stevens, former chief Republican strategist and author of Conspiracy to End America, will join Ray Suarez to discuss the state of the race, and make predictions for the final 90 days of the 2024 presidential election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The nation’s electric grid needs to be expanded and made more reliable for our future energy demands and climate forecasts. The way we’ve built transmission in the past — regionally siloed with short term planning — is now suffering from reliability and capacity issues and won’t work for the next century.The Department of Energy is drafting plans for national transmission corridors to help speed new construction. It’s also handing out funds to build new lines and upgrade existing infrastructure to increase capacity.Meanwhile, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently passed a rule requiring utilities to work together and take a longer view on planning their transmission needs. But it will still take years to accomplish these changes.Can we build a robust national transmission system that serves our decarbonized future at the speed we need?Guests:Shelley Welton, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Law and Energy Policy, University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law and the Kleinman Center for Energy PolicyMaria Robinson, Director, Grid Deployment Office, Department of Energy Danielle Fidler, Senior Attorney, Clean Energy Program, EarthjusticePat Wood, CEO, Hunt EnergySupport Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today for just $5/month.🎟️ Climate One has four upcoming live shows, featuring Tom Steyer, Jane Goodall, Justin J. Pearson, and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. Tickets are on sale now.For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices