The Climate Pod

Adam McKay is the writer/director of some of our favorite films over the years - from Anchorman to The Big Short to Vice and more. So when we heard he was making a disaster film that serves as an allegory for climate change, we...um...freaked out. And we freaked even more when he was kind of enough to join us on the show to discuss the film, the power structures behind the climate crisis he wanted to satirize, and what he hopes people will take from the movie. This is a fantastic conversation. Watch Don't Look Up on Netflix Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/ As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group.   

The world lost a legendary biologist and conservationist when Dr. Thomas Lovejoy passed away in December at the age of 80. Carter Roberts, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund in the United States, knew Dr. Lovejoy well. So we asked him to join us on the podcast today to honor the memory of Dr. Lovejoy and share what he meant to WWF and talk about the legacy he leaves behind. Carter also discusses the recent passing of another conservation legend, Dr. E.O. Wilson, and what he meant as a luminary in his field and his contributions to WWF. Later in the show, we replay our May 2020 interview with Dr. Thomas Lovejoy.  Read Carter Roberts' "In Memoriam—Dr. Thomas Lovejoy" Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/ As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group. 

This week, we spoke with Dr. Richard Alley, a glaciologist and member of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaborative, about why this particular glacier - dubbed the 'Doomsday Glacier by Jeff Goodell - could raise sea levels beyond catastrophic levels and cause so much damage to coastal communities around the world. We also discuss how soon and how likely that might actually happen, and the latest findings that his group recently published. Dr. Richard Alley is the Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State, where he focuses on glaciology, ice sheet stability, and understanding how Earth’s climate has changed by examining ice cores. Check out the International Thwaites Glacier Collaborative's presentation to the American Geophysical Union in December 2021. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/ As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group. Check out our updated website! Further Reading: The Return of the Urban Firestorm. What happened in Colorado was something much scarier than a wildfire.  

When Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in 2020, it marked a massive shift for the direction of the United States' action on climate change. And once President Biden was inaugurated in 2021, his administration brought big expectations to the Oval Office for how it would combat the crisis. So what would Joe Biden commit to through executive action? What would Congress pass to fight climate change? How would the United States repair its own reputation on climate action on the international stage? We answer all of those questions and more in Part Two of The Climate Pod's 2021 Year in Review: The Biden Era Begins, featuring clips from interviews we've conducted with guests like Governor Jay Inslee, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Sen. Tina Smith, Dallas Goldtooth, Jane Kleeb, Rep. Sean Casten, Rep. Donald McEachin, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Time's Justin Worland, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Dr. Michael Mann, and many more Be sure to listen to Climate Pod's 2021 Year in Review: Denial And Consequences Part One here. Check out the full length interviews of each guest featured in this episode: Dr. Jeffrey Sachs Governor Jay Inslee Sen. Tina Smith Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse Dallas Goldtooth  Jane Kleeb Rep. Donald McEachin Rep. Sean Casten - Part One and Part Two Rep. Earl Blumenauer Justin Worland Malcolm Turnbull Dr. Katharine Hayhoe Dr. Michael Mann Tom Steyer Michael Grunwald Dr. Stephanie Kelton Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/ As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group. Check out our updated website!

After decades of denial and delay tactics by the fossil fuel industry, in 2021, America was largely unprepared for multiple climate-fueled extreme weather disasters. Wildfires. Heatwaves. Hurricanes. Droughts. Floods. Tornadoes. How did a warming planet impact these weather events? Why haven't America's leaders done more to combat the climate crisis? What are fossil fuel companies still doing to delay action?  We answer all of those questions and more in Part One of The Climate Pod's 2021 Year in Review: Denial and Consequences, featuring clips from interviews we've conducted with guests like Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Dr. Ed Hawkins, Dr. Michael Mann, Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Andrew Dessler, David Wallace-Wells, Dr. Maria Neira, Dr. Peter Hotez, Dr. Naomi Oreskes, Ben Franta, Kathy Baughman-McCloud, Alex Steffen, Scott Kelly, Jeff Berardelli, Dr. Park Williams, and Tim Jackson. Subscribe to The Climate Pod and make sure you listen to Part Two next week! Check out the full length interviews of each guest featured in this episode: Dr. Katharine Hayhoe Dr. Ed Hawkins Dr. Michael Mann Dr. Jane Goodall Dr. Andrew Dessler David Wallace-Wells Dr. Maria Neira Dr. Peter Hotez Dr. Naomi Oreskes Ben Franta Kathy Baughman-McCloud Alex Steffen Scott Kelly Jeff Berardelli Dr. Park Williams Tim Jackson Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/ As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group. Check out our updated website!

This week, we talk to Jeffrey Ball, who lead the recent study "Hot money: Illuminating the financing of high-carbon infrastructure in the developing world." In this conversation, we ask: if renewables are so cheap, why is fossil fuel infrastructure still being built in the developing world? Ball helps us understand what is happening and, more importantly, where the money is coming from to power the nation's most in need of more energy resources. He also explains the possible solutions and what to watch for as the politics and economics of decarbonization evolve.  Jeffrey Ball is the scholar-in-residence at Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, leads the The Stanford Climate of Infrastructure Project, and is a lecturer at Stanford Law School. He is a long-time writer on energy and climate issues and has appeared in Fortune, Foreign Affairs, Mother Jones, Texas Monthly, The New Republic, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and Slate. You can check out more of his work on his website here. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/ As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group. Check out our updated website! Further Reading: Revealed: Biden administration was not legally bound to auction gulf drilling rights The Climate Fight Isn’t About Morality. It’s About Cold, Hard Cash.

This week, we speak with US Representative Donald McEachin (D-VA) about the environmental justice measures contained within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the Build Back Better Act. Rep. McEachin, representing the 4th Congressional District of Virginia, co-founded the United for Climate and Environmental Justice Task Force in the House and has been instrumental in raising awareness for environmental justice in Congress. Co-hosts Ty and Brock Benefiel also discuss the prevalence of climate change in popular art, Elon Musk's recent comments about government subsidies, and who topped their Spotify Wrapped for 2021. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/ As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group. Check out our updated website!

The House passed President Biden's Build Back Better Bill and now this historic climate legislation sits in the Senate waiting to get final approval. So what would the bill actually mean to Biden's climate pledges on the campaign trail if it makes it through the Senate? Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) is back on the show to explain and also talk about some of the climate benefits for mitigation and adaptation in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill that's already been signed into law. Finally, we get Congressman Casten's reaction to COP26 results and what Congress still needs to do to address climate if the Build Back Better Act passes.  Co-hosts Ty Benefiel and Brock Benefiel also discuss how the 1970s energy crisis is back in the news and Biden's decision to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.  Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/ As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group. Check out our updated website! Further Reading: Some climate campaigners praise Biden for releasing emergency oil reserves

This week, climate economist Gernot Wagner discusses his new book "Geoengineering: The Gamble". Gernot Wagner was the co-founding director of Harvard's Geoengineering Research Program and provides an honest assessment of the pros, cons, and unknowns of solar geoengineering. This interview is a must-listen for anyone that wants to understand the climate, economic, political, and philosophical implications of geoengineering. Co-hosts Ty Benefiel and Brock Benefiel also discuss the importance of the US House of Representatives passing the Build Back Better Act.  Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/ As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group. Check out our updated website!

After a two year wait, COP26 has finally concluded. We are left with the Glasgow Climate Pact, which is no doubt disappointing and fails in several key areas. But all was not lost at COP26. Several major commitments were made and pressure continues to mount on world leaders to do more. We review the outcome with Michael Sheldrick, Co-Founder and Chief Policy, Impact and Government Affairs Officer at Global Citizen.  Co-hosts Ty Benefiel and Brock Benefiel also reflect on the year-long series covering COP26 and what to look forward now that meetings have concluded.  Thank you to our sponsor Octopus Energy, a 100% renewable electricity supplier. Octopus Energy is currently serving millions of homes around the globe in countries like the United Kingdom, United States, New Zealand, and Germany.  Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/ As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group. Check out our updated website!