A Matter of Degrees

Before the Inflation Reduction Act became the biggest climate bill in U.S. history, it was just a bunch of policy ideas with long odds. Turning those ideas into law took years of work by people who refused to let it die.

Leah was one of those people, and she wrote a book about it. It's called The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet, which comes out on September 1st. Leah chronicles the turbulent path of the bill as it veered between breakthrough and collapse — from the hopeful beginnings of the Green New Deal in 2018, to the bill's near-certain defeat at the hands of Senator Joe Manchin, to the surprise passage of the landmark legislation in August 2022. Woven through the political narrative are the personal stories of the activists and staffers who made it happen.

Joining Leah and Katharine are two central figures from the book: Adrian Deveny, former Director of Energy and Environmental Policy for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Sonia Aggarwal, former Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy, Innovation, and Deployment. We talk about the book, the bill, its legacy, and what's next for federal climate policy.

Resources referenced in this episode

• Pre-order The Carbon Wave
• The Carbon Wave book tour
• Notes from the Electric Era — Leah's Substack
• Bidenomics Was More Successful Than People Think - Leah's op-ed in The Atlantic
• Katharine's book, Climate Wayfinding
• Climate Week live event — NYC, September 21
• Learn more about solar energy in India and how it's delivering coal-like reliability at a lower fixed price

Katharine wrote a book!

It's called Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home, and it's out on May 5th. Through journaling prompts, practical exercises, wisdom from climate leaders, and even art and song, the book takes readers from climate ache to action and from doubt to possibility.

This week on A Matter of Degrees, Leah interviews Katharine on how our grief and fear can become fuel rather than paralysis, how to uncover the superpowers you already have to help heal the planet, and why joy is an essential strategy for staying in this work. And they reckon with a climate movement under duress. Because that's precisely the time to cultivate community, tend the small spaces, and plant seeds for the change ahead.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Pre-order Climate Wayfinding and find additional resources at climatewayfinding.earth — and use code CLIMATE15 at bookshop.org for 15% off plus a limited-edition art print

• Find book tour stops (San Francisco, Twin Cities, Boston, Atlanta, New York, and more) at climatewayfinding.earth/events

Gina McCarthy has been at the center of nearly every federal climate fight of the last two decades. She led the EPA during the Obama years. Then, under President Biden, she became the first ever White House National Climate Advisor.

In this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we sit down with Gina for a sweeping conversation about the victories, the setbacks, and why the climate story is much longer than any single administration. We cover the collapse of the Waxman-Markey Bill, the strange victory of a Clean Power Plan that was stayed before it started, the rollercoaster of getting the Inflation Reduction Act over the finish line, and what it all means now, as we move to defend all of Gina's hard-won progress.

Back in December, the Trump administration sent thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into Minnesota. They terrorized communities, took people from their homes, and murdered two American citizens. Climate groups helped lead the resistance.

In this episode of A Matter of Degrees, a city stands up to state violence. We bring on Aru Shiney-Ajay, the executive director of the Sunrise Movement, to tell us about leading on the frontlines in Minneapolis. Then we talk to Ben Passer, the McKnight Foundation's Midwest Climate Director, about how preserving democracy is key to climate action. Finally, we chat with Emily Atkin, founder and Editor-in-Chief of HEATED, on the connection between ICE violence and fossil fuels.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• Read I don't know how to do this and Actually, I do know how to do this by Emily Atkin, and her newsletter, HEATED
• Read Ben Passer's essay in Atmos, Lessons from Minnesota: To Preserve Our Planet, We Must Also Preserve Our Democracy
• Learn more about Minnesota's 100% clean electricity standard in our previous episode, Minnesota's Climate Breakthrough

Dr. Kate Marvel builds climate models — digital worlds that simulate our possible futures. They can tell us how hot it will get, how high the seas will rise, and which forests will burn. But they can't tell us what humans will do next — or how we'll feel as the planet transforms.

In this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we talk with Kate about her new book, Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet. This conversation has it all: science, feelings, geoengineering, fossil fuel industry mischief, and even witches.

"In the midst of a lot of big, bad things happening, there's one big good thing happening on planet Earth right now."

Today on A Matter of Degrees, we're bringing back the podcast's very first guest — legendary activist and author Bill McKibben. Bill's latest book, Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization, shows how clean energy can create a healthier, safer, more prosperous world.

Bill is also organizing "Sun Day" – a national day of action on September 21st to celebrate the power of clean energy. You can get involved in an event in your area by visiting SunDay.earth

In this episode, Bill takes us through the history of solar – how it became the cheapest energy on earth, its potential to transform our lives, and how we can harness it to heal our planet.

Donald Trump's so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" took a sledgehammer to U.S. climate policy, including tax credits for clean cars and appliances. These incentives were helping people cut pollution, lower their energy bills, and make their homes more comfortable. Trump's bill eliminates the credits by the end of this year.

Wait, don't change the channel—because these incentives haven't expired yet! So for the next few months, there is a federally-funded BLOWOUT SALE on clean tech. Shop until your energy bills drop!

In this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we break down which credits are expiring, what they can do for you, and how to take advantage of them before they're gone. We also dive into how the incentives were cutting pollution, improving people's lives, and transforming our economy. Finally, we talk about what's next for household electrification and how we can continue to make progress under the current administration.

To help tell these stories, we bring on Ingrid Malmgren, the Senior Policy Director at Plug In America. Visit pluginamerica.org to learn more about electric vehicles and how to get one before federal incentives expire at the end of September. We're also joined by Sarah Gracia, a Senior Go Solar Help Desk Associate at Solar United Neighbors. Visit solarunitedneighbors.org/help-desk to find resources to help you get solar panels on your home and save on your energy bills. Lastly, we hear from Saul Griffith, engineer, inventor, and clean energy entrepreneur. Saul Griffith's new book "Plug In! The Electrification Handbook" walks you through how to electrify your home, save money, and cut climate pollution.

Thousands of people lost their homes in the Los Angeles wildfires. Now, they're looking to their insurance companies to help them rebuild. But as the world warms, disasters like these are becoming more frequent and more severe, exposing an insurance system that isn't equipped to cover the rising damages. In Los Angeles, people who lost everything were left to fend for themselves. This is just the latest example of how insurance is failing to keep up with climate change.

In this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we're joined by Dave Jones, California's Insurance Commissioner from 2011 to 2018 and the current Director for the Climate Risk Initiative at UC Berkeley's Center for Law, Energy & the Environment. We dive into how the climate crisis is breaking our home insurance system, what we can do to fix it, and how to make fossil fuel companies pay their fair share.

This week we are sharing a special bonus episode from Boiling Point, a new podcast produced by the LA Times and hosted by climate columnist Sammy Roth. This new audio series explores how climate change is impacting California and the American West.

The first episode focuses on the recent wildfires in Los Angeles and what they mean for the future of the city. Sammy talks with Kelly Sanders, an engineering professor at USC and former White House advisor on energy policy, about how Los Angeles can look at resilience as it builds back.

Boiling Point is an LA Times Studios podcast and releases new episodes every Thursday.

In this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we partner with Climate One to share an inspiring conversation between Dr. Leah Stokes and Greg Dalton, the founder and co-host of Climate One, when Leah received the 2024 Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication in December.

And as a double feature, this episode also includes a conversation between writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit and Climate One co-host Ariana Brocious from 2023.

This episode was also released on the Climate One podcast.