Climate One

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, Harvard

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

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

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

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 News

Heather Reams, President, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions

Mariannette Miller-Meeks, U.S. Representative (R-IA 1st District) and Chair of the Conservative Climate Caucus

Danielle 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

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 Policy

Maria Robinson, Director, Grid Deployment Office, Department of Energy 

Danielle Fidler, Senior Attorney, Clean Energy Program, Earthjustice

Pat Wood, CEO, Hunt Energy

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

Last year was the hottest in recorded history, and this summer, much of the United States has already experienced record-shattering heat waves. That leaves millions of workers risking their health and possibly even their lives while on the job. And the danger is not limited to those who work outdoors. Warehouses, restaurants, and other indoor spaces are heating up. Most jobs lack heat protection from the federal or state government, but the same groups that brought us the 40-hour work week, child labor laws, and the weekend are now fighting for new worker protections.

Unions across the country — from Texas UPS drivers to the Chicago Teachers Union — are negotiating to keep their workers protected from the effects of the climate crisis. Some are even going one step further and negotiating for their employers to cut the  carbon pollution that’s adding to global heating. How has the climate crisis spurred union action?

Guests: 

Terri Gerstein, Director, The Labor Initiative, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University

Stacy Davis Gates, President, Chicago Teachers Union

Anita Seth, President, UNITE HERE Local 8

Emily Minkus, Member, UNITE HERE Local 8

🎟️ We've added yet another event to our stacked fall calendar. This program will feature Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson in conversation with Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen and Co-Host Greg Dalton. Tickets are on sale now.

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.

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we take a trip to Mexico, a petrostate that just elected climate scientist Claudia Sheinbaum as its next president. She’s also the former mayor of Mexico City, the largest city in North America, which has been going through a major water crisis due to climate change. It’s at risk of running out of water — and it has been for a long time. In fact, much of the country is coping with drought and heat waves exacerbated by climate change.

Christine Colvin, a hydrogeologist with WWF International, was in Cape Town, South Africa, at the height of a recent megadrought. The city was approaching Day Zero, when it would not be able to supply water to residents. Colvin says that of all the ways climate disruption impacts our lives, the most critical may be to our relationship with water. 

"If the climate crisis is a shark, then water are its teeth. This is the thing that’s really going to bite us first and hardest." 

Guests:

Oscar Ocampo, Coordinator for Energy and Environment, Mexican Institute of Competitiveness

Christine Colvin, Water Policy Lead, WWF International

🎟️ Climate One has three exciting live shows on the calendar featuring conversations with Tom Steyer, Jane Goodall, and Justin Pearson. Tickets are on sale now.

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.

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Summer Olympic Games are here! That means more than 300 events, ten thousand athletes and millions of spectators coming to watch. And the athletes are not the only ones with an Olympian task; the organizers of the Paris Games pledged to make their event emit only half of the carbon pollution of the 2012 London Games. 

In order to make that happen, they are trying to do more — by doing less. Instead of building huge new structures, they’ve renovated a number of existing venues and installed a lot of temporary structures that can be used elsewhere in the future. And that’s just one example. So what can we learn from the Paris Games that can transcend the big event and lead to broader emissions reductions?

Guests: 

Martin Müller, Professor of Geography and Sustainability, University of Lausanne

Henry Grabar, Journalist, Author of “Paved Paradise, How Parking Explains the World”

Oluseyi Smith, Two-time Olympian, Renewable Energy Engineer, Founder, Racing to Zero

Angel Hsu, Director, Data-Driven EnviroLab, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

☎️ Do you work outdoors, in a kitchen or a warehouse or at another workplace where you are feeling the heat? Have rising temperatures impacted the way you do your job? We want to hear your story. 

Leave us a voicemail at ‪(650) 382-3869‬ and let us know how climate change is affecting you on the job, and we may use it in an upcoming episode. Thanks for sharing!

🎟️ Climate One has three live shows in August and September. Tickets are on sale now!

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.

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This November, voters may have the rare opportunity to choose based on the records of two administrations that have each already had one turn at the helm. Regardless of who ends up at the top of the Democratic ticket, when it comes to climate in particular, a lot is at stake. 

As Biden’s presidency winds down, the administration has been enacting numerous climate initiatives on top of his already robust climate wins, like new guidance on permitting and a new solar program. Meanwhile, former President Trump has promised to “drill, baby, drill” on day one, and roll back as much of Biden’s landmark climate legislation as possible. 

This week, we take a look back at how both administrations handled climate issues, the effects of those choices and what they promise to do if given another term in the White House.

Guests:

Nathaniel Stinnett, Founder and Executive Director, Environmental Voter Project

Emma Shortis, Senior Researcher, International & Security Affairs Program, Australia Institute; Adjunct Senior Fellow, RMIT University

Coral Davenport, Energy and Environmental Policy Reporter, New York Times

☎️ Do you work outdoors, in a kitchen or a warehouse or at another workplace where you are feeling the heat? Have rising temperatures impacted the way you do your job? We want to hear your story. 

Please leave us a voicemail at ‪(650) 382-3869‬ and let us know how climate change is affecting you on the job, and we may use it in an upcoming episode. Thanks for sharing!

🎫 Tickets for upcoming live Climate One shows are on sale now.

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.

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are climate heroes everywhere among us, but few get the public attention they deserve. Matt Scott, director of storytelling and engagement at Project Drawdown, has been shining a light on the work of such people in cities across the country in his documentary short series “Drawdown’s Neighborhood.”

In Atlanta, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, the San Francisco Bay Area and more, Scott lifts up underrepresented voices of those working directly in their communities on climate issues. This week, we feature some of those voices.

Guests:

Matt Scott, Director of Storytelling & Engagement, Project Drawdown

Grace Anderson, Founder, The Lupine Collaborative

Ashia Ajani, Storyteller, Climate Justice Educator, Mycelium Youth Network

📞 Do you work outside, in a kitchen, in a warehouse, or at other place where you’re feeling the heat? How have rising temperatures impacted the way you work? We want to hear your story. Leave us a voicemail at (650) 382-3869 and let us know how climate change is affecting you on the job, and we may use it in an upcoming episode. 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.

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most common questions people ask about climate is: what can I do? Since time is one of our most valuable resources — and we spend so much of our time at work — changing jobs may be the most effective individual climate action a person can take. Those changes could be big or small: Leaving the oil and gas industry for geothermal, or helping to bring down the emissions where you already work.

The truth is, almost any job can be a climate job. But how do people actually make the transition from dirty jobs to clean? What do climate positive job transitions really entail? 

Guests:

Caroline Dennett, Director, CLOUT Ltd

Arvind Ravikumar, Co-Director, Energy Emissions Modeling and Data Lab, University of Texas, Austin

Jennifer Anderson, Carbon Removal Geologist, Charm Industrial

Emma McConville, Development Geoscience Lead at Fervo Energy

Nathanael Johnson, Electrician

📞 Do you work outside, or in a kitchen, a warehouse, or other place where you’re feeling the heat? How have rising temperatures impacted the way you work? We want to hear your story. 

Please leave us a voicemail at ‪(650) 382-3869‬ and let us know how climate change is affecting you on the job. We may use it in an upcoming episode. 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.

For complete show notes, visit our website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices