On behalf of the People of the State of California, Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against five of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, along with the lobbying organization American Petroleum Institute, for willfully misleading the public about climate change. How big a deal could this lawsuit be?

Guest:

Rob Bonta, California Attorney General

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Artificial intelligence can do some pretty amazing things, including for the climate. AI can help optimize the electric grid, make heating and cooling buildings more efficient, and pinpoint exactly where greenhouse gas emissions are coming from all around the world.

On the other hand, the energy use of AI is massive and growing. A recent study estimates that in just a few years, the extra energy needed will equal whole countries the size of Sweden or Argentina. How do we make sure the benefits of AI outweigh its energy costs?

Guests

Karen Hao, Contributing Writer, The Atlantic 

Gavin McCormick, Cofounder and Executive Director, WattTime; Cofounder, Climate TRACE

Priya Donti, Assistant Professor, MIT; Co-founder and Chair of Climate Change AI 

Amy McGovern, Professor of Computer Science, University of Oklahoma 

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In August 2022, Congress passed the biggest piece of climate legislation in our nation’s history: The Inflation Reduction Act, which put $400 billion into boosting the transition to a clean energy economy over the next ten years. The IRA has spurred companies to announce nearly $110 billion of investment in new factories to build EVs, batteries and renewable energy facilities. That’s driving investments, reshoring of manufacturing, and real change.

This week we check in on the impact of the IRA in the last 18 months. What impact has the IRA really had on US emissions so far? Has the IRA distributed money to fulfill its climate justice initiatives? 

Guests:

Trevor Houser, Partner, Rhodium Group

Danny Kennedy, CEO, New Energy Nexus

Bineshi Albert, Former Co-Executive Director, Climate Justice Alliance

This piece also includes a reported feature from Emily Jones of WABE in Atlanta and Grist.

Climate One will be celebrating SF Climate Week with a series of programs featuring California and the San Francisco Bay Area’s leading voices in policy, climate justice, and business.

The week will showcase interviews with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Senators Nancy Skinner and Scott Wiener, and California Environmental Justice Association’s Energy Justice Director Mari Rose Taruc, among others, about the challenges and opportunities facing the nation’s innovation capital when it comes to addressing climate change.

On Tuesday, Climate One will also be hosting an Action Lounge, where attendees will be able to join local climate and environmental organizations, apply for green jobs, and receive guidance from climate career coaches. See you there!

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Even before Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” brought climate change to the mainstream, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Elizabeth Kolbert was on the beat. Her reporting in the early 2000s culminated in her book “Field Notes from a Catastrophe,” which sounded the alarm on the causes and effects of global warming. 

Nearly 20 years later, Kolbert is still bringing the climate story to the public with her new book “H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z.” The book is told in bite size vignettes that paint a picture of our climate present, what the future may hold and where there may be space for hope.

Guests:

Elizabeth Kolbert, Journalist and Author

Molly Wood, Climate Solutions Investor and Podcaster

Sister True Dedication, Zen Buddhist Nun

Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., CEO, Hip Hop Caucus

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Elizabeth Kolbert headshot copyright Elizabeth Kolbert

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Climate change means extreme weather, shifting landscapes, and generally more instability. More and more, you can feel the impacts of climate disruption in your wallets. Drought is pushing up the cost of candy and leading to shipping delays in the Panama Canal. 

Globally, researchers say climate could add one percent to inflation every year until 2035. The costs of car insurance, health insurance and property insurance are rising. And whether it’s tea in the morning or wine in the evening, disrupted climate patterns and extreme weather are making certain foods more expensive. 

This week, we unpack how climate change drives inflation.

Guests:

Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Chair of Economics and Government, London School of Economics

Jeremy Porter, Head of Climate Implications Research, First Street Foundation

Avery Ellfeldt, Reporter, E&E News

Lea Borkenhagen, Senior Vice President, EDF+Business

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The places that most people call home are coming under increasing threat from climate change. From rising seas and more frequent floods to stronger hurricanes and cyclones, to more devastating droughts and wildfires, the most habitable parts of our world are becoming far less so. Over time, our cities will be forced to transform — and hundreds of millions will have to move.

People who have the means are already starting to relocate to places that market themselves as climate-proof. But not everyone will be able to leave. And many won’t want to. How do we handle the next great waves of migration?

Guests: 

Abrahm Lustgarten, author, “On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America”

Sonia Shah, author, “The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move”

This episode also features reported pieces by MPR reporter Dan Kraker on “Climate Proof Duluth” and KUOW Public Radio in Seattle reporter ​​John Ryan on “How a Northwest tribe is escaping a rising ocean.”

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As heat waves, storms, droughts and wildfires continue to worsen, talking can seem like a seriously insufficient climate solution. It’s fair to ask: Are we just engaged in blah, blah, blah?

Too often, talking is one sided – more of a lecture aimed at conveying information or solely stating one's own point of view. And yet, when done right, real conversations and true listening can help us find common ground, which can then lead to collective action and change. So how do we make those conversations really count? In this week’s episode, we delve into some of our most insightful interviews, looking for the answer.

Guests:

Katharine Hayhoe, Chief Scientist, The Nature Conservancy  

Meera Subramanian, Journalist

Faith Kearns, Scientist, California Institute for Water Resources; Author, “Getting to the Heart of Science Communications”

Anand Giridharadas, Author, “The Persuaders” 

Chloe Maxmin, Co-Executive Director, Dirt Road Organizing

John Cook, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change 

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

📞 Have you moved within the United States for climate-related reasons? Tell us about it! 

For the chance to have your climate migration story shared on Climate One, give us a call at 650 382-3869. Please keep your voicemail under two minutes and include your name and contact information so we know how to reach you if we decide to feature your story.

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Kumi Naidoo is a world renowned activist and climate leader. Before going on to lead Greenpeace International then Amnesty International, Naidoo was a 15 year old anti-apartheid activist in South Africa. The boycotts he organized led to him being a target of the Security Police. He fled South Africa and lived in exile in the UK. 

As a climate activist, Naidoo has been arrested for scaling oil rigs, has negotiated with heads of state, and rubbed shoulders with the most powerful people at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Now he’s a visiting scholar at Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, where he’s focusing on how activism can win bigger and faster. 

Guests: 

Kumi Naidoo, Human Rights and Environmental Justice Activist

Alex Ajose Nixon, Spoken Word Poet

Mystic, Hip Hop Artist and Educator

Dana R. Fisher, Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland

Tamara Toles O’Laughlin, President and CEO, Environmental Grantmakers Association

📞 Have you moved within the United States for climate-related reasons? Tell us about it! 

For the chance to have your climate migration story shared on Climate One, give us a call at 650 382-3869. Please keep your voicemail under two minutes and include your name and contact information so we know how to reach you if we decide to feature your story.

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If you’re a climate-conscious person, you likely already know some of the main ways you can reduce your contribution to greenhouse gasses: buy less, eat less meat, ride your bike.

But there are other, less obvious methods we don’t always think of: voting, having climate conversations, engaging with your local government, changing where your money is invested. And while our role as individuals does matter, we’re more powerful when we work together in collective action. 

Guests: 

Jon Foley, Executive Director, Project Drawdown

Eliza Nemser, Executive Director, Climate Changemakers

This episode also features excerpts from Cory Booker, Anna Lappé, Frances Moore Lappé, Saul Griffith, Monique Figueiredo, Jonathan Chapman, Jennifer Anderson, Tanya Gulliver Garcia, Vernon Walker, Abrar Anwar, Slater Jewell-Kemker, Kyle Gracey and Alec Loorz.

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When most people hear the phrase renewable energy, they imagine fields full of solar panels or giant spinning wind turbines. But another source may be heating up: geothermal. Twenty years ago it was thought that geothermal could provide at most 10% of any given area’s electricity, and only in very limited regions. There were also environmental concerns about depleting groundwater.

But new technological advances may have unlocked the potential for scalable geothermal energy just about anywhere. And in a bit of irony, those technological advances came from the oil and gas industry.

Guests: 

Amanda Kolker, Laboratory Program Manager for Geoscience and Geothermal Technologies, NREL

Jamie Beard, founder of Project InnerSpace

Lauren McLean, Mayor of Boise

Contributing Producer: David Condos

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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