Climate One

Students are heading back to school, and in addition to all of the usual challenges of the school year, some children are carrying an extra weight: climate anxiety. Teachers are also swimming in tricky waters as conversations around the climate crisis — and renewable energy — become more polarized.

Yet there are educators who have worked to create resources for students and teachers, to help bring climate education into the classroom. The question is: How can schools, parents and teachers better help young people navigate the ideas and feelings around a warming planet? 

Guests: 

Margaret Wang-Aghania, Executive Director and Co-Founder, SubjectToClimate

Robin Cooper, Co-Founder and President, Climate Psychiatry Alliance

Melissa Lau, High School Environmental Science Teacher, Piedmont, Oklahoma

Leah Christenson, 2026 Piedmont High School Senior; Vice President, Piedmont High School Green Team 

Alyson Dennie, 2026 Piedmont High School Senior; President Piedmont High School Green Team

This episode features a field piece by Mary Catherine O'Connor, who originally reported the ⁠story⁠ for KALW Public Media. 

Highlights:

00:00 - Intro

3:33 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on her aha moment

5:42 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on how lessons get developed

12:33 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on teacher development

15:00 - Alyson Dennie and Leah Christenson on their climate related feelings

17:10 - Robin Cooper on how the emotions young people face because of climate

24:17 - Robin Cooper on how the moment the guides her thinking 

26:52 - Robin Cooper on how to know if a young person is dealing with climate anxiety

33:34 - Mary Catherine O'Connor’s Piece on Electric Buses in Oakland 

40:05 - Melissa Lau on the arctic trip that changed her life

44:33 - Melissa Lau on not being shy about teaching climate 

48:35 - Melissa Lau on the importance of relationship building

For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org.

***

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.

Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads

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

According to one recent survey, Americans think about climate change more than abortion, immigration, or gun violence. And yet, while they care deeply about the issue, they don’t see it as a political issue. When asked by the Environmental Voter Project what actions should be taken to rein in climate disruption, those surveyed suggest taking small, personal steps, like recycling, over broader, political action, as they do with other top-of-mind issues. 

Where does this disconnect come from? And what will it take to shift the narrative from the personal to the political?

Guest:

Nathaniel Stinnett, Founder and Executive Director, Environmental Voter Project

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.

Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads

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

The climate doesn’t care where emissions cuts come from; what matters is that the world transitions to renewable energy quickly and cheaply. If it’s significantly cheaper to install solar panels in India than on a rooftop in California, then isn’t that where they should be built? Similarly, transferring money directly to local people with the greatest stake in preserving their land can have outsized impact in conservation. Where does a climate dollar go furthest? 

Guests:

Kinari Webb, Founder, Health in Harmony

Premal Shah, Founder, kiva.org, renewables.org 

Nathaniel Stinnett, Founder and Executive Director, Environmental Voter Project

Highlights:

00:00 – Intro

04:30 – Origins of Kinari Webb’s nonprofit Health in Harmony

09:00 – Rainforests as lungs and heart of the planet

12:00 – Radical listening to communities about what they need

15:00 – Positive outcomes from responding to community needs directly

18:00 – Webb’s near-death experience from a jellyfish sting

22:00 – Rainforest conservation as a giant climate lever

29:00 – Premal Shah describes how he came to create Kiva.org

32:00 – How Kiva.org works

35:30 – Thought experiment from moral philosopher Peter Singer

38:40 – Kiva tries to reframe stories of poverty as stories of entrepreneurship

41:00 – Applying crowdfunded microfinance model to renewable energy

46:00 – Idea of “effective altruism”

49:30 – Nathaniel Stinnett: we’ve been taught to blame ourselves for the climate crisis

53:00 – How to shift public actions to make climate more political 

For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

***

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.

Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads

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

The Trump administration has taken aim at green energy, but one technology has largely been left untouched: batteries to store wind and solar electricity. California alone surpassed 13GW of battery storage last year, and Texas has become the fastest growing market for the technology. But producing batteries isn’t without its downsides, especially when it comes to mining the necessary raw materials. The upside is that those materials can be recycled and reused. If the recycling technology can reach scale and price targets, the environmental impact would drop significantly. And spent EV batteries could become a grid scale storage site even without breaking down the battery packs. How soon before renewables plus batteries can power our grid 24/7?

This episode features a reported piece by Camila Domonoske that was originally broadcast on NPR’s All Things Considered on July 10, 2024 

Guests: 

Julian Spector, Senior Reporter, Canary Media

David Klanecky, President, Cirba Solutions

Sheila Davis, EV Battery Waste Strategist, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives

4:08 - Julian Spector on what grid scale battery instillations look like

7:43 - Julian Spector on the success of battery deployment in 2024

14:14 - Julian Spector on the impacts of Trump’s new budget law 

20:06 - Julian Spector on the outlook for battery storage in the next decade 

24:09 - Reported piece on Ascend by Camila Domonoske

28:43 - David Klanecky on the battery recycling process

36:21 - David Klanecky on competing with China

41:45 - Sheila Davis on the biggest concerns about battery production 

44:56 - Sheila Davis on some of the risks posed by battery storage facilities

47:13 - Sheila Davis on the risk a battery recycling facility posed in New York
For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org.

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.

Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads

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

In 2013, 9-year-old Ella Roberta died from a severe asthma attack. She became the first person in the United Kingdom (and possibly the world) to have “air pollution” listed as the cause of death on her death certificate. Her mother, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, founded the Ella Roberta Foundation and has become a global voice for clean air.

Globally, the World Health Organization says that air pollution is associated with 6 to 7 million premature deaths every year. Addressing the cause of these deaths would also go a long way to addressing climate disruption. And since talking about climate has become so politically fraught, should we reframe the conversation to focus on taking care of our air?

Guests:

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Founder, Ella Roberta Foundation

Sheila Watson, Deputy Director, FIA Foundation

Susan Joy Hassol, Director, Climate Communication 

Highlights:

(00:00) Intro

(03:00) Rosamund shares details of Ella’s young life and her early asthma attacks

(08:00) Ella becomes first person to have “air pollution” listed as cause of death

(13:00) Rosamund’s work sharing Ella’s story and raising awareness about air pollution

(20:30) How poisonous transportation emissions are and policy tools to reduce them

(26:00) Economic development does not need to sit contrary to healthy air 

(27:00) Dieselgate and the work of the True Real Urban Emissions initiative 

(31:00) Extreme heat can make air pollution more deadly

(37:00) Why we shouldn’t use the term "climate change” 

(43:00) Finding ways to connect with people on climate based on their priorities

(49:00) How to convey the seriousness of climate threats while also empowering people to feel that they can make a difference

(52:30) Climate One More Thing

For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

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.

Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads

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

We’re all feeling the effects of the fossil-fueled climate crisis, but young people will not let this threat to their future go unchallenged. They’re taking it to the courts. In the last year, youth plaintiffs have had notable legal successes in Montana and Hawaiʻi, challenging that those states were violating their constitutional rights in continuing to burn fossil fuels. In Hawaiʻi, the ruling compels the state department of transportation to quickly move to a zero-emission system. 

But the biggest victory may have been outside of the U.S. The small island nation of Vanuatu led the charge to ask the International Court for Justice to grant a judgement on the legal obligation of countries to fight climate change. The judgment, released in late July, stated that countries do have a responsibility to address the climate crisis. Beyond their specific claims and remedies, these numerous cases ask: What do we owe our future generations, and how will we make good on those promises?

Guests: 

Vishal Prasad, Director, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change 

Julia Olson, Co-Executive Director & Chief Legal Counsel, Our Children’s Trust 

Rylee Brooke Kamahele, Youth Plaintiff, Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation

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 show notes and related links, visit our website.

Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads

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

Climate disruptions and growing risk are upending insurance markets, leading many insurers to abandon parts of the country all together. Due to fires, floods and other extreme events, more and more homeowners are facing rapidly rising premiums or being dropped from their insurance plans altogether. Increasing numbers of homeowners are taking refuge in the state insurance plans of last resort, straining the program resources. For homeowners, whose house is often their biggest financial asset, this creates a huge financial risk. 

So what should people do to evaluate climate risks and insurance availability during their housing search? And how can governments help insurers weather the increasing frequency of climate-induced disasters so they can continue to underwrite our homes?

Guests:

Rachel Cleetus, Senior Policy Director, Union of Concerned Scientists

Claire O’Connor, Los Angeles real estate agent and homeowner

Dave Jones, Director, Climate Risk Initiative at the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, UC Berkeley 

This episode also includes a news feature produced by Camryn Sanchez of KJZZ in Phoenix.

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 show notes and related links, visit our website.

Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads

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

In a previous Climate One episode, we discussed the good, the bad, and the ugly impacts of artificial intelligence. But AI isn’t going away. Humans rarely give up a nifty new tool unless something better comes along. AI’s share of energy consumption is enormous, and the Department of Energy estimates that data center energy demands will double or even triple in just the next three years. Demand on fresh water is at least as big and isn’t talked about nearly enough. So, what can we do to reduce AI’s impact? 

Plenty of researchers have ideas — from site selection to energy efficiency to using zero-carbon sources of energy. But what will incentivize the AI corporations to take any of those actions?

This episode was supported by Climate One Steward Noel Perry and Next 10. This episode was recorded in March and originally aired April 4, 2025.

Episode Guests:

KeShaun Pearson, Executive Director, Memphis Community Against Pollution

Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer, Google

Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University

On July 31, Climate One is hosting Premal Shah and Kinari Webb for a live episode recording! With years of experience navigating the global climate movement, the two are sure to offer unparalleled insights during their conversation with Co-Host Greg Dalton. Tickets for the show, which will be held at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, are available now through our website.

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 show notes and related links, visit our website.

Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads

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

Three years ago, Congress passed President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in climate action in U.S. history. The IRA set in motion a sweeping set of investments in nearly every aspect of energy and climate, mostly in the form of subsidies and tax credits, to boost domestic production of electric vehicles, batteries and carbon-free energy. Those investments have flowed to every state, but the majority have landed in Republican-held districts. 

In spite of that, Congressional Republicans nearly unanimously passed President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” which the president signed on July 4. The megabill guts nearly all the program funds allocated under the IRA and slashes incentives and credits for solar, wind, energy efficiency and electric vehicles — precisely at a time when we need to dramatically scale up those sectors to address climate change. Why did Republicans let this bill move ahead? And how much will it exacerbate the climate crisis in the coming decades?

Guests:

Katherine Hamilton, Chair, 38 North Solutions

Clayton Aldern, Senior Data Reporter, Grist

Lisa Jacobson, President, Business Council for Sustainable Energy

John Szoka, CEO, Conservative Energy Network  

On July 31, Climate One is hosting Premal Shah and Kinari Webb for a live episode recording! With years of experience navigating the global climate movement, the two are sure to offer unparalleled insights during their conversation with Co-Host Greg Dalton. Tickets for the show, which will be held at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, are available now through our website.

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 show notes and related links, visit our website.

Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads

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

Nature can feel distant from our everyday lives. Maybe it’s a place we visit on the weekends, a getaway from the hustle and bustle, something “out there,” just beyond the edges of our neighborhoods. But we are part of it, and as more and more people consider their impact on the Earth, sustainable practices are extending even to death, where green and natural burials are gaining popularity. 

Within the field of biomimicry, a design practice informed by what already exists in nature, innovators are exploring ways to sustain the ecosystems we’re surrounded by, rather than depleting them. Scientists have looked to butterfly wings to improve the efficiency of solar panels, and wetland plants to purify water in buildings. 

How can we build in a way that addresses climate concerns and has a softer impact on the environment in which it exists?

Guests: 

Janine Benyus, Co-Founder, Biomimicry Institute 

Emily Miller, Licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer; Founder, Colorado Burial Preserve

This episode also features field reporting from Producer Megan Biscieglia at Fernwood Cemetery and Funeral Home.

On July 31, Climate One is hosting Premal Shah and Kinari Webb for a live episode recording! With years of experience navigating the global climate movement, the two are sure to offer unparalleled insights during their conversation with Co-Host Greg Dalton. Tickets for the show, which will be held at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, are available now through our website.

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 show notes and related links, visit our website.

Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads

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