Climate One

Are the Canadian tar sands and Keystone XL pipeline huge economic drivers or climate killers? Pipeline supporters such as Canadian diplomat Cassie Doyel say it’s better for America to get its energy from Canada than unfriendly nations. But Sam Avery, Author of The Pipeline and the Paradigm, warns that there’s enough carbon in the tar sands “to send Earth’s climate into an irreversible tailspin.” Dan Miller, Managing Director of the Roda Group, looks at the long term saying “as a price on carbon kicks in, and it starts to build over time, the tar sands will be the first things that will be knocked off the list.” Greg Croft, Lecturer at St. Mary’s College of California, points out that “the carbon problem is global and we haven't solved any problem on a global basis.” A conversation on matching energy supply and demand in a carbon constrained world This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on April 26, 2013

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These are tough days for international efforts to put a meaningful price on carbon pollution. It's a tough sell, and many clean-energy advocates say a global deal once dreamed about at Copenhagen will never happen. We have to think about “what have we learned and what is different” since Copenhagen says Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. “I have news for everybody,” she says, “no, there is never going to be one agreement that solves climate [change].” In conversation with Greg Dalton, Figueres discusses the challenges facing negotiation including differences between developing and developed countries and the need for a strong foundation of national regulation before international agreements can be reached. But there is hope, she says, “we are moving toward a tipping point, a technological and economical tipping point...that will allow us to move into a completely different future.” A conversation on the challenges, successes, and goals of international climate change negotiations. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on April 17, 2013

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The country's energy paradigm is caught between the slogans of “drill-baby-drill” and “oil is evil.” The real problem arguably is that the global oil market is controlled by the OPEC cartel that artificially fixes prices. That could explain why oil prices continue to rise even though the United States, the world’s largest petroleum consumer, is producing more and consuming less. “We can’t be fixated on bringing down the price of oil because that is not going to happen,” said Kate Gordon, Director of the Energy and Climate Program at Next Generation. Alternative fuels advocates say the only way that will change is with other fuels that can compete and give consumers choices for the first time since the early days of the automobile. “The concept of energy independence is misleading,” said Eyal Aronoff, Co-founder of the Fuel Freedom Foundation, “the question is about oil independence.” The most prominent alternative to oil right now in the U.S. is natural gas and Gal Luft, co-author of “Petropoly”, said that “when you look at big oil…they are becoming increasingly natural gas companies.” A conversation with three experts on changing America’s energy security paradigm. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on April 5, 2013

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The United States should restrain the use of guns on the street and drones in the air according to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. “I think we do need a national solution” says Senator Feinstein on gun regulation. The victims of Sandy Hook continue to drive her and she said, “every time I see those faces I say shame on us that we let this happen in this great country.” Drone use is “an enormous privacy question,” states Senator Feinstein. She discusses the need for nationwide drone operating criteria to address the increased use of drones within national borders as well as the importance of continued thorough congressional oversight of international drone use. Transitioning the conversation to the issue of climate change, Senator Feinstein says that “people don’t really understand. They think the earth is immutable. They think we can’t destroy it, that it’s here to stay, that it’s always been this way. It’s not so.” A conversation with California’s senior United States Senator on guns, drones, and carbon. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on April 3, 2013

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Tempting oil reserves trapped in California Monterey shale are raising the possibility of a fracking boom in California. “People began to come to me...asking about what a mineral estate was and how come the oil company that owned the mineral estate could eject them from the surface of the land,” said Steve Craig, a farmer in Monterey County and former director of the Ventana Conservation and Land Trust. Bill Allayaud of the Environmental Working Group explained that California “had regulations about well casings but no regulations about fracking.” But this is changing, said Mark Nechodom, Director of California’s Department of Conservation, “in historical use of fracturing in California we had no evidence that there is any environmental damage...and therefore we had not required reporting. Now we are requiring reporting.” Dave Quast of Energy In Depth, maintained that there could be important benefits to fracking California’s oil, “onshore [American] oil developed under a very highly regulated regime is much preferable to getting it from Venezuela and some places that don’t have environmental protections,” he said. A conversation with four experts on the possibilities and risks of fracking California’s oil. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on April 2, 2013

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With a thriving natural gas market in the U.S., oil and energy companies are in a race for fracking rights across the country. The fracking bonanza has led to concern about the oversight of hydraulic fracturing practices. “We need to regulate,” said TJ Glauthier, former Deputy U.S. Secretary of Energy and a former board member of Union Drilling, “I think that natural gas has a very important role to play in a conversion to a cleaner economy and a cleaner future.” One notable result of the “shale gas revolution,” according to Mark Zoback, Professor at the Stanford University School of Earth Sciences, is that “CO2 emissions from coal are down 20% just in the last few years.” But higher than expected methane leakage could mean that “the actual lifecycle carbon impact of burning natural gas is actually worse than coal,” said Kassie Siegel, Senior Counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity. A conversation with three experts on the state of hydraulic fracturing and regulation in America. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on April 2, 2013

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“It’s essential for China to be on a low emissions growth pattern,” said Jian Lin, Chairman of The China Sustainable Energy Program. China’s cities are growing at a breakneck pace and city planners are struggling to keep up, “we are racing against time,” said Lin, “people just don’t wait until you figure out how to solve a sustainable design.” Ellen Lou, Director of Urban Design and Planning at SOM, says that the money the Chinese government spent on building out transit infrastructure “is one of the best things that they have done.” The question, she said, is “how do you make higher density livable?” Two experts discuss China’s new cities and sustainable development.

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Coastal cities “are facing an existential threat that we are not prepared to deal with,” said Gabriel Metcalf, the Executive Director of San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). The California Bay Area is wrestling with a challenge as it tries to develop sustainably to accommodate a growing population in a warming world. One way to deal with population rise and reduce emissions is to create “zones of high density” says Alex Mehran Jr., Senior VP and General Manager at Sunset Development. Carl Shannon, Managing Director at Tishman Speyer says “you have to find the right balance of economic desire and political will” to develop high density zones in traditionally suburban environments. The experts agree that the key to sustainable growth in the Bay Area is rebuilding for a more walkable and livable urban environment. Three leaders in sustainable building and development discuss Bay Area development goals.

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“We are already paying significant economic costs” of climate disruption and they are “only going to increase,” says democratic strategist Chris Lehane. Republican strategist Steve Schmidt agrees that climate change is an economic concern but says it has to be addressed in a low cost fashion. “You need to grow the economy in order to protect the environment,” says Schmidt, “the fossil fuel economy and the energy companies have lifted more people out of poverty more than any other industry in the history of the world ever.” Lehane argues that “it has been the U.S. that has lead on global issues” and it is the U.S. that should lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Two seasoned political veterans discuss Keystone XL, the fossil fuel economy, and bridging the partisan divide on climate change. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on March 19, 2013

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"If we do not take the rational approach to this problem [of climate disruption] we are all facing really catastrophic impacts," said Ezra Rapport, Executive Director of the Association of Bay Area Governments. As the world warms Bay Area agencies are racing the clock to develop adaptation strategies to identify and manage risks. But with complicated and widely variable climate models it can be hard to agree on the numbers. Melanie Nutter, Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment explained that “we as a city [San Francisco] don’t yet have an agreed upon risk scenario.” This is because “we are a very diverse region…there is no one dominant player,” said R. Zachary Wasserman, Chair of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, “we’re going to have to figure out how to do this together.” Leaders of Bay Area agencies discuss strategies to protect our built environment and adapt to challenges in the future. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on March 18, 2013

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