Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

2016 began in the afterglow of the Paris climate accord, and ended with the triumph of a presidential candidate who has labeled climate change a hoax. So what will 2017 and the Trump administration mean for the future of clean energy? On today’s show we look ahead at how environmentally-conscious lawmakers and businesses might move forward now that Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, and how big blue California might continue to lead the fight against climate change in spite of what happens in Washington.

In the mid-19th century, the Harvard College Observatory began employing women as calculators, or “human computers.”

Top energy stories this year range from speedy ratification of the Paris climate deal to the large number of reservations for Tesla’s mid-priced sedan. Recent headlines also include PG&E’s surprise announcement that it will close the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant and the surprise bankruptcy of SunEdison, once a darling of the solar industry. We’ll take stock of a year in which oil prices stayed low, autonomous cars sped ahead, and the first offshore wind farm in the United States was poised to come online. On the policy front, California extended its main climate law with the passage of SB 32, but clean energy is playing defense in many states around the country. Would you fly in a battery-powered helicopter or a solar-powered plane? Brave souls did just that this year. Join us for a look back at an active year in technology, innovation, policy and the battle over how to power our future.

Can Republicans and Democrats come together after a nasty election to make progress on energy, water, transportation and other climate-related concerns? Those issues were barely a sideshow in the 2016 national election, but climate disruption requires modifying how we run our economy and get around. Is it naive to think elected leaders can bury the hatchet and find common ground in the state legislature or the U.S. Congress? Where are the opportunities for political deals? Join a conversation about licking wounds, moving forward and getting to work on important systems that need fixing.

Physician and astronaut Dr. Mae C. Jemison is a science literacy advocate and the lead ambassador of the Bayer Making Science Make Sense program. The goal of the initiative is to provide 1 million hands-on science experiences to children by 2020. Dr. Jemison is particularly devoted to getting more girls, young women and minorities into careers in science, tech, engineering and math (STEM). Join Dr. Jemison for an inspiring call-to-action on how to get Americans psyched about science!

For the first time in Earth’s history, our planet is experiencing rapidly accelerating changes prompted by one species: humans. Climate change is the most visible, and our current behavior threatens not only our own future but that of countless other creatures. As we stand at this pivotal juncture, Dr. Grinspoon calls upon all of us to be planetary engineers, conscious shapers of our environment and caretakers of the Earth’s biosphere. With our future at stake, Dr. Grinspoon shares his 10,000-year perspective by not only asking what kind of future we want to avoid, but what do we ultimately seek to build?

Join us for a year-end political roundtable as we explore the biggest, most controversial and sometimes the surprising political issues with expert commentary by panelists who are smart, are civil, and have a good sense of humor. Join our panelists for informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, audience discussion of the week’s events, and our live news quiz!

Today, many people who call themselves makers are geeks. Familiar with the ideas and practices of open source software, these hardware geeks are changing how we make things, where we make things and who gets to make them. However, the maker movement is moving beyond its geek contingency, just as personal computers once did, and is spreading out to engage more and more people. The maker movement is having considerable impact on business and education, emphasizing hands-on education and creative problem-solving. It is also introducing open, collaborative models around innovation that broaden participation in an innovation-driven economy. Join us for a conversation about making the future of innovation. Dale Dougherty has been on the front lines of a worldwide renaissance of creating, designing, modifying, inventing and personalizing that is affecting all aspects of how we do business. In his new book, Free to Make: How the Maker Movement Is Changing Our Schools, Our Jobs, Our Minds, Dougherty acts as a tour guide to the spectacular, hope-filled global phenomenon that we now call the maker movement. In conversation with Robert Stephens, the founder of the Geek Squad, they will explore how the do-it-yourself movement approaches arts, crafts, science and engineering, changing us as a result.

Dr. Gordis, a former Conservative rabbi, award-winning author of several books on Jewish thought and Israeli currents, and columnist for the Jerusalem Post, will discuss the topic of his latest book, which has been described as a luminous history shedding light on Israel's culture, politics and economy, so people can understand her future. Gordis was the founding dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles before moving to Jerusalem, where he helped to found Israel's first liberal arts college. Presently, he is senior vice president and Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College in Jerusalem.

George Mitchell knows how to bring peace to troubled regions. The New York Times has called him “a diplomatic heavyweight." He was the primary architect of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement for peace in Northern Ireland. But when he served as U.S. special envoy for Middle East peace under President Obama from 2009 to 2011—working to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—diplomacy did not prevail. For the first time, George Mitchell will offer his insider account of how the Israelis and the Palestinians have progressed (and regressed) in their negotiations through the years and the new steps the United States and international community can take to encourage a peace agreement. Alan Sachar served as an advisor to the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Daniel B. Shapiro, in Tel Aviv from 2011 to 2012 and to President Obama’s special envoys for Middle East peace, George J. Mitchell and David Hale, from 2009 to 2011. From 2006 to 2009, he served in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, focusing on the U.S. bilateral relationships with Israel and the Palestinians as well as Arab-Israeli relations. As a new U.S. administration is about to take power, hear from one of the world’s most astute statesmen and a top diplomatic advisor.