A Matter of Degrees

Latest Episodes:

'Let's Go Get Us A Clean Electricity Standard' Jul 12, 2021

Show notes

Baked into the American Jobs Plan is an ambitious proposal to set a federally-mandated Clean Electricity Standard of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035. It would put the US on track to get emissions under control and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. That is, if it gets through Congress.

In this episode, Co-host Leah Stokes speaks with a variety of guests who are part of the broad coalition supporting the proposal. What would this ambitious policy mean for America's energy system and climate movement?

The episode features Jamie DeMarco and Quentin Scott from Chesapeake Climate Action Network; Lauren Maunus from The Sunrise Movement; Hip Hop Caucus CEO Rev. Lennox Yearwood; and West Virginia Rivers Coalition Director Angie Rossers.

Resources:

The #Call4Climate homepage
Chesapeake Climate Action Network Homepage
The Data For Progress Poll Results on Voter Support for a CES

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A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio. For more episodes and transcripts, visit our website.

The 'Prestige Problem' Making Fossil Fuels Powerful Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

Fossil fuel companies are tapping into America's "best and brightest" at top banks, public relations and advertising firms, law firms, and strategy consulting firms.

These organizations supply critical services to keep the fossil fuel industry humming: creative work, strategy, legal representation, financing. They're services that oil and gas companies need to remain powerful.

In this episode (our first of the second season!) Dr. Katharine Wilkinson and Dr. Leah Stokes explore the different ways this "prestige problem" influences America's white-collar workforce. And they'll explore efforts to push back.

Katharine speaks with Camila Bustos, the co-founder of Law Students for Climate Accountability. She also speaks with Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media.

Resources:

Law Students for Climate Accountability scorecard
NY Times: How One Firm Drove Influence Campaigns Nationwide for Big Oil
DeSmog: The Climate-Conflicted Directors Leading the World's Top Banks

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A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio. For more episodes and transcripts, visit our website.

Biden's Climate Plan Could Reshape America (Live w/ Julian NoiseCat) May 13, 2021

Show notes

We're back with another live edition of the show! So much is happening in the Biden era. We didn't want to wait until our second season to unpack all the activity.

This week, we feature a conversation with Julian Brave NoiseCat that we recorded at the Crosscut Festival.

Julian is a writer, activist, and policy expert with a deep understanding of Washington climate politics. Julian was actually a guest correspondent in season one — go episode 7 from our first season: "Changing Woman: One Navajo's Fight for a Just Transition."

The protagonist of amazing episode, Wahleah Johns, is now working in the Biden Administration as a senior official at the Department of Energy!

Julian is the Vice President of Policy & Strategy at the think tank Data For Progress and a Fellow at the Type Media Center. He's also a journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Vox, Vice and many other outlets.

In this episode, we look at all the action happening in Washington on climate change: big-name hires, big-ticket policies, and the potential high-impact outcomes.

The State of Global Climate Talks (Live w/ Mary Robinson) May 02, 2021

Show notes

As we work on season 2, we're sharing a live episode of the show that we just recorded at the Bloomberg Green Summit.

The conversation is all about where things stand in the lead-up to global climate talks in the fall.

We were fortunate to get Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland, to talk about this topic with us. Mary served as the President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She's now the chair of the Elders.

Mary has dedicated much of her career to solving the climate crisis. She's the author of two moving memoirs, "Everybody Matters" which was from 2012 and "Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience and the Fight for a Sustainable Future," was published in September 2018. She is also co-host of a podcast on the climate crisis, called "Mothers of Invention."

In this episode, we go deep with Mary on what we can expect from this year's international climate negotiations.

The 'Darth Vader' of Electric Utilities Jan 07, 2021

Show notes

In 2013, a series of attack ads blitzed television sets across Arizona. They warned of a dire threat to senior citizens. Who was the villain? Solar energy.

These ads came from front groups funded by Arizona Public Service, the state's largest utility. It was part of a years-long fight against rooftop solar that turned ugly.

"I mean, for Star Wars fans, APS became the Darth Vader of electric utilities in America. I mean, I think you would be hard-pressed to find a utility that behaved as badly as APS did in the last decade," explains former regulator Kris Mayes.

But APS isn't alone. It's a prime example of how monopoly utilities abuse their power to influence regulatory decisions and slow clean-energy progress.

What happens if your electric utility starts doing things you don't agree with? What if they start attacking solar and proposing to build more and more fossil gas plants? What if they actively resist clean energy progress?

Well, you don't get a choice. You have to buy electricity, and you have to buy it from them. As a customer you're funding that.

In this episode, we'll detail how it happened in Arizona -- and how public pressure forced APS' to come clean.

Featured in this episode: Ryan Randazzo, Kris Mayes, David Pomerantz.

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A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio.

For more episodes and transcripts, visit our website.

Presenting: How to Save a Planet Dec 22, 2020

Show notes

We're pleased to introduce an episode of "How to Save a Planet," produced by our friends at Gimlet and Spotify. The show is co-hosted by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Alex Blumberg.

"How to Save a Planet" has a lot of similarities to our own, so we think our listeners will like the stories they tell. In this week's episode: a story about the Black Lives Matter Movement and how the fight for black lives connects with the struggle for climate justice.

Find more of their episodes here. And stay tuned for our final episode of the season, coming soon.

The Stages of Black Climate Grief Dec 15, 2020

Show notes

This week, we have a special episode featuring activist and researcher Nikayla Jefferson.

Most of us are in the first stage of climate grief: denial.

But what does it feel like to enter the stage of grief? And how is that grief different for black people?

Even if you've seen the impacts of climate change up close, even if you've felt the tropical winds whip your cheeks, stood in floodwater knee deep in your own home, watched a fire come down the ridge line, said "wow, I can't remember a summer this hot" -- you are likely stuck in some state of denial.

In this episode, Nikayla shares her journey breaking through denial and into grief. She also talks with

As a black person, grieving for the planet can look different, feel heavier and more immediate.

Featured in this episode: Nikayla Jefferson, Jacqueline Patterson, and Princella Talley.

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A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio.

For more episodes and transcripts, visit our website.

Changing Woman: One Navajo's Fight for a Just Transition Dec 08, 2020

Show notes

This week, we have a special episode about the long and winding energy transition in an often overlooked place: the Navajo Nation—the largest Indian reservation in the United States.

Journalist and climate policy expert Julian Brave NoiseCat is our guide.

Ten percent of Navajos lack access to electricity. Some spend up to $700 per month on fuels to travel to places with electricity, or charge electronics in their cars and trucks.

But the Navajo Nation isn't exactly an energy-poor place. In fact, until recently, the reservation was home to two of the largest coal strip mines in the world. In recent decades as many as five coal-burning power plants surrounded Navajo lands. For many Navajo, power lines connecting coal to major cities like Phoenix and Los Angeles, have come to symbolize this vastly unequal system.

We'll look at the deep history of energy extraction and colonialism that led to the current clean-energy transition for the Navajo people.

Featured in this episode: Wahleah Johns and Andrew Curley.

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A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio.

For more episodes and transcripts, visit our website.

Cleaning Up the Carbon Mess Nov 19, 2020

Show notes

We've made a carbon mess. How do we clean it up?

Imagine the atmosphere as an overflowing bathtub. The water keeps gushing from the tap. Clearly, we need to turn it off. We have to bring emissions of heat-trapping gases down to zero, stat.

But even after we do that, we still have a mess on our hands. So, we need to open the drain, let some water out.

In this episode, we'll explore the different ways we can manage carbon emissions with natural and technological solutions. What are their benefits and drawbacks? And how do we think about them in our broader solutions toolkit?

Featured in this episode: Lisa Song, Judith Schwartz, Jane Zelikova, and Etosha Cave.

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A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio.

For more episodes and transcripts, visit our website.

After Trump: The Silver Linings Playbook Nov 08, 2020

Show notes

It's official. Joe Biden will be the next president. And he ran on a platform that put climate at the top of the agenda.

There's still a lot of tension. What will happen to the balance of power in Congress? Can we make progress on climate, even with Democrats losing down-ballot races?

Even with so much uncertainty, there's actually a lot of good news. In this episode, Leah and Katharine dig into what this moment means for the future of the planet.

We were joined by two heavy-hitters this week: Heather McTeer Toney and Sam Ricketts.

Heather is the Senior Director at Moms Clean Air Force. She's a former EPA regional administrator. And she was the first African-American, first woman, and youngest person ever elected mayor of Greenville, Mississippi. She knows the ins and outs of what a Biden Administration could do to pursue a "just" climate agenda.

Sam Ricketts is a senior fellow for Energy & Environment at the Center for American Progress. And he was climate director for Washington Governor Jay Inslee's presidential campaign. He co-founded Evergreen, an organization at the forefront of developing detailed, progressive climate policies.

Resources mentioned on the show about the Georgia runoff:

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A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio