Climate One

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Climate Miseducation Dec 10, 2021

Show notes

Climate change science isn’t taught accurately — or equally — across the country. Investigative reporter Katie Worth dug into textbooks and talked with dozens of children and teachers to find out why. In her book, Miseducation: How Climate is Taught in America, Worth unpacks the influence of the fossil fuel industry, state legislatures and school boards on school curricula in their effort to spread confusion and misinformation about the climate crisis.

Some organizations skip the textbook battle entirely and try to reach children directly through assemblies and social media. How do teachers navigate these dynamics in the classroom? How can we ensure our children are learning to be engaged, educated and climate-aware citizens?

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

Guests:

Katie Worth, investigative journalist, author, Miseducation: How Climate is Taught in America

Lea Dotson, Campaigner, Action for the Climate Emergency

Ann Reid, Executive Director, National Center for Science Education

Ben Graves, former science teacher in Delta County, CO

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What the Infrastructure Deal Means for Climate Dec 03, 2021

Show notes

President Biden recently signed the biggest piece of climate legislation in U.S. history into law. To be sure, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act got pared down significantly from what was first put on the table, but the final measure still contains five times more money for projects aimed at mitigating the climate crisis than the best legislation the Obama administration could get through. What did it take to get 19 Republican senators (not to mention Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema) to vote with the Democrats? And with the states being given great latitude over how to spend the money, will the billions available for highways negate any positive climate impacts?

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

Guests:

Carla Frisch, Principal Deputy Director, Office of Policy, U.S. Department of Energy

Sasha Mackler, Executive Director, The Energy Project, Bipartisan Policy Center

Beth Osborne, Director, Transportation for America

Michael Grunwald, journalist, author, The New New Deal

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REWIND Finding the Heart to Talk About Climate Nov 25, 2021

Show notes

Ever have a difficult conversation about climate? Pretty much everyone has. Knowing all the facts and figures only goes so far when talking to someone who just doesn’t agree. So how do we break through the barriers? Scientists trained to present information in a one-way lecture format face a particular challenge: they first need to unlearn old habits.

“Everybody's trying to figure out ‘how do we move past this idea that just arming people with facts will lead to a better world,’ right, because we’ve just seen that that’s absolutely not true,” says Faith Kearns, author of Getting to the Heart of Science Communication.

Kearns argues that we all need to move from an “information deficit” model of communication – where it’s assumed that the audience simply needs more information – to a relational model, where the science communicator does as much listening as talking in order to first find empathy and common ground.

Guests:

Faith Kearns, author, Getting to the Heart of Science Communication

Katerina Gonzales, doctoral research fellow, Stanford University

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Taking Stock of COP26 Nov 19, 2021

Show notes

In 2015, delegates from 196 nations entered into the legally binding treaty on climate change known as the Paris Agreement, which set a goal of limiting global warming to “well below 2 and preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.” Yet in August of this year, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a new assessment report that starkly illustrated the world’s collective failure to meet that target. Delegates from across the globe have just met in Glasgow for the international climate summit known as COP26, with the hope of strengthening commitments to keep emissions targets at that 1.5 degree level.

After two weeks of negotiations, presentations and protests in Glasgow, COP26 is a wrap. This week we discuss what was achieved - and what wasn’t - at the summit.

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

Guests:

Vanessa Nakate, Ugandan climate activist

Jiang Lin, Adjunct Professor, University of California Berkeley

Albert Cheung, Head of Global Analysis, Bloomberg New Energy Finance

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Climbing, Conservation and Capitalism Nov 12, 2021

Show notes

Rick Ridgeway estimates he’s spent about five years of his life sleeping in tents, often in the world’s most remote places alongside fellow outdoor adventure luminaries. Ridgeway worked for Patagonia for 15 years and was behind the company’s infamous “Don’t Buy This Jacket” ad campaign, which paradoxically advocated sustainability and increased sales.

Outdoor companies like Patagonia may push for sustainability, but they largely still present a mostly white, wealthy experience with nature, which can be off-putting for people of color. “You know if you can't see yourself in those spaces then it’s hard to feel invited or welcome in that movement,” says writer and social justice facilitator Amanda Machado.

What is the role of corporations in conservation? And how can the outdoor industry help make nature more safe, accessible and welcoming for all?

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

Guests:

Rick Ridgeway, former Vice President of Public Engagement, Patagonia

Amanda Machado, writer and social justice facilitator

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Geoengineering: Who Should Control Our Atmosphere? Nov 05, 2021

Show notes

According to the latest IPCC Assessment Report, we’re currently on course for at least 3°C (5.4°F) of warming by 2100 even if all of the voluntary Paris Agreement emissions pledges are fulfilled. Clearly the world needs to do more to reduce emissions. But what if that’s still not enough?

Solar geoengineering – such as putting sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere to reduce the amount of the sun’s heat from reaching the earth – could be one tool to slow warming temporarily. But it has become so politically fraught that even research into the subject is contentious. Who decides who should control our atmosphere? And what global governance structures should be put in place before any experimentation begins?

This program is generously underwritten in part by the Laney and Pasha Thornton Foundation.

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

Guests:

Janos Pasztor, Executive Director, Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative, former Assistant Secretary General, United Nations

Sheila Jasanoff, Professor of science and technology studies, Harvard Kennedy School

Albert Lin, Professor, University of California Davis School of Law

David Keith, Professor of applied physics and public policy, Harvard

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Electrify Everything Oct 29, 2021

Show notes

Fully electrifying our homes, cars and industries could cut the amount of total energy we need by half, says Saul Griffith, an entrepreneur, inventor and author of Electrify: An Optimist’s Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future. This electric revolution would mean significantly scaling up our solar, wind and battery storage and reorienting the electric grid – but could also mean “thousands of dollars in savings in every household, every year.”

President Biden wants half the cars sold in the US to be electric by 2030. And automakers are increasingly putting money and marketing muscle behind EVs. When Ford announced its all-electric F-150, it sent a powerful jolt through the transportation industry. Pre-orders for the F-150 Lightning surpassed 100,000 within three days, signalling that EVs are no longer just for kale-eating coastal elites.

Note: Ford Motor Co. is among Climate One’s sponsors. This program was underwritten in part by ClimateWorks Foundation.

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

Guests:

Saul Griffith, author, Electrify: An Optimist Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future

Cynthia Williams, Global Director, Sustainability, Homologation and Compliance, Ford Motor Co.

Sara Baldwin, Director of Electrification Policy, Energy Innovation

Josh Nassar, Legislative Director, United Auto Workers

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What’s on Tap at COP26 in Glasgow Oct 22, 2021

Show notes

People around the world have been experiencing unprecedented extreme weather events – raging wildfires, killer heatwaves and catastrophic floods. In August, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a new Assessment Report, which UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called “code red for humanity,” adding that alarm bells are deafening and the evidence is irrefutable.

Against this backdrop, delegates from across the globe are set to convene for the international climate summit known as COP26, where they’re expected to hammer out commitments to reduce carbon emissions in hopes of avoiding the worst impacts of climate disruption. Six years on from the Paris agreement, is there finally enough urgency to turn ambition and promises into action?

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

Guests:

Kate Larsen, Director, International Energy & Climate, Rhodium Group

Albert Cheung, Head of Global Analysis, Bloomberg NEF

Mitzi Jonelle Tan, Climate Justice Activist, Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines

Carlon Zackhras, Marshall Islands youth climate activist

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Zen and Coping with Climate Oct 15, 2021

Show notes

How do we manage our own anxiety around an uncertain climate future – let alone help our children work through their feelings and fears? In his latest book, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet, internationally renowned Zen Master and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hahn argues that addressing the intersection of ecological destruction, rising inequality, racial injustice, and the lasting impacts of a devastating pandemic requires us to strengthen our clarity, compassion, and courage to act.

“The power of Zen and the power of mindfulness is that it roots us in the present moment so we can be alert to what is going on, we can be responsive, we can be the master of our mind and awareness in any given situation,” including climate disruption, says Sister True Dedication, contributor and editor of Thich Nhat Hahn’s book.

Psychotherapist Leslie Davenport, author of All the Feelings Under the Sun: How to Deal With Climate Change, provides thoughtful, practical exercises to help young readers process their feelings about climate change.

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

Guests:

Sister True Dedication, Zen Buddhist nun, editor of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Zen and the Art of Saving The Planet

Leslie Davenport, author, Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change; All the Feelings Under the Sun: How to Deal With Climate Change

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Firefight: How to Live in the Pyrocene Oct 08, 2021

Show notes

We’ve experienced yet another summer of record wildfires in the western U.S., endangering lives, displacing communities, and sending unhealthy smoke across the nation.

The science is clear: human-caused climate change is making lands more conducive to burning, and we are increasingly living in flammable landscapes. Forest experts say there are tools to help reduce the risk of catastrophic fires, keep forests alive as valuable carbon sinks and make communities more resilient to megafires. But we may also have to become accustomed to more fire – and smoke – in our lives.

How can we better live with fire, including using it as a tool, rather than always fighting it?

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

Guests:

Stephen Pyne, author, The Pyrocene: How We Created an Age of Fire, and What Happens Next

Susan Husari, member of the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection

Chad T. Hanson, author, Smokescreen: Debunking Wildfire Myths to Save Our Forests and Our Climate

Jaime Lowe, author, Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Front Lines of California’s Wildfires

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