Climate One

Latest Episodes:

Journey of a Former Coal Miner May 14, 2021

Show notes

What motivates the activists? Grassroots activism can take many forms, from protests to letter-writing to citizen science to community organizing. But these often more local forms of activism can get short shrift compared to the more powerful, national players in climate and environmental movements.

Nick Mullins, a former fifth-generation coal miner, grew up seeing multiple generations of his family endure hardships created by our nation’s demand for cheap coal. In search of decent pay, he became a miner himself – but he eventually left the industry in search of justice for his mountain communities.

James Coleman started his career as a teenage climate activist before becoming the youngest elected public official in California in over 100 years. San Francisco activist Marie Harrison fought against environmental contamination of her community by the U.S. Navy and a fossil-fuel-burning power plant – and now her daughter, Arieann Harrison, has picked up her mantle to continue pushing for environmental justice.

Mullins, Coleman, and dozens of activists featured in Audrea Lim’s book The World We Need, Stories and Lessons from America’s Unsung Environmental Movement represent just a fraction of those motivated to take action on climate.

“The thing about grassroots activism, actually, apart from the stereotype is that it’s really just people in a community who see a problem and then they get together on their own and try to find a solution to it,” says Audrea Lim.

What can grassroots activists do that national organizations can’t? And what can their stories and experiences teach us?

Guests:

Nick Mullins, former fifth-generation coal miner, blogger, Thoughts of a Coal Miner

Audrea Lim, Journalist & Editor, The World We Need, Stories and Lessons from America’s Unsung Environmental Movement

James Coleman, City Councilor, South San Francisco

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Climate Stories We Tell Ourselves May 07, 2021

Show notes

How do our identities and values shape the way we listen to others’ climate experience? Author Nathaniel Rich and journalist Meera Subramanian cover the hopes, fears, and middle-of-the-night concerns affecting the people living closest to climate change.

In Georgia, farmers were convinced that climate is a political issue — until too-warm winters began upending the Peach State’s prized crop. In a wealthy Los Angeles suburb, an invisible methane gas leak caused outrage and hysteria for local residents concerned about personal health and property values — but not the climate.

“I think we've all gotten really used to telling our stories, putting them out there in the world, and it sometimes feels like maybe not so many people are actually listening to them,” Subramanian says. “And so I think sometimes showing up as a journalist and just being all ears can feel kind of profound.”

Guests:

Nathaniel Rich, Author, Losing Earth; Second Nature

Meera Subramanian, Environmental Journalist

Have you ever had a difficult conversation about climate? A disagreement, perhaps, or coming to terms with a new reality? We’d like to hear your stories. Please call (650) 382-3869 and leave us a voicemail about your toughest climate conversation. Or drop us a line at climateone@gmail.com. We may use your story in an upcoming episode.

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Distorted Democracy and the “Zero-Sum Game” Apr 30, 2021

Show notes

In the US, we’ve become accustomed to climate – like nearly everything else – being politicized. Even when potential solutions might benefit everyone, a zero-sum mentality has taken hold where there’s an “us” and a “them” and progress for them comes at the expense of us. “Racism in our politics and policymaking is distorting our ability to respond to big problems and to advance collective solutions,” says political strategist Heather McGhee. But does it have to be this way? Can we look to the UK and elsewhere for a different model? Is it even possible to make the whole planet a winner?

Guests:

Heather McGhee, Political Strategist & Author, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

Rebecca Willis, Researcher & Author, Too Hot to Handle? The Democratic Challenge of Climate Change

We have been nominated for a Webby!

Please give us your vote as the Best Science and Education Limited Series in the 25th Annual People's Voice Award below:

https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2021/podcasts/limited-series-specials/science-education

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Living with Climate Disruption Apr 22, 2021

Show notes

Guests:

Tamara Conry, Camp Fire survivor

Julia Fay Bernal, director of Pueblo Action Alliance

Britt Wray, postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University focused on the intersection of mental health and the climate crisis

The impacts of climate change may come fast or slow. A wildfire amplified by drought may rip through a town in a matter of hours, or rising seas may take years to destroy a neighborhood. Health impacts may show up in months, or take the form of devastating cancer rates that rise over a decade. Regardless of speed or intensity, the climate emergency will impact us all. How do we live alongside climate disruption?

This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

Related Links:

Pueblo Action Alliance

Eco-anxiety and Gen Dread

We have been nominated for a Webby!

Please give us your vote as the Best Science and Education Limited Series in the 25th Annual People's Voice Award below:

https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2021/podcasts/limited-series-specials/science-education

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REWIND: Billionaire Wilderness Apr 16, 2021

Show notes

For many of us, the story of the American wilderness begins when Europeans arrived on these shores and began conquering it. The wide open spaces of the American West loom large in our country’s mythology.

But what often gets written out is the history and culture of those native societies who were here to begin with — and whose relationship to this land is very different. And while one-percenters have contributed generously to preserve and protect the pristine wilderness they love, the people who work for them are often struggling, working two or three jobs.

How are public and private land interests competing in the American West? Can conservation and recreation coalesce in a way that is inclusive of all communities?

Guests:

Dina Gilio-Whitaker, American Indian Studies Lecturer, California State University San Marcos

Justin Farrell, Author, Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West (Princeton University Press, 2020)

Diane Regas, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Trust for Public Land

Jessica Newton, Founder, Vibe Tribe Adventures

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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Investing in a Clean and Equitable Recovery Apr 09, 2021

Show notes

Speakers:

Julian Brave NoiseCat, Vice President of Policy and Strategy, Data for Progress

Julie Pullen, Director of Product, Jupiter Intelligence

Alicia Seiger, Managing Director, Sustainable Finance Initiative, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University

The COVID-19 shutdown has hit women and minorities hardest: four times as many women as men dropped out of the workforce in September 2020, with Latina and Black women seeing the highest levels of unemployment.

The Biden Administration’s COVID recovery plans promise to prioritize climate and equity alongside economic growth—can those values carry over to a post-pandemic workforce that doesn’t leave anyone behind? “The solutions to climate expand far beyond simple carbon math,” says Alicia Seiger of Stanford University. How will climate resilience be built into America's economic recovery?

Related Links:

The American Rescue Plan

Data for Progress

Jupiter Intelligence

Precourt Institute for Energy

The All We Can Save Project

Waterfront Alliance

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Entrepreneurs Creating an Inclusive Economy Apr 02, 2021

Show notes

Guests:

Sandra Kwak, CEO and Founder, 10Power

Donnel Baird, CEO, BlocPower

Andreas Karelas, Author, Climate Courage: How Tackling Climate Change Can Build Community, Transform the Economy, and Bridge the Political Divide in America

Summary: As the spring of 2021 arrives, it would be hard to design a more challenging — or more promising — moment for implementing climate solutions. Americans are reeling from an economic shutdown that’s pushed many out of the workforce, and widened the gap between the wealthy and the poor. In this brave new post-Covid world, can President Biden step up where Obama couldn’t?

“I'm delighted about what I'm seeing from the Biden-Harris team,” notes Donnel Baird, CEO of BlocPower. “Climate justice and racial equality are wedded together alongside employment, alongside public health and working our way out of these kinds of four simultaneous crises we’re dealing with.” From big tech to clean energy, what are the opportunities for scaling new solutions — and where do inequity and politics continue to set us back?

Related links:

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Weird Winters Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

Warmer, shorter winters may sound like an impact of climate change that would inspire more joy than despair. But rising temperatures and decreasing snowpack won’t just transform water supplies and species ranges. It will also disrupt a multi-billion dollar winter sport industry, including the jobs and local economies associated with them.

“If we're not able to ski or snowboard anymore,” says Mario Molina, CEO of Protect Our Winters, “the least of our concerns will be the activities that we participate in.” So how are winter sports enthusiasts and others preparing to weather the storm?

Speakers:

Elizabeth Burakowski, Assistant Professor, Earth Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire

Kit DesLauriers, National Geographic Explorer; Skimountaineer

Geraldine Link, Director of Public Policy, National Ski Areas Association

Mario Molina, CEO, Protect our Winters

Related Links:

Protect Our Winters

Higher Love: Climbing and Skiing the Seven Summits

National Ski Areas Association

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When Words Aren’t Enough: The Visual Climate Story Mar 19, 2021

Show notes

Guests:

Céline Cousteau, Explorer and Filmmaker

Davis Guggenheim, Director, An Inconvenient Truth; Founder, Concordia Studio

Cristina Mittermeier, National Geographic Photographer; Co-Founder, SeaLegacy

While IPCC risk assessments and emission projections can help us understand climate change, they don’t exactly inspire the imagination or provoke a personal response to the crisis. But a growing league of storytellers is using photographs, films and the human experience to breathe life into the cerebral science of climate change and conservation. “It's not the blockbuster, big-splash film,” says explorer and filmmaker Céline Cousteau, “It's truth, it’s intimacy, and some of it is ugly and some of it is beautiful.” So how far can images and sound go to inspire a global climate response?

Related Links:

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The Political Reality of Climate Action Mar 12, 2021

Show notes

True to his campaign promise, President Biden dove right into the climate crisis on Day One, signing a stack of executive orders that signaled his determination. But how effective are they?

“Executive orders, I think, are often very splashy when they're introduced, and they get a lot of attention,” notes Axios reporter Ben Gemen. “I think the better way to look at an executive order is sort of firing a starting gun for an extraordinarily long race.” But while he faces certain blowback from Republicans in Congress, there are signs that when it comes to conservative thought, the wind may be changing.

What can the Biden Administration accomplish using existing authority? How much will conservatives and businesses step in and step up on climate?

Guests:

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), Chair of House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis

Rich Powell, Executive Director, ClearPath

Ben Geman, Energy Reporter, Axios

For complete show notes, visit our website.

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