Climate One

Latest Episodes:

BONUS: He Started Tesla Employees Against Elon. Then Got Fired. Jul 01, 2025

Show notes

Matt LaBrot was the Tesla sales manager who got so fed up with how Elon Musk’s public persona affected the brand that he published a website called “Tesla Employees Against Elon.” He was subsequently fired, allegedly for "using company resources to build a website that did not align with the company’s perspective."

For our pod audience, we’re dropping this extended version of Greg Dalton’s conversation with Matt LaBrot. A portion of this interview aired in our episode “Is The EV Transition Stuck in Neutral?” on June 27th.

Guest:

Matthew LaBrot, Former Tesla sales employee

On July 31, Climate One is hosting Premal Shah and Kinari Webb for a live episode recording! With years of experience navigating the global climate movement, the two are sure to offer unparalleled insights during their conversation with Co-Host Greg Dalton. Tickets for the show, which will be held at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, are available now through our website.

Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today.

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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Is the EV Transition Stuck in Neutral? Jun 27, 2025

Show notes

In 2024, BloombergNEF predicted electric vehicles would make up nearly half of U.S. new car sales by 2030. Now, they’ve revised their projection down to less than 30%, just one year later.

In a time when we need to be speeding up the energy transition, EV sales in the U.S. are stagnating. Sales of Teslas, once the king of electric vehicles, are collapsing. What’s behind the slowing demand? And with China’s growing electric car industry growing, how much should we worry?

Guests:

Camila Domonoske, Correspondent, NPR Business Desk

Dan Bowerson, Vice President, Energy and Environment Policy, Alliance for Automotive Innovation

Matthew LaBrot, Former Tesla sales employee

Mike Murphy, CEO, EV Politics Project

For transcripts, related links, and more information about this episode visit our website.

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Dead Heat: The Danger Of Home Power Shutoffs Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

Summer is here, temperatures are rising — and so are electric bills. That also means many people are facing a severely overlooked issue: power shutoffs. In 2024, over 600,000 households in the United States had their power shut off due to an inability to pay. When that happens, people cannot turn on their lights, keep food refrigerated, or cool down the home. And regulations preventing shutoffs during extreme heat events are woefully inadequate.

But when utilities help pay the upfront costs of efficiency upgrades, the customers and utilities can both save energy — and money. How do we protect the most vulnerable populations from the dangers of home power shutoffs?

Guests:

Jean Su, Energy Justice Director, Center for Biological Diversity

Sanya Carley, Co-Director, Energy Justice Lab, University of Pennsylvania

Tamara Jones, Co-Executive Director, Clean Energy Works

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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Super Pollutants: The Hidden Half of Global Warming Jun 13, 2025

Show notes

Carbon dioxide is a big deal. It’s responsible for about half of global heating. But what about the other half? There’s actually good news here: Nearly half of the temperature increases driving climate disasters come from super pollutants, most of which don’t stay in the atmosphere for nearly as long as carbon dioxide — which can last for centuries. Methane, for example, is about 80 times more potent at warming the climate than carbon dioxide over 20 years. But it only stays in the atmosphere for a fraction of the time. So if we can put the brakes on methane and other super pollutants, we can put the brakes on warming.

Guests:

Ilissa Ocko, Senior Climate Scientist, Spark Climate Solutions

David Kanter, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, New York University

Millie Chu Baird, Vice President, Office of the Chief Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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Three Big Thinkers With No Room for Doom Jun 06, 2025

Show notes

There’s so much hard and heavy news out there right now, climate related and not. It feels like decades of progress is being lost. But — good news! — there are many solutions that can be deployed right now. This week we’re featuring conversations with three big thinkers who are bringing those solutions to light and showing why — even when times seem at their worst — they have no room for doom.

Award-winning environmental journalist Alan Weisman traveled the world to highlight possible paths out of the climate crisis. Marine biologist and policy expert Ayana Elizabeth Johnson asks us to focus on the question, “What if we get it right?” And climate activist Bill McKibben wants to activate seniors because, “If you have reached the age where you have hair coming out your ears, you probably have structural power coming out of your ears.”

Guests:

Alan Weisman, Author, “Hope Dies Last”

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Marine Biologist; Author, “What if We Get it Right?”
Bill McKibben, Founder, 350.org and Third Act

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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I’m Walkin’ Here! A Report Card on Congestion Pricing May 30, 2025

Show notes

In January, congestion pricing went into effect in New York City. The policy’s implementation took decades; along the way, multiple moments suggested that it wouldn’t happen at all. Now, drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak hours are required to pay a toll. Meanwhile, other cities like San Francisco are considering a similar initiative. But Trump opposes New York’s plan. Governor Hochul and state policy leaders encountered a political quagmire pushing the plan through. And its future is only certain up until around next fall, when legal proceedings are expected to come to a resolution.

So, is congestion pricing making a worthwhile difference? How do New Yorkers — and those traveling into Manhattan — feel about it?

Guests:

Eric A. Goldstein, Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council

Sarah M. Kaufman, Director of NYU’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management

Ryan Johnson, Co-Founder and CEO, Culdesac

On June 4, Climate One is hosting a special screening of the documentary “Good Grief: The 10 Steps” followed by a climate anxiety workshop. Join us for this intimate conversation about the importance of mental health live at The Commonwealth Club. Tickets are available through our website.

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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Murder, Pollution as Policy, and Two Women Who Won’t Give Up May 23, 2025

Show notes

“In the course of saying no with their bodies, they were met with more violence… including moms who were carrying babies on their backs and were pushed to the edge of the river — and had to choose the river.” That’s Abby Reyes, author of “Truth Demands: A Memoir of Murder, Oil Wars and the Rise of Climate Justice.” In today’s episode, she shares deeply emotional stories of the price paid by environmental defenders. And she also shares her own stories of resilience and joy in the aftermath of grief.

In many parts of the world, fossil fuel interests and their political allies have gone so far as to weaponize pollution as policy to push out marginalized communities. Alexis Madrigal, host of KQED’s Forum and author of “The Pacific Circuit,” describes how this happened in West Oakland, beginning as early as the 1930s: “You see them just saying it. We know this is gonna make housing worse. We know this is gonna make people's lives worse, but this is the plan.” And yet here, too, local communities stand up for environmental justice.

Guests:

Alexis Madrigal, Co-Host, Forum, KQED

Margaret Gordon, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project

Abby Reyes, Author; Director, Community Resilience Projects, UC Irvine

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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Honoring Environmental Heroes in 2025 May 16, 2025

Show notes

Would you stand up against a giant corporation to stop toxic chemicals from harming your town’s water? Could you get policy enacted to cut emissions affecting people living in your state’s “diesel death zone?” How would you launch a global campaign to stop the construction of a new port threatening marine life on your island?

Every year, the Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded to six grassroots environmental heroes from around the world at a grand ceremony at the San Francisco Opera House. This year, Climate One was honored to host two of the winners for an intimate conversation. In this episode we also share a conversation with a winner of last year’s Prize. All three are remarkable examples of ordinary people taking extraordinary action to protect the environment and their communities.

Guests:

Andrea Vidaurre, Cofounder, People's Collective for Environmental Justice

Laurene Allen, Cofounder, Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water

Carlos Mallo Molina, CEO & Founder Innoceana

On June 4, Climate One is hosting a special screening of the documentary “Good Grief: The 10 Steps” to be followed by a climate anxiety workshop. Join us for this intimate conversation about the importance of mental health live at The Commonwealth Club. Tickets are available through our website.

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Official 2025 Trailer: Climate One May 13, 2025

Show notes

We're living through a climate emergency. The best way to begin addressing this crisis is by talking about it.

Join co-hosts Greg Dalton, Ariana Brocious and Kousha Navidar as they guide you through empowering conversations that connect all aspects of the climate crisis — the scary and the exciting, the individual and the systemic. Subscribe today wherever you find your podcasts.

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Tracking Trump’s Attack on Environmental Protections May 09, 2025

Show notes

About fifty years ago, multiple environmental disasters forced a reckoning with how we care for the Earth. President Richard Nixon signed numerous environmental protection bills into law in the 1970s, including what is considered to be the nation’s green Magna Carta: the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Among many other moves to eliminate or weaken federal environmental regulations and laws, the Trump administration is trying to fundamentally change NEPA, a bedrock rule that requires federal agencies to analyze environmental and cultural impacts of any major development. Critics point out these changes will result in fewer protections for citizens, natural resources and communities. What other regulations are being rolled back and going unnoticed?

Guests:

Sam Wojcicki, Senior Director, Climate Policy, National Audubon Society

Olivia N. Guarna, Climate Justice Fellow, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Jared Huffman, U.S. Representative (D-CA 2nd District) and Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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