Best Climate One at The Commonwealth Club Podcasts (2025)

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ENCORE: Small Dollar, Big Impact 1:00:01

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6d ago1:00:01

1:00:01

The climate doesn’t care where emissions cuts come from; what matters is that the world transitions to renewable energy quickly and cheaply. If it’s significantly cheaper to install solar panels in India than on a rooftop in California, then isn’t that where they should be built? Similarly, transferring money directly to local people with the great…

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Joe Manchin: Coal, Climate, and ‘Common Sense’ 59:21

13d ago59:21

59:21

Joe Manchin grew up in the coal fields of West Virginia, the grandson of a miner and the son of a small-town grocer. His worldview was shaped by a place where energy isn’t an abstract policy debate; it’s the identity of the community and vital for economic survival. Manchin was portrayed as a bit of a villain in liberal circles for his role in bloc…

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Reports from COP30: Climate Talks in the Amazon 1:01:22

20d ago1:01:22

1:01:22

The UN climate convention known as COP30 is now underway in Brazil. As the nations of the world gather to discuss their efforts to rein in climate disruption, the facts are clear: we’re not doing enough, fast enough, to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. Climate-fueled disasters are …

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Environmental Peacebuilders Working in the Midst of War 1:04:06

27d ago1:04:06

1:04:06

Fossil-fueled climate disruption is driving political instability around the world. The relationship between climate disasters and conflict are well-established — and also complicated. Even in war-torn regions like Israel and Palestine, people work across political and ethnic divides to address humanitarian and climate crises. The Arava Institute f…

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When Climate Work Comes at a Cost: Dispatches From the Upside Down 1:04:26

1M ago1:04:26

1:04:26

Human-caused climate change is fueling extreme floods, wildfires, rising seas, and record-breaking heat all around the world. At the same time, some of the most senior U.S. government officials and other powerful actors are actively defunding climate programs, dismantling research institutions, erasing decades of environmental data, and launching d…

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Adaptation: When Prevention Isn’t Enough 59:30

1M ago59:30

59:30

So much of the conversation about the climate crisis focuses on prevention. But no matter how well we succeed on that front, climate-induced disasters are already causing hundreds of billions of dollars of damage worldwide every year — not to mention destroying livelihoods and causing deaths. We're seeing those impacts today, and we need to be read…

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Ani Dasgupta on Moving From Promises to Progress 1:02:37

2M ago1:02:37

1:02:37

We know what needs to be done to ward off the worst impacts of global climate disruption: rein in heat-trapping pollution, reverse deforestation, build resilient systems. But how we do those things is the trick. Every second counts. The sooner we act, the more lives saved, the more jobs protected and the more futures secured. So how do we orchestra…

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PARTNER POD: Speed & Scale: Electrifying the grid with Amol Phadke 29:31

2M ago29:31

29:31

Today, we have a special episode to share with you from TED’s brand new podcast, Speed & Scale. Speed & Scale was created to help combat the doom and gloom that comes when thinking and learning about climate change. The hosts Anjali Grover and Ryan Panchadsaram interview experts from around the world on the measurable changes they’re making to comb…

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De-Hyping Hydrogen 1:05:29

2M ago1:05:29

1:05:29

For decades, hydrogen has held promise as a revolutionary tool in the clean energy transition. It can be a fuel and energy carrier, and when made with renewable energy and burned in a fuel cell, its only byproduct is water. President Biden’s administration invested billions into proposed clean hydrogen hubs. But as we’ve seen dramatic technological…

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Remembering Dr. Jane Goodall 23:07

2M ago23:07

23:07

By Climate One from The Commonwealth Club

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Taylor Brorby and Suzie Hicks Tell The Stories We Don’t Always Hear 57:46

2M ago57:46

57:46

Finding one's voice in climate action can come in many forms. Author and activist Taylor Brorby grew up in Center, North Dakota as a fourth-generation member of a fossil-fuel family. He struggled to find his place as a young gay kid who loved art, music, nature and poetry. Over time, he turned that tension into writing that challenges the fossil fu…

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Scientists Who Won’t Be Silenced 1:10:31

2M ago1:10:31

1:10:31

Within the federal government, science — especially climate science — has taken a beating. The Trump administration has moved from climate denial to climate erasure, firing thousands of career scientists across departments, rolling back established landmark protections, and undermining its own authority to regulate pollutants like carbon emissions.…

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Policy Whiplash: Checking In With Labor Unions 57:20

3M ago57:20

57:20

The past few years have seen a seismic shift in energy and industrial policy in the United States. Under Biden, laws like the Inflation Reduction Act led to money pouring into clean energy manufacturing and deployment. The Trump administration has reversed course, cutting off incentives in instituting massive tariffs. As a result, entire clean ener…

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Gloria Walton and Wawa Gatheru Believe in Grassroots Change, Not Just Charity 1:05:35

3M ago1:05:35

1:05:35

Those standing up to climate and environmental injustice face challenges they weren’t seeing a year ago. But Gloria Walton, head of The Solutions Project, sees a bigger picture: "The reality is that the same systems that created the climate crisis, whether that's colonialism, white supremacy, racism, and the patriarchy, those are the same ones that…

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How Students and Teachers Are Talking About Climate 57:59

3M ago57:59

57:59

Students are heading back to school, and in addition to all of the usual challenges of the school year, some children are carrying an extra weight: climate anxiety. Teachers are also swimming in tricky waters as conversations around the climate crisis — and renewable energy — become more polarized. Yet there are educators who have worked to create …

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Nathaniel Stinnett: Climate Disruption Is a Homicide, Not a Suicide (Bonus Episode) 16:22

3M ago16:22

16:22

According to one recent survey, Americans think about climate change more than abortion, immigration, or gun violence. And yet, while they care deeply about the issue, they don’t see it as a political issue. When asked by the Environmental Voter Project what actions should be taken to rein in climate disruption, those surveyed suggest taking small,…

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Small Dollar, Big Impact 1:00:53

3M ago1:00:53

1:00:53

The climate doesn’t care where emissions cuts come from; what matters is that the world transitions to renewable energy quickly and cheaply. If it’s significantly cheaper to install solar panels in India than on a rooftop in California, then isn’t that where they should be built? Similarly, transferring money directly to local people with the great…

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Batteries Now Included 56:05

3M ago56:05

56:05

The Trump administration has taken aim at green energy, but one technology has largely been left untouched: batteries to store wind and solar electricity. California alone surpassed 13GW of battery storage last year, and Texas has become the fastest growing market for the technology. But producing batteries isn’t without its downsides, especially w…

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Cause of Death: Air Pollution 56:08

4M ago56:08

56:08

In 2013, 9-year-old Ella Roberta died from a severe asthma attack. She became the first person in the United Kingdom (and possibly the world) to have “air pollution” listed as the cause of death on her death certificate. Her mother, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, founded the Ella Roberta Foundation and has become a global voice for clean air. Globally…

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Young People Are Bringing Climate To Court. And Winning. 1:02:43

4M ago1:02:43

1:02:43

We’re all feeling the effects of the fossil-fueled climate crisis, but young people will not let this threat to their future go unchallenged. They’re taking it to the courts. In the last year, youth plaintiffs have had notable legal successes in Montana and Hawaiʻi, challenging that those states were violating their constitutional rights in continu…

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Scorching Premiums: Climate Costs Hit Insurance Market 1:03:58

4M ago1:03:58

1:03:58

Climate disruptions and growing risk are upending insurance markets, leading many insurers to abandon parts of the country all together. Due to fires, floods and other extreme events, more and more homeowners are facing rapidly rising premiums or being dropped from their insurance plans altogether. Increasing numbers of homeowners are taking refuge…

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ENCORE: AI’s Power Demands: Do We Really Have the Energy for This? 59:52

4M ago59:52

59:52

In a previous Climate One episode, we discussed the good, the bad, and the ugly impacts of artificial intelligence. But AI isn’t going away. Humans rarely give up a nifty new tool unless something better comes along. AI’s share of energy consumption is enormous, and the Department of Energy estimates that data center energy demands will double or e…

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Trump’s Megabill Comes for the Clean Energy Transition 1:06:33

5M ago1:06:33

1:06:33

Three years ago, Congress passed President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in climate action in U.S. history. The IRA set in motion a sweeping set of investments in nearly every aspect of energy and climate, mostly in the form of subsidies and tax credits, to boost domestic production of electric vehicles, batteries and carb…

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Biomimicry & Green Burial: Living and Dying with Nature in Mind 53:46

5M ago53:46

53:46

Nature can feel distant from our everyday lives. Maybe it’s a place we visit on the weekends, a getaway from the hustle and bustle, something “out there,” just beyond the edges of our neighborhoods. But we are part of it, and as more and more people consider their impact on the Earth, sustainable practices are extending even to death, where green a…

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ENCORE: Drag Queen Pattie Gonia on Bringing Joy to Climate Action 54:41

5M ago54:41

54:41

When individuals want to take action on climate, it’s often in the form of electrifying a home, voting, or maybe even traditional activism. Those are very important, but we often overlook how individual skills and talents can also make a difference. This week we’re highlighting creative forms of climate action. Pattie Gonia is a drag queen, environ…

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BONUS: He Started Tesla Employees Against Elon. Then Got Fired. 20:58

5M ago20:58

20:58

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 dropp…

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Is the EV Transition Stuck in Neutral? 58:59

5M ago58:59

58:59

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 col…

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Dead Heat: The Danger Of Home Power Shutoffs 1:02:11

6M ago1:02:11

1:02:11

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 dow…

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Super Pollutants: The Hidden Half of Global Warming 1:05:13

6M ago1:05:13

1:05:13

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…

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Three Big Thinkers With No Room for Doom 59:09

6M ago59:09

59:09

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 see…

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I’m Walkin’ Here! A Report Card on Congestion Pricing 1:01:31

6M ago1:01:31

1:01:31

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 …

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Murder, Pollution as Policy, and Two Women Who Won’t Give Up 58:16

6M ago58:16

58:16

“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 de…

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Honoring Environmental Heroes in 2025 56:05

7M ago56:05

56:05

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 Goldma…

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Official 2025 Trailer: Climate One 1:00

7M ago1:00

1:00

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 …

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Tracking Trump’s Attack on Environmental Protections 1:03:32

7M ago1:03:32

1:03:32

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 …

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San José Mayor Matt Mahan: Live from SF Climate Week 35:40

7M ago35:40

35:40

Climate progress is stalling at the federal level, making local action more critical than ever. “In an increasingly urbanized world, cities must play the leading role in achieving our climate goals,” says San José Mayor Matt Mahan. But what does that look like in practice? What role can cities play in accelerating the transition to a fully electrif…

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Solutions That Work With Grist, Project Drawdown and Jenny Odell 57:28

7M ago57:28

57:28

It’s so easy to spiral into a climate doom loop. But solutions to the crisis are out there! Even as federal action stalls, states, local organizers and innovators across the U.S. are charging ahead with climate progress. What responsibility does the media have in elevating the solutions that exist and are working? And how can artists help reframe t…

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Congressman Jared Huffman: Live from SF Climate Week 48:11

7M ago48:11

48:11

Rep. Jared Huffman has represented California’s 2nd District — from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border — for over a decade. During that time, he has championed climate issues and fought to protect California’s public lands, prevent offshore drilling, pushed for financial institutions to divest from fossil fuels, and introduced legislation …

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REWIND: Staycation: All I Ever Wanted 53:50

7M ago53:50

53:50

Summer is coming soon, and for many that means vacation. While traveling far and wide can be an amazing experience, the carbon cost of traveling is significant. But what if we could rekindle a sense of awe in our own neighborhoods? After years of extreme expeditions all over the world, adventurer Alastair Humphreys spent a year exploring the detail…

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Revisiting Pope Francis: Climate Changer? 36:39

7M ago36:39

36:39

On April 21, Pope Francis died at the age of 88. The Catholic Church's first Latin American pope was known for his humility and his efforts to make his religion more inclusive and welcoming around social issues like same-sex marriage. Pope Francis was also a climate leader. In honor of his passing, this bonus episode revisits a Climate One episode …

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Gina McCarthy on Cutting Everything but Emissions 58:38

8M ago58:38

58:38

Since its creation under President Richard Nixon in 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has worked to reduce pollution and toxic exposures to ensure that Americans have clean air, clean water and clean soil. The EPA has also sought to reduce emissions to address climate change. Now that the Trump administration is in power, the EPA is be…

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Net Gains: Saving Seafood Before It’s Too Late 55:19

8M ago55:19

55:19

More than 3 billion people rely on seafood as a primary source of animal protein. But waters are warming, and fish are moving. Are those fish, and the communities that have relied on them for centuries, in trouble? We go around the world, from the rocky shores of New England to the picturesque island of Niue, to investigate how three popular fish a…

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AI’s Power Demands: Do We Really Have the Energy for This? 59:16

8M ago59:16

59:16

In a previous Climate One episode, we discussed the good, the bad, and the ugly impacts of artificial intelligence. But AI isn’t going away. Humans rarely give up a nifty new tool unless something better comes along. AI’s share of energy consumption is enormous, and the Department of Energy estimates that data center energy demands will double or e…

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Trump Breaks Wind? 57:40

8M ago57:40

57:40

It’s no secret that President Trump is not a fan of wind energy. As a matter of fact, he signed an executive order on his first day back in office that paused leasing for any new or renewed offshore wind energy projects and required the re-evaluation of all wind projects. This has thrown uncertainty into the entire industry, which already had suppl…

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Justice and Faith: Catherine Coleman Flowers and Justin J. Pearson 54:57

9M ago54:57

54:57

Catherine Coleman Flowers has dedicated her life to fighting for the most vulnerable communities — people who have been deprived of the basic civil right to a clean, safe and sustainable environment. When she was first on Climate One in 2021, Flowers talked about growing up in Lowndes County, Alabama, and working to stem the raw sewage contaminatin…

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Making Cents Out of Watts: What’s Driving Up Your Energy Bills? 58:55

9M ago58:55

58:55

A third of Americans say that they've skipped food, medicine, or something else to be able to afford their energy bills. Much of the increase in the cost of electricity is driven by rising demand from artificial intelligence and data centers, industrial onshoring and hotter temperatures. How does your electricity bill get calculated, and who’s in c…

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Is ESG BS? 1:04:52

9M ago1:04:52

1:04:52

Who’s responsible for climate change? Fossil fuel companies would like us to believe it’s all of us as individuals (after all, BP invented the idea of the personal carbon footprint). But many large corporations bear at least as much of the blame. And for a decade or so, there was a push for every company to disclose its own emissions — a kind of co…

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The $300M Lawsuit That Could Crush Dissent 59:55

9M ago59:55

59:55

Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, is suing Greenpeace for $300 million. The pipeline company accuses Greenpeace of criminal behavior — trespassing, vandalism, and assault of construction workers — and inciting riotous behavior by protesters at Standing Rock in 2016. Greenpeace considers this legal action to be…

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Disasterology: Navigating Fossil-Fueled Chaos 1:02:26

10M ago1:02:26

1:02:26

From hurricanes on the East Coast to wildfires in LA, to floods in Vermont and storms in Texas, communities across the U.S. are facing a growing number of intense and devastating disasters. There are significant disparities in who has the means to evacuate during a disaster and who has the resources to rebuild once the storm has passed. Long after …

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Solar Power to the People 58:40

10M ago58:40

58:40

At this moment, the cheapest way to create electricity is by pointing a solar panel at the sun. That’s good news for the climate. It’s also good news for communities who want to take control of their own electricity generation. In the heart of Brooklyn, UPROSE is helping to build a solar project that will be owned by the community, provide jobs, an…

Climate One At The Commonwealth Club Podcasts