Political Climate

We're technically on break this week, but couldn’t resist the opportunity to bring you our full interview with Emily Atkin, author of the popular climate newsletter HEATED. Emily came on Political Climate in early December to talk about the fossil fuel industry’s climate change disinformation campaign in our episode “Big Oil on Trial.” We had a lot to cover on that show, so we weren’t able to shar...

Is radical reform needed to remake the U.S. electricity grid? What’s the role of nuclear power in the U.S. energy mix? Which Democratic presidential candidate has the best climate plan? What’s the most effective approach to climate advocacy? And how should journalists be covering highly politicized issues in today’s highly polarized information landscape? On this week's episode on Political Climat...

It’s week two of the United Nations COP25 climate summit, and it’s the last few days of Congress before the winter recess.  What have American policymakers accomplished?  We get an update from the U.S. Climate Action Center on site at the UN climate talks. We look at wildfire victim relief in California. And we discuss 12 pieces of clean energy legislation that House Republicans are calling on Dem...

Fossil fuel companies could be facing a Big Tobacco moment. This fall, Exxon Mobil went to court, facing charges that the oil giant lied to shareholders and to the public about the costs and consequences of climate change. And that’s just one of several legal cases seeking to hold oil and gas firms responsible for their contribution to global warming. As we discuss with UCLA environmental law prof...

The holidays can be difficult. It can be tough to get along in these polarized times. Family conversations on climate change can get heated. We get it. Sometimes we have those heated conversations on this show. But it’s all in the interest of breaking out of our self-contained opinion bubbles. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, on this episode of Political Climate we say thank you to our listeners...

In the shadow of public impeachment hearings, a group of House Democrats is attempting to advance a bold climate action plan that the entire party can rally around.  On Thursday, House members introduced legislation that would set a nationwide goal of achieving a 100 percent clean energy economy by 2050. The bill was announced with more than 150 co-sponsors. In this episode of Political Climate, w...

We’re officially less than one year away from the 2020 election. What do the latest polls tell us about how the presidential candidates are stacking up? What do the 2019 elections tell us about how this could play out? And what does all of this mean for climate and energy policy? In this episode of Political Climate, we look at Democrat wins in Virginia and Kentucky. We also discuss the results of...

If you’re following political news then you’ve probably heard of The Squad, a group of four newly elected congresswomen advocating for progressive policies like the Green New Deal. But have you heard of the New Democrat Coalition and its plans for dealing with climate change? In this episode of Political Climate, we hear from a lawmaker who is leading that charge. Last year, Sean Casten ran one of...

There has been no shortage of climate related news in recent days ⁠— from President Trump’s attack on California’s emissions-trading system to Senator Schumer’s $450 billion electric vehicle proposal, and disastrous wildfires raging in the West to the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy in the East. It’s a grab bag of climate headlines on this week’s episode of Political Climate. We begin by revisitin...

Are cites the world’s best hope for combating climate change? Many cities have committed to meeting the Paris Agreement goals. But are those targets translating to action on the ground? In this episode of Political Climate, we look at San Diego’s quest to achieve 100 percent carbon free electricity by 2035 and what other cities can learn from this experience.  We recorded this episode at the UCSD...

Last week, Pacific Gas & Electric, intentionally cut the power off to 800,000 electricity customers in Northern California — affecting roughly 2 million people — in an attempt to avoid sparking another potentially deadly wildfire.   Classes were cancelled, businesses closed, food spoiled and people who rely on medical devices panicked. There was no fire, but the blackout has caused tempers to flar...

This week, we bring you a special episode from our friends at The Years Project.  David Gelber, creator of the Emmy Award-winning series “Years of Living Dangerously,” has teamed up with Jeff Nesbit, executive director of Climate Nexus and author of the book This is the Way the Earth Ends, on a new podcast called Climate 2020.  Each week David and Jeff will discuss the latest developments in the p...

Millions of young people took to the streets last month to demand governments take bolder action on climate.  Days later, world leaders assembled at the United Nations for the Secretary General's high-profile Climate Action Summit, where dozens of countries pledged to strengthen their climate goals. But did any of this resonate with American policymakers?  In this week’s episode of Political Clima...

Federal news tends to steal the limelight, but when it comes to spearheading innovative climate and energy policy states are really where the action is at. World leaders gathered at the United Nations Climate Action Summit earlier this week, where Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on countries to boost their commitments to fighting the climate crisis with concrete plans rather than platitu...

Youth activists are spearheading a powerful political movement around addressing the climate crisis. For many people, this is a moment of both fear and hope — global carbon emissions continue to increase, at the same time as demands for global climate action grow louder. Will 2019 be remembered as the year humanity turned a corner in the fight against climate change? In this episode of Political C...

Who stood out at the CNN Climate Crisis Town Hall? How did conservatives react? Did general voters even care? Democratic presidential candidates covered a lot of ground over the course of the seven-hour climate policy telethon — from fracking bans to a new CarbonStar program, coal worker retraining programs to a major environmental justice fund. While there was widespread consensus on the need for...

The Democratic presidential primary is heating up, so we break down where the candidates stand on climate. Labor Day Weekend typically marks a shift in a presidential campaign. Things get more serious and the field starts to winnow down. And sure enough, the number of Democratic contenders is starting to decline with Jay Inslee, John Hickenlooper and Kirsten Gillibrand stepping out of the race in...

Is abolishing the filibuster necessary in order for Congress to pass meaningful climate legislation? A handful of Democratic presidential candidates have called for throwing out the Senate rule, claiming that it exacerbates gridlock in Washington DC. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also believes that abolishing the filibuster is critical to passing legislation and tackling the most import...

This summer, the United States celebrated the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing. Fifty years later, many people wonder: if we can get to the moon, surely we can fix the environmental issues here on Earth? In this episode, we get NASA astronaut Scott Kelly’s perspective on fighting climate change, having seen the challenge we’re up against from the unique viewpoint of space. K...

There were several moments of legitimate engagement on climate change at last week’s Democratic presidential debates. But did any of it resonate with voters? In this episode, we break down the key points candidates made on stage in Detroit — from promoting direct air capture to climate justice — with help from Jigar Shah, president and co-founder of Generate Capital and co-host of the Energy Gang...

The climate movement doesn’t have a persuasion problem; it has a turn out problem. Data reveal that environmentalists don’t show up to vote as often as the overall population in an election.  So what gives? And could this impact races in 2020? In this episode of Political Climate we take a hard look at how many Americans care about climate issues, and how many of those people actually vote — or do...

Billionaire hedge fund executive and environmental activist Tom Steyer is officially making a run for the White House — and putting an aggressive climate action plan at the center of his campaign. In this episode of Political Climate, we speak with the newest contender in the 2020 Democratic primary about why he entered the crowded race, and how he plans to use "emergency powers" to combat climate...

What is going on in Washington D.C.? A bubbling House Democrat feud followed by a series of racially offensive presidential tweets has unleashed chaos in the U.S Capitol. Meanwhile, there’s one thing we’re not seeing much of: governing In this episode of Political Climate we look at where we’re seeing attempts at climate action, and where we’re seeing a whole lot of climate distraction. A slate of...

Twenty Democratic presidential candidates faced off last week in the first debate of the 2020 election. It was a mixed bag — not only for the candidates, but also for climate. There were more questions on climate change than in previous years, and yet climate issues saw just 15 minutes of airtime over the four hours the contenders were on stage. Did Democrats hit the right notes in their (brief) r...

We often can’t see or feel air pollution — and yet, it is taking a toll. Air pollution is responsible for the early deaths of some 7 million people every year, around 600,000 of who are children, according to the United Nations. In this episode, we hear stories of how people around the world are calling attention to this invisible killer. We speak to Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, a mother campaignin...