Climate One

Chinese factories churn out parts and products that end up in our cars, our kitchens and our cell phones. And all that productivity has improved the lives of its citizens, many of whom can now afford cars and cell phones of their own. It’s also made China the global leader in carbon emissions. But in her new book, “Will China Save the Planet,” Barbara Finamore says that China may well take the lead in saving the world from environmental catastrophe. How? By phasing out coal and investing in...

Climate used to have bipartisan support. Now that the Republican party is skeptical about fighting climate, companies are moving into a leadership void. On the show today we'll hear from two former white house spokesmen in Republican and Democratic administrations now working on climate from different angles. Robert Gibbs addresses what McDonald's is doing to cut its carbon emissions and environmental impact. Jeff Nesbit heads a communications organization trying to get the climate story...

Former UN climate negotiator Christiana Figueres credits Buddhist teachings both for helping her through a personal crisis, and for providing a source of inner strength that sustained her through negotiations at the 2015 Paris Climate Accord and helped contribute to its success. “I realized my commitment and my task here is to change that global mood,” Figueres remembers. “And of course I can't change the global mood before I change myself, because as we know all change starts with self.”...

The Paris Climate Accord was successful in bringing together the entire world around a common goal, but the focus was on what could be done at the national level. In light of the U.S. abdicating their own leadership role, there is a growing chorus demanding that subnational leaders take on the issue of climate change. The goal of GCAS is to inspire and elevate the solutions from those leaders. This event is in partnership with Cool Effect, Capital Public Radio and in affiliation with the...

Wildfires have always been part of the landscape in the western states. But the size and intensity of fires over the last several years is something new. They are being called “megafires;” wildfires covering over 100,000 acres each. The higher temperatures and lower humidity, brought on by climate change, are whipping up these hotter and bigger wildfires. And people’s lives are being upended by the flames. Today we’re exploring the damage megafires are unleashing on life, property and...

Can a menu at a fancy restaurant be a map for solving the climate challenge? A handful of high-end chefs are using their restaurants to show how innovative grazing and growing practices can cut carbon pollution. Anthony Myint, asks “What would it look like if you had ... environmentalism right up there with deliciousness, as your top priorities?” Dominique Crenn, a two Michelin star chef, pushes to move beyond the restaurateurs who she says only pay lip service to responsibly sourcing their...

On the eve of the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS), we started the conversation about how solutions could be led by states, cities, businesses and NGOs. The Paris Climate Accord was successful in bringing together the entire world around a common goal. But as Gina McCarthy points out, “We need to get together and figure out how you address and drive solutions to climate that actually end up in not just a cleaner and healthier and more sustainable world, but one that’s more just.” This...

Solutions to the climate crisis include driving cleaner cars, planting more trees, eating less meat. But how do our housing choices factor into this? Where we build housing and how close it is to mass transit has a big impact on our carbon footprint. Plans to green our cities should include new, urban housing that’s convenient to transportation. But this runs the risk of boosting the real estate market and gentrifying the neighborhood out of the reach of all but the wealthy. Can we build...

Fossil fuels have helped bring people out of poverty around the world, and many people working in the industry are proud of their contribution. William Vollmann writes about the lives of laborers and executives in different parts of the vast fossil fuel system. Discussing an alternative path for these communities, National Director of Green for All Michelle Romero advocates, “for some, retraining is a viable option and for others nearing retirement...maybe providing a benefit package that...

The reality of permanent change along the shoreline is starting to slowly sink in. Recent studies indicate that vulnerability to changing tides is starting to be reflected in property markets around the country. And now cities are grappling with how to build roads, airports and other infrastructure for a very uncertain future. How fast and how high will the tides rise? No one knows for sure but every new forecast tends to be faster and higher than scientists predicted just a few years...

What’s the connection between climate change and national security? “Military commanders don't operate on the basis of fiction,” says Leon Panetta, who served as Secretary of Defense and Director of the CIA under President Obama. “Understanding climate change and what was happening had to be part and parcel of our effort to protect our security.” The military has long seen climate as critical to readiness, as Rear Admiral David Titley (Ret) explains. “If you’re directly connecting renewable...

California. Land of sunshine and seashore. In an effort to protect the state’s magnificent landscape, California has led the country in environmental action. It established strong automobile emission standards. It preserved fragile lands from development. But as climate change fuels megafires across the state and sea level rise threatens the coast, is California doing enough, fast enough? Huey Johnson Chair, Resource Renewal Institute Jason Mark Editor, Sierra Magazine David...

Production of animal protein is producing vast amounts of climate-eating gases. But a new generation of companies are creating innovative food products that mimic meat and have much smaller environmental impacts. Some of this mock meat is derived from plants with ingredients designed to replicate the taste and pleasure of chomping into a beef hamburger. Others are growing meat cells that come from a laboratory and not a cow. Will those options wean enough people from burgers and chicken...

Can changing our consciousness hold off the climate apocalypse? When we think about the enormity of climate change and what it’s doing to our planet, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, even shut down, by despair. But is despair such a bad place to be? Or could it be the one thing that finally spurs us to action? A conversation about climate change, spirituality and the human condition in unsettling times. Guests: Roy Scranton Author, We're Doomed. Now What? (Soho Press, 2018) Matthew...

Strategic Adviser for Geographic Society, Andrew Revkin, has been writing about climate change since the 1980s, including 21 years for The New York Times. So what are some things he’s learned in those three decades? How has he learned to best tell the story? As New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert knows all too well, covering climate change is journey that can be a challenge. “On some level it’s the worst story ever. It’s sort of everything and nothing and so finding the narrative is very,...

Electric scooters, skateboards and bicycles are popping up all over in cities all over the country. Ride-hailing companies are also moving to two wheels. Uber bought the bike sharing company Jump, and Lyft followed suit by scooping up Motivate, which operates bike sharing services in San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, New York and other cities. Is an electric skateboard company next? As companies jockey to offer a suite of transportation options what is the future of urban mobility? Are these...

When you think of climate activism, Wall Street doesn’t immediately come to mind. But as investors are coming to realize, they do have a voice – and a vote – when it comes to corporate environmental action. Responsible investing is a concept that’s been around for many years, but it’s only recently that companies have begun to take notice. And who’s driving that change? Shareholders. Greg Dalton talks with three experts about the ways that market forces can turn the ship, inspiring...

It’s a summer movie special as Climate One talks to the directors/producers of four recent documentaries that bring human drama to the climate story: Hillbilly, which explores the myths and realities of life in the Appalachian coalfields; My Country No More, the story of one rural community divided by the North Dakota oil boom; Saving the Dark, which focuses on the battle of dark-sky enthusiasts to fight light pollution; and Point of No Return, in which two pilots risk their lives flying...

Are GMOs the answer to our planet’s food shortage? Or do they jeopardize our health, crops and climate by creating a destructive cycle of Roundup resistance? Like many issues these days, it depends on who you believe. Supporters of genetically modified organisms say that altering the DNA of corn and other crops is just another tool in the farmers’ toolbox - an innovation that will help feed a world whose food production has been disrupted by climate change. Opponents maintain that modified...

The new climate reality means that even those living on a hill will be affected by flooding in the valley, and those living in the North will be affected by droughts in the South. There are many factors to consider how you will be affected by climate change. “I think this question of inequity is also really, really important,” states Katharine Mach. “And the flipside of that is that wealth is not necessarily protection.” Who will win and lose as climate disruption impacts agriculture,...