It’s a big year for water politics in California. Will voters approve a $7.12 billion bond for water projects to help get us through a record drought? John Coleman, president, Association of California Water Agencies; board member, East Bay Municipal Utility District Danny Merkley, director of water resources, California Farm Bureau Federation Anthony Rendon, California Assemblyman (D-63); Chairman, State Water Parks and Wildlife Committee Lauren Sommer, reporter, KQED Science This program was r...
Oct 31, 2014•1 hr
Crude oil is riding the rails to East Bay refineries at an increasing rate. How can local communities safeguard themselves against potential disaster? Speakers John Avalos, Member, Bay Area Air Quality Management District and San Francisco Board of Supervisors Jess Dervin-Ackerman, Conservation Program Coordinator, Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter Molly Samuel, Reporter, KQED Science Tupper Hull, Vice President, Strategic Communications Western States Petroleum Association Greg Dalton, Host...
Oct 24, 2014•1 hr
Despite abundant evidence that climate change threatens our planet, public concern is on the decline. How do we foster awareness of the imminent danger? Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology, UC Berkeley George Marshall, Author, Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change (Bloomsbury USA, 2014) Greg Dalton, Host and Founder, Climate One – Moderator This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on September 12, 2014...
Oct 17, 2014•1 hr
Transitioning from fossil to solar power means jobs, profits and an energy renaissance. How can businesses and investors profit from the solar economy? Brad Mattson, CEO, Siva Power; Author, The Solar Phoenix: How America Can Rise from the Ashes of Solyndra to World Leadership in Solar 2.0 Jigar Shah, Founder, SunEdison; Author, Creating Climate Wealth: Unlocking the Impact Economy Greg Dalton, Host and Founder, Climate One – Moderator This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the...
Oct 10, 2014•1 hr
Will a change in consciousness help us end our dependence on fossil fuels? Yes, according to well-known author and speaker Deepak Chopra and investor and entrepreneur Rinaldo Brutico, the guests of this week’s episode of Climate One. The two have joined forces to create Just Capital, an organization dedicated to helping executives of financial institutions and members of the public sector make sustainability a number one priority. “Our collective consciousness is what creates a change in behavio...
Oct 03, 2014•1 hr
Companies big and small are conjuring up new technologies, production methods and delivery systems to capitalize on the trend towards a green economy. Greg Dalton, Founder and Host, Climate One David Crane, CEO, NRG Energy, Inc. Katie Fehrenbacher, Reporter, GigaOm.com Adam Lowry, Co-Founder and Chief Greenskeeper, Method Products PBC Arun Majumdar, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University; former Vice President for Energy, Google This program was recorded in front of a live audi...
Sep 26, 2014•1 hr
During dry times, water is a precious liquid asset – and our savings are depleting. Will historic drought drive us to improve our conservation habits? This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on August 13, 2014 Debbie Davis , Community & Rural Affairs Advisor, Office of Planning and Research, State of California Felicia Marcus , Chair, State Water Resources Control Board Barton Thompson, Jr. , Professor of Natural Resources Law, Stanford La...
Aug 29, 2014•1 hr 1 min
What are the issues that link the Latino community to the environmental movement? For many, it comes down to la familia. Latinos, who make up nearly 40 percent of California’s population, still tend to live in the state’s most polluted areas, in close proximity to freeways and ports. That translates to increased rates of asthma among Latino children. Other community issues include lack of green space, reduced access to bus service and the internet, and economic barriers to things like electric c...
Aug 08, 2014•1 hr
Governor Rick Perry believes a Texas-style spirit of innovation and competition could solve America’s economic woes and lead to energy independence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 01, 2014•1 hr
From Egyptian irrigation systems to Roman aqueducts to the dikes and canals of The Netherlands, the world’s civilizations have long found innovative ways to harness and conserve their water supply. But with California entering the third year of an historic drought, what 21st century technologies are on the horizon to help us deal with an ever-shrinking pool of water? Peter Yolles is the CEO of Watersmart Software, which takes a grass-roots approach to the issue by educating residential and comme...
Jul 25, 2014•1 hr
What’s so funny about climate change? Stand-up economist Yoram Bauman uses humor to explain carbon tax, cap and trade and the ‘Five Chinas’ theory. Yoram Bauman , PhD., Co-author, The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change (with Grady Klein) (Island Press, 2014) Jonah Sachs , CEO, Free Range Studios This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on July 8, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jul 18, 2014•1 hr
What’s really preventing us from enacting environmental change? Blame our brains, says Daniel Goleman, author of Ecological Intelligence. As he explains it, “The problem comes down to a design flaw in the human brain.” Evolution fine-tuned our brains to protect us from immediate survival threats – lions, tigers and bears. But long-term dangers, such as those that threaten our planet today, don’t register. “The problem is that we don’t perceive, nor are we alarmed by, these changes,” says Goleman...
Jul 11, 2014•1 hr
Biotechnology promises weed-resistant crops, bigger yields, more food for a growing population. But are genetically modified fruits and vegetables safe? Are they healthy? “Man has been improving crops from the beginning of time, whether it’s the tomato or the corn or all of our fresh fruits and vegetables,” says Robert Fraley of Monsanto. “There’s a whole set of tools that we’re going to need to be able to meet the challenge of food production for the future.” “This is about chemical companies s...
Jul 04, 2014•1 hr
Today’s two billion middle class consumers will more than double globally over the next two decades. But while cities in China, India and other developing countries will be teeming with citizens in need of housing, cars and electronic gadgets, natural resources are dwindling. The silver lining? Consumer demand has sparked a third industrial revolution - one that is driving massive innovation, from Teslas to smart meters to less wasteful building methods. How are companies adapting to meet the de...
Jun 27, 2014•1 hr
Climate change is risky business – but how risky is it for business? With temperatures predicted to rise anywhere from one to four degrees this century, droughts, floods and extreme weather present risks that will impact American families, businesses and habitats. Rebecca Shaw of the Environmental Defense Fund sees a global attitude shift towards adaptation. One example is the wine industry. “As climate shifts, there will be some places where wine grapes are grown today that won’t be suitable in...
Jun 20, 2014•1 hr
Tim Koopman is a fourth-generation rancher; his family has been raising cattle on their ranch in Alameda County since 1918 and he now heads the California Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). David Robinson Simon is the author of a book that lambasts industrialized meat production. What did these two advocates from “opposite sides of the steer” have to say to each other when they sat down to debate the ethical, nutritional and environmental costs of animal agriculture? Host Greg Dalton started things ...
Jun 13, 2014•1 hr
An emerging area of economics aims to put a price on nature as a way of justifying preserving it in societies dominated by the wisdom of markets. A mountain stream, for example, provides many economic benefits beyond people who own property near it or drink water from it. The same is said of bees that pollinate our food, wetlands that cleans water, and trees that drink up carbon dioxide. If nature were a corporation it would be a large cap stock. Putting a precise tag on something long seen as f...
Jun 06, 2014•1 hr
Who should take responsibility for reducing the amount of plastic debris that litters our cities, waterways and oceans? While many consumers have given up their plastic grocery bags, most still rely on the convenience of plastic water bottles, liquid soap and fast food in styrofoam containers. “Many of our companies are looking at bio-based materials and other kinds of plastics,” says Keith Christman of the American Chemistry Council. “High density polyethylene, made from sugarcane, is one of th...
May 30, 2014•1 hr
Swelling sea levels used to be a concern associated with future generations and faraway lands. Then Superstorm Sandy poured the Atlantic Ocean into the New York subway. Here on the west coast, we’re no less vulnerable to the rising tide, and it’s not only our coastal communities that will be affected. From shoreline to bay to Delta and beyond, California’s economy is bound together by highways, railways and airports. Cities and states are beginning to realize they need to start planning now for ...
May 23, 2014•1 hr
What’s really preventing us from enacting environmental change? Blame our brains, says Daniel Goleman, author of Ecological Intelligence. As he explains it, “The problem comes down to a design flaw in the human brain.” Evolution fine-tuned our brains to protect us from immediate survival threats – lions, tigers and bears. But long-term dangers, such as those that threaten our planet today, don’t register. “The problem is that we don’t perceive, nor are we alarmed by, these changes,” says Goleman...
May 16, 2014•1 hr
Today’s teenagers, also known as Millenials or Generation Y, now have a new moniker: Greenagers. That’s because they are coming of age in an era plagued by the effects of climate change. Severe floods, storms and fires on the rise and are forecast to increase further as carbon pollution increases. What are high school students learning about the causes and consequences of climate volatility? And what steps can they take now to secure a more optimistic future for the earth’s ecology? In this epis...
May 16, 2014•1 hr
Three years after Fukushima is nuclear power dead in the water? Or is it poised for revival due to the world’s desperate need for carbon-free energy? Every day the Fukushima reactors dump 70,000 gallons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, and there is no end in sight. In the United States, the industry faces more systemic challenges - abundant and cheap natural gases are making new nukes uneconomic, despite the efforts of the Obama administration to jumpstart a nuclear renaissance. Per ...
Apr 25, 2014•1 hr
America is in the midst of a fracking boom. Most new oil and gas wells in this country are drilled using hydraulic fracturing, the injection of a cocktail of water and chemicals at high pressure to release bubbles of oil or gas trapped in shale rock. Thanks to fracking, America is awash in cheap natural gas and is poised to become the world’s largest petroleum producer next year. That would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. “People thought that the United States was tapped out.” says R...
Apr 06, 2014•1 hr
Who should take responsibility for reducing the amount of plastic debris that litters our cities, waterways and oceans? While many consumers have given up their plastic grocery bags, most still rely on the convenience of plastic water bottles, liquid soap and fast food in styrofoam containers. “Many of our companies are looking at bio-based materials and other kinds of plastics,” says Keith Christman of the American Chemistry Council. “High density polyethylene, made from sugarcane, is one of th...
Mar 20, 2014•1 hr
From Egyptian irrigation systems to Roman aqueducts to the dikes and canals of The Netherlands, the world’s civilizations have long found innovative ways to harness and conserve their water supply. But with California entering the third year of an historic drought, what 21st century technologies are on the horizon to help us deal with an ever-shrinking pool of water? Peter Yolles is the CEO of Watersmart Software, which takes a grass-roots approach to the issue by educating residential and comme...
Mar 20, 2014•1 hr
Since 1989, The Goldman Environmental Prize has honored more than 150 grassroots heroes who are fighting on the front lines to deliver clean water, clean air and preserve the world’s ecosystems. Brothers John and Douglas Goldman are carrying on the work of their parents, environmental activists Richard and Rhoda Goldman, who founded the prize. “My mom was a recycler before the term was ever coined,” remembers John. “She was far ahead of her time.” The most important impact of the award, says Dou...
Mar 11, 2014•1 hr
Tim Koopman is a fourth-generation rancher; his family has been raising cattle on their ranch in Alameda County since 1918 and he now heads the California Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). David Robinson Simon is the author of a book that lambasts industrialized meat production. What did these two advocates from “opposite sides of the steer” have to say to each other when they sat down to debate the ethical, nutritional and environmental costs of animal agriculture? Host Greg Dalton started things ...
Mar 05, 2014•1 hr
Breathing, eating and consuming, an individual human being produces tons of carbon every year – population may be the key to curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Populations are expected to skyrocket in developing areas like sub-saharan Africa, generating even more carbon pollution. Reducing population growth could also help fight climate change, but in the wake of India’s forced sterilizations in the 1970s and China's mandatory one-child policy, nationwide family planning has a stigma. Malcolm Pot...
Feb 28, 2014•1 hr
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Warsaw, Poland last year achieved modest progress toward an international agreement on reducing carbon pollution. In 2015, the heads of nearly 200 nations will again meet, this time in Paris, and the hope is that they can seal a deal that would take effect in 2020. But rich and developing countries are still far apart on who should bear responsibility for increasing human impacts of severe weather. Even some of the most vigorous proponents of movin...
Feb 21, 2014•1 hr
Swelling sea levels used to be a concern associated with future generations and faraway lands. Then Superstorm Sandy poured the Atlantic Ocean into the New York subway. Here on the west coast, we’re no less vulnerable to the rising tide, and it’s not only our coastal communities that will be affected. From shoreline to bay to Delta and beyond, California’s economy is bound together by highways, railways and airports. Cities and states are beginning to realize they need to start planning now for ...
Feb 21, 2014•1 hr
