Summer means peak wildfire season. And recently, we’ve seen some of the most destructive wildfires in recorded history. For years the message around fire has been: no fire is good. But increasingly, we’re starting to fight fire with fire. Prescribed burns may help prevent large, catastrophic wildfires. While using fire as a tool to manage the forest may be a relatively new concept to some, Indigenous communities have used fire to manage their environment for thousands of years. Is it time to ret...
Jun 07, 2024•58 min
Globally, one-third of food produced every year is wasted. That’s enough to feed about 2 billion people — twice the number of people who are undernourished. The global food system also accounts for a whopping one-third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. These two problems — waste and emissions — are intricately linked: Climate disruption exacerbates food insecurity. And industrial food production contributes to the climate crisis. When food is wasted, it’s also a waste of land, water and e...
May 31, 2024•55 min
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 detailed local map around his home. His new book “Local” is an ode to slowing down, as well as a rallying cry to protect the wild places on our doorstep. Th...
May 24, 2024•54 min
At age 9, Nalleli Cobo, suffering headaches, heart palpitations, nosebleeds, and body spasms, became an activist, driven to fighting to close the local oil well responsible for her ailments. In 2022, at age 20, she won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her work shutting down toxic wells throughout the Los Angeles region. The same year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law prohibiting such neighborhood wells. Then Big Oil bankrolled a referendum on the matter for the November 2...
May 17, 2024•55 min
An environmental giant passed last week with the death of Pete McCloskey, a former Republican Congressman who co-authored the Endangered Species Act. He died at the age of 94. A Marine who served in the Korean War, McCloskey was perhaps best known for the politically fraught move of challenging a sitting president in his own party - Richard Nixon - in the 1972 presidential primary because of the Vietnam War. He was the first member of Congress — from either party — to call for President Nixon’s ...
May 15, 2024•7 min
Plastics are everywhere. And while we’ve known for a long time that plastics and our environment aren’t a good mix, it's becoming apparent that they’re massive climate polluters too. The production of plastics alone produces about 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. After what is often a single use, the resulting waste continues releasing the greenhouse gasses ethylene and methane as it breaks apart. Yet, as petrochemical companies pay lip service ending fuel production, they are pouring reso...
May 10, 2024•54 min
The Golden State has staked much of its reputation on its green credentials, with state leaders touting its role on the leading edge of global and national climate progress. But California is falling behind in meeting its ambitious emission targets, and has been criticized for over-relying on emerging clean energy technologies that may not bear out. At the same time, the state is at increasing risk from severe wildfires, epic floods and other impacts worsened by burning fossil fuels. What can th...
May 03, 2024•1 hr
Many businesses and governments have a goal of reaching net zero emissions. Sounds good. But what does “net zero” even mean? And how do we get there? Alicia Seiger is a lecturer at Stanford Law School and leads sustainability and energy finance initiatives at Stanford Law, Graduate School of Business, and the Doerr School for Sustainability. She argues that when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, businesses need to get as good at accounting for their pollution as they are for their dollars. G...
May 01, 2024•24 min
In 2021, Mayor London Breed released the San Francisco Action Plan, which aims to achieve net zero emissions for the city by 2040. The plan not only charts the course for eliminating emissions over the next two decades but also includes commitments to ensure that the benefits of climate action are extended equitably to all communities. That was three years ago. So what progress has been made? And what strategies are in place to get the city to its 2040 target? Guest: Tyrone Jue, Director of the ...
May 01, 2024•18 min
Batteries are a critical part of the transition away from fossil fuels. From electric vehicles to grid scale storage for wind and solar, demand for batteries is expected to grow 500% by 2030. In order to meet that demand, we’re going to need a lot more batteries. And while companies like JB Straubel’s Redwood Materials are building capacity for recycling, for now that means a lot more mining. With the battery supply chain only growing more critical as the electric vehicle market matures, we’re r...
Apr 26, 2024•1 hr 9 min
The Golden State has staked much of its reputation on its green credentials, with state leaders often touting its role on the leading edge of global and national climate progress. But California is falling behind in meeting its ambitious emission targets, and has been criticized for over relying on emerging clean energy technologies that may not bear out — and worse, increase harm to communities of color and low-income households. What role should regulators and community advocates play in ensur...
Apr 24, 2024•21 min
On behalf of the People of the State of California, Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against five of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, along with the lobbying organization American Petroleum Institute, for willfully misleading the public about climate change. How big a deal could this lawsuit be? Guest: Rob Bonta, California Attorney General Did you enjoy this conversation? Wish you could've been there to see the full show? Tickets for the rest of SF Climate Week at Climat...
Apr 23, 2024•20 min
Artificial intelligence can do some pretty amazing things, including for the climate. AI can help optimize the electric grid, make heating and cooling buildings more efficient, and pinpoint exactly where greenhouse gas emissions are coming from all around the world. On the other hand, the energy use of AI is massive and growing. A recent study estimates that in just a few years, the extra energy needed will equal whole countries the size of Sweden or Argentina. How do we make sure the benefits o...
Apr 19, 2024•57 min
In August 2022, Congress passed the biggest piece of climate legislation in our nation’s history: The Inflation Reduction Act, which put $400 billion into boosting the transition to a clean energy economy over the next ten years. The IRA has spurred companies to announce nearly $110 billion of investment in new factories to build EVs, batteries and renewable energy facilities. That’s driving investments, reshoring of manufacturing, and real change. This week we check in on the impact of the IRA ...
Apr 12, 2024•1 hr
Even before Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” brought climate change to the mainstream, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Elizabeth Kolbert was on the beat. Her reporting in the early 2000s culminated in her book “Field Notes from a Catastrophe,” which sounded the alarm on the causes and effects of global warming. Nearly 20 years later, Kolbert is still bringing the climate story to the public with her new book “H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z.” The book is told in bite size vignettes ...
Apr 05, 2024•56 min
Climate change means extreme weather, shifting landscapes, and generally more instability. More and more, you can feel the impacts of climate disruption in your wallets. Drought is pushing up the cost of candy and leading to shipping delays in the Panama Canal. Globally, researchers say climate could add one percent to inflation every year until 2035. The costs of car insurance, health insurance and property insurance are rising. And whether it’s tea in the morning or wine in the evening, disrup...
Mar 29, 2024•57 min
The places that most people call home are coming under increasing threat from climate change. From rising seas and more frequent floods to stronger hurricanes and cyclones, to more devastating droughts and wildfires, the most habitable parts of our world are becoming far less so. Over time, our cities will be forced to transform — and hundreds of millions will have to move. People who have the means are already starting to relocate to places that market themselves as climate-proof. But not every...
Mar 22, 2024•58 min
As heat waves, storms, droughts and wildfires continue to worsen, talking can seem like a seriously insufficient climate solution. It’s fair to ask: Are we just engaged in blah, blah, blah? Too often, talking is one sided – more of a lecture aimed at conveying information or solely stating one's own point of view. And yet, when done right, real conversations and true listening can help us find common ground, which can then lead to collective action and change. So how do we make those conversatio...
Mar 15, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Kumi Naidoo is a world renowned activist and climate leader. Before going on to lead Greenpeace International then Amnesty International, Naidoo was a 15 year old anti-apartheid activist in South Africa. The boycotts he organized led to him being a target of the Security Police. He fled South Africa and lived in exile in the UK. As a climate activist, Naidoo has been arrested for scaling oil rigs, has negotiated with heads of state, and rubbed shoulders with the most powerful people at the World...
Mar 08, 2024•59 min
If you’re a climate-conscious person, you likely already know some of the main ways you can reduce your contribution to greenhouse gasses: buy less, eat less meat, ride your bike. But there are other, less obvious methods we don’t always think of: voting, having climate conversations, engaging with your local government, changing where your money is invested. And while our role as individuals does matter, we’re more powerful when we work together in collective action. Guests: Jon Foley, Executiv...
Mar 01, 2024•56 min
When most people hear the phrase renewable energy, they imagine fields full of solar panels or giant spinning wind turbines. But another source may be heating up: geothermal. Twenty years ago it was thought that geothermal could provide at most 10% of any given area’s electricity, and only in very limited regions. There were also environmental concerns about depleting groundwater. But new technological advances may have unlocked the potential for scalable geothermal energy just about anywhere. A...
Feb 23, 2024•56 min
As fossil fuels are phased out, shuttered coal plants, contaminated landfills, and abandoned mine lands across the U.S. are finding new life as renewable energy projects. More than 23 states have 100% clean energy goals, and in order to reach those goals, some states are starting to convert what was once considered “dirty” into “clean” energy generation. But what happens to the infrastructure, workers, and community after a coal plant shuts down? And as billions are dispersed through policies li...
Feb 16, 2024•1 hr 4 min
A settlement for the largest civil penalty resulting from the Clean Air Act has just been reached. The EPA, DOJ and the State of California have agreed to a $1.7 billion fine for engine maker Cummins Inc. The fine is the result of Cummins being caught using “defeat devices” to fool emissions testers into thinking the engines pollute less than they really do. Does that sound familiar? It’s exactly what Volkswagen was caught doing nearly 10 years ago. VW and Cummins aren’t the only ones; it’s an i...
Feb 09, 2024•52 min
Jane Fonda has spent the last several decades fighting for Indigenous peoples' rights, economic justice, LGBTQ rights, peace, gender equality and more. Now, she is devoting herself to the climate emergency, beginning with Fire Drill Fridays, the national movement to protest government inaction on climate change she started in October 2019. Through the Jane Fonda Climate PAC, she is focused on defeating political allies of the fossil fuel industry. At 85, Fonda continues to fight for the most vul...
Feb 02, 2024•56 min
We often talk about a “just transition” from dirty to clean energy as if the term means the same thing to everyone. Indigenous people have seen their resources extracted and exploited to further the wealth of others for centuries. Now renewable energy is looking to expand to Indigenous land. How can renewable energy help Tribes leapfrog the twentieth century technologies that put them at the end of the line for corporate-controlled electricity? How can we, as Chéri Smith, Founder of the Alliance...
Jan 26, 2024•54 min
What we wear defines us in so many ways. But in recent decades we’ve moved away from long-lasting, quality pieces in favor of disposable fast fashion, with major consequences for our climate and environment. From mechanized farming and pesticides to grow fiber crops, to energy for manufacturing and transportation, fossil fuels are embedded in the clothing industry at every step of the process. Companies large and small are working against this trend, with some setting lofty goals for reducing ca...
Jan 19, 2024•1 hr 1 min
The climate crisis can feel distant — like it’s someone else’s problem — until your town is flooded, your home is damaged by storms, or you're struggling to pay electricity bills as the summers get hotter. Figuring out the specifics of how a region is vulnerable to climate impacts can be the difference between adaptation or disaster, especially for communities that don’t have a lot of climate or environmental expertise among their members. Community science — defined as communities and scientist...
Jan 12, 2024•55 min
From the climate movement’s earliest days, young people have been at the forefront of activism. But the first major international climate conferences took place 30 years ago. The first cohort of youth activists are now adults, some with children of their own. The emotional cost of seeing so little payoff for years spent fighting can be agonizing at any age, but perhaps more so for young people who put so much of themselves into the effort. Many youth activists burned out along the way, frustrate...
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Can you imagine if everything you needed in your everyday life was just a walk or bike ride away? That’s the goal of the 15-minute city, a new name for an old idea. Reducing the need for cars cuts emissions and gets autos off of the roads, which is a boon for safety, air quality and the climate. But, as is often the case, good ideas become a lot more difficult when you have to implement them in real places, with real people, who don’t always share the enthusiasm for the idea. What will it take t...
Dec 29, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Ben Santer has spent decades researching and identifying the human fingerprints on the climate system changes we’re now all seeing. He was lead author on the historic 1995 conclusion of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which proclaimed that “the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate.” That was the first time the IPCC authoritatively stated humans are causing climate change. At the time, Stephen Schneider told Ben Santer that the sentence he wr...
Dec 22, 2023•1 hr 1 min
