The Climate Pod

On today's show, we speak to Tom Steyer, former presidential candidate and co-chair of California's Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery, about fighting climate change and this economic downturn simultaneously. This is a wide-ranging and fascinating conversation. Why hasn't the federal government done more to put forth climate legislation? Is climate change the greatest market failure? Are divestment campaigns a good idea? Tom weighs in on all of this and more. Ty and Brock also discuss Maddie Stone's piece in Grist about online grocery shopping and Earth's new record for CO2 in the atmosphere. As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Thank you to our sponsor Hero Power. Learn more about Hero Power's nationwide Solar Share program. Follow Tom Steyer on Twitter Follow NextGen America on Twitter

This week, we talk to legendary actor and long-time environmental activist Ted Danson. He tells us what inspired him to advocate for the environment and climate, his work with Oceana, his reflections on the 10-year anniversary of the BP oil spill, what is what like getting arrested protesting climate inaction with Jane Fonda, and much more. He's very cool. Ty and Brock also discuss what has changed since the Deepwater Horizon disaster 10 years ago and why the expected drop in emissions this year might surprise you. As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Thank you to our sponsor Hero Power. Learn more about Hero Power's nationwide Solar Share program. Follow Ted Danson on Twitter Follow Oceana on Twitter Further Reading/Viewing Leah Stokes on the Clean Energy Narwhal Curve Sammy Roth's Boiling Point newsletter Ted Danson: The BP Oil Spill Should Have Been a Wake-up Call The Economy Is at a Standstill, and Yet Carbon Emissions Have Only Dipped Slightly. Why? by Shannon Osaka Deepwater Horizon: A Decade Of Disaster by Justine Calma

Happy 50th Earth Day! This week, Ty and Brock discuss a wide-range of climate news! With oil prices dropping like a surprise Beyonce album, what could that mean for the fossil fuel industry? Also, how can we use the current pandemic to reshape our cities in a better, healthier way? Brock once read a Jane Jacobs' book in college so maybe he can answer (he can't). Finally, should we watch this new Michael Moore documentary (we won't)? Then, we're joined by the LA Times' clean energy reporter Sammy Roth to talk about how COVID-19 is impacting the renewable industry. We discuss how California may differ from the federal response to clean energy and why past stimulus efforts have made a difference. As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Follow Sammy Roth on Twitter Further Reading by Sammy Roth Clean energy can be a 'huge job creator' as economy recovers, Tom Steyer says Oil prices collapse below zero, scrambling the clean energy transition More than 100,000 clean-energy workers lost their jobs in March Should we spend billions on clean energy? It worked during the last crisis Cow poop could fuel California's clean energy future. But not everyone's on board Other stories we mentioned on the show: Planet of the Humans Comes This Close to Actually Getting the Real Problem, Then Goes Full Ecofascism by Brian Kahn The wheel of first-time climate dudes by Emily Atkin How to make a city livable during lockdown by David Roberts

This week, Mighty Earth CEO Glenn Hurowitz joins the show again to discuss his group's new report "The Coronavirus Climate Profiteers... and the Climate Heroes Doing the Right Thing in a Time of Crisis." Glenn explains which corporations are doing the most to exploit the pandemic to pollute more and how deregulation and new policy could help them do it. Also, Ty and Brock discuss Robinson Meyer's story on Trump's new auto rollback and how it seems to be objectively bad by the administration's own accounting. And they review a new Stanford study that demonstrates the link between forest loss and the spread of disease. Ya know, the usual fun stuff. As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Follow Mighty Earth on Twitter

This week, we talk to Madeleine Para, VP of Program for the Citizens' Climate Lobby. We discuss how climate advocates can adjust during life in quarantine and use this time to their advantage. Madeleine explains what her organization is doing. Also, Ty and Brock discuss Lisa Friedman's piece on new research that shows how air pollution can cause higher deaths rates in coronavirus patients. Then, they talk about the possible upside of the COP26 delay and even go local with Indiana's lack of environmental protections. As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Follow Citizens' Climate Lobby on Twitter

This week, we feature a lengthy and remarkable interview with Dr. Leah Stokes, author of the new book "Short Circuiting Policy," about the pathway to clean energy laws. What have we learned from previous decades? How have powerful interest held back progress? Has the urgency for clean energy policy changed in the era of the coronavirus? We ask Dr. Stokes all this and more on this week's show. Also, Ty and Brock discuss the EPA regulation freeze, the weakening of auto emissions standards, and growing mullets in the time of quarantine. As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Follow Dr. Leah Stokes on Twitter Further Reading: The EPA appears to be using coronavirus to make huge concessions to polluters by Zeeshan Aleem New Trump mileage standards to gut Obama climate effort by Ellen Knickmeyer and Tom Krisher

This week, we look at the very strange relationship between air pollution and COVID-19. Dr. Marshall Burke, Stanford University Earth System Science Professor and Deputy Director of Center on Food Security and the Environment, explains his piece "COVID-19 reduces economic activity, which reduces pollution, which saves lives." What happens when you calculate the health impacts of the drop of emissions? Dr. Burke explains. Then, Dr. Sara De Matteis, Associate Professor in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Cagliari University in Cagliari, Italy, talks about how the long-term exposure to air pollution impacts COVID-19 patients. Can air pollution make the coronavirus more deadly? As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Follow Dr. Marshall Burke on Twitter Follow Dr. Sara De Matteis on Twitter Further Reading: Air pollution likely to increase coronavirus death rate, warn experts by Damian Carrington

How is the novel coronavirus creating new concerns in the fight against climate change? This week, we dig into the subject with a couple of great guests. First, TIME's Justin Worland joins the show to talk about how the global pandemic could impact international negotiations, the Paris Agreement, oil price wars, and climate activism. Then, Joel Makower, chairman and co-founder of GreenBiz, tells how he'd like to see our response to the coronavirus favor sustainability and making businesses more green. How can we build a better future out of this mess? He gives some tips to charting that path. As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Follow Justin Worland on Twitter Follow Joel Makower on Twitter Further Reading: How Coronavirus Could Set Back the Fight Against Climate Change by Justin Worland COVID-19 and climate change: A healthy dose of reality by Joel Makower Answers to Six Key Questions About the Oil Price Collapse by Justin Worland

This week, we talk to Rep Sean Casten (D-IL) about his career as an energy entrepreneur before joining Congress, how climate change factored into his decision to run for a House seat in 2018, and what bills he is sponsoring to address the issue. Then, Washington Post's Chris Mooney joins the show to discuss how the coronavirus is impacting global greenhouse emissions. What does this mean in both the long-term and short-term? Chris tells about his reporting on the subject. As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Follow Rep. Sean Casten on Twitter Follow Chris Mooney on Twitter Further Reading: Coronavirus could halt the world's emissions growth. Not that we should feel good about that. by Chris Mooney, Brady Dennis, and John Muyskens

This week, we talk to Julian Brave NoiseCat about a variety of climate issues. He tell us about his journey to the climate movement, how the Green New Deal developed, how the Democratic Primary process has influenced climate policy, and how the experience of Indigenous communities should help inform our adaptation to the climate crisis. Plus, The Hill's Rebecca Klar discusses a recent study that examines some of the national security concerns that we face as global temperatures warm. And returning guest Chad The Bird interviews climate activist Brian Ettling about the GOP walkout in Oregon. What the hell is going on there? As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Follow Julian Brave Noisecat on Twitter Follow Rebecca Klar on Twitter Follow Brian Ettling on Twitter Follow Chad The Bird on Twitter Further Reading: THE FINGERPRINTS OF THE GREEN NEW DEAL ARE ALL OVER THE CLEAN FUTURE ACT by Julian Brave NoiseCat, Leah C. Stokes and Narayan Subramanian Report warns climate change could become 'catastrophic' global, national security threat by Rebecca Klar Oregon Republicans are subverting democracy by running away. Again. by David Roberts Rising Sea Levels, Coastal Erosion: New Report Says Half the World's Sandy Beaches at Risk From Climate Change By 2100 by Frank Jordans