Climate One

From Katrina and Sandy to Harvey, Irma and José - how is climate change fueling these increasingly destructive hurricanes? Greg Dalton and his guests delve into the politics, costs and human causes of the megastorms pummeling our planet. Brian Schatz, US Senator, (D-HI) Ben Santer, Climate Researcher, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory John Englander, Author, High Tide on Main Street: Rising Sea Level and the Coming Coastal Crisis (Science Bookshelf, 2012) Angela Fritz, Manager, Weather Underground Kathryn Sullivan, former NOAA Administrator Hunter Cutting, Director of Strategic Communications, Climate Nexus Don Cameron, Manager, Terranova Ranch Barton Thompson, Professor of Natural Resources, Stanford Law School Portions of this program were recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California.

The explorer, climber, surfer and founder of sporting goods company Patagonia, Inc., has spent a lifetime welcoming adventure – and risk - of all kinds. Yvon Chouinard, Founder and Owner, Patagonia This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on October 27, 2016

It is possible to protect profits and the planet. Despite claims that a win for the environment is a loss for the economy, corporations are finding innovative ways to have it both ways. They are quickly realizing that protecting watersheds and ecosystems can also protect their business. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club on July 27, 2017.

Who is bankrolling our political system? Jane Mayer takes us behind the scenes to expose the powerful group of individuals who are shaping our country. Jane Mayer, Staff Writer, The New Yorker and Author, Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right (Doubleday, 2016) This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Louis B. Mayer Theatre at Santa Clara University on April 4, 2017.

Tesla is the most valuable car company in the US, recently surpassing even the auto giant, General Motors. But this high valuation is not due to the number of cars they make and it is certainly not due to profits which are incidentally non-existent. So what is it all about? Ashlee Vance has written the preeminent biography on the genius driving Tesla, SpaceX and Hyperloop, Elon Musk, with insights gained from his unprecedented access to the eccentric entrepreneur. Peter Henderson talks about Tesla’s make or break moment as with the arrival and scaling of the S model, aimed at average American families. Peter Henderson, West Coast Deputy Bureau Chief, Thomson Reuters Ashlee Vance, Reporter, Bloomberg Businessweek This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on July 12, 2017.

Noted conservationist Jane Goodall talks about her life’s work, the link between deforestation and climate change and why she sees reasons for hope. Jane Goodall, Founder, Jane Goodall Institute; United Nations Messenger of Peace Jeff Horowitz, Founder, Avoided Deforestation Partners This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on April 3, 2017.

Former Vice President Al Gore joins Climate One to talk about his tireless fight, training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy. Joined by co-directors Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, this conversation covers the making of their new movie AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER and the solutions that it offers. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Marines' Memorial Club on July 24, 2017.

Climate denial has become both a psychological and a political problem. Can better communication help us expand common ground and move on to solutions? Renee Lertzman, Climate Engagement Strategist, Author and Speaker Michael Mann, Distinguished Professor of Meteorology, Penn State University Cristine Russell, Freelance Science Journalist Tom Toles, Editorial Cartoonist, The Washington Post This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on December 12, 2016.

Getting out of a car and onto a bike is one of the best things you can do for the climate and your personal health. Bike lanes are growing in American cities from New York City to Houston, the country’s oil and gasoline capitol. Guests: Amy Harcourt, Co-Founder/Principal, Bikes Make Life Better, Inc. Caeli Quinn, Co-founder and Executive Director, Climate Ride Brian Wiedenmeier, Executive Director, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on June 8, 2017.

The Trump administration’s determination to revive coal mining and domestic oil drilling is causing concern that international efforts to combat climate change will crumble. How much change will the Trump administration really bring to the climate change fight? Join a conversation about energy, the mainstream news media, and markets. Guests: Gil Duran, Former Spokesman for Gov. Jerry Brown and Sen. Dianne Feinstein Amy Myers Jaffe, Executive Director, Energy and Sustainability, UC Davis Graduate School of Management Jim Sweeney, Director, Precourt Energy Efficiency Center, Stanford This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on June 1, 2017.

Are GMOs the answer to our planet’s food shortage? Or are they jeopardizing our crops by creating a destructive cycle of Roundup resistance? Like many issues these days, it depends on who you listen to. Supporters of genetically modified organisms say that altering the DNA of corn and other crops is just another tool in the farmers’ toolbox. While, opponents maintain that modified crops are dangerous to our health. Guests: Scott Kennedy, Filmmaker, ""Food Evolution"" John Purcell, VP and Global R&D Lead, Monsanto Company Austin Wilson, Environmental Health Program Manager, As You Sow Dr. Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, Senior Scientist, Director Grassroots Science Program, Pesticide Action Network This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on May 25, 2017.

As Buffalo Springfield sang in 1967, “There’s something happening here…” But today’s youth revolution is happening far beyond the Sunset Strip. The Trump administration’s dismissal of climate change as a legitimate concern is energizing a new generation of teenage activists. Emboldened and supported by groups like Earth Guardians, Heirs to Our Oceans and the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE), young people are taking their knowledge of climate science into the streets and into the courts, pressing for environmental change and for more government action now to protect their future and ours. UPDATE: Since this discussion was held the fossil fuel trade association, which aligned itself with the federal government, changed their minds, and asked to withdraw from the case. Phil Gregory, one of the attorneys representing the 21 young people suing the federal government, explains what that withdrawal means. Guests: James Coleman, High School Senior; Fellow, Alliance for Climate Education Lou Helmuth, Deputy Director, Our Children's Trust Corina MacWilliams, Co-director, Earth Guardians 350 Club, South Eugene High School This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on March 16, 2017.

Californians are accustomed to living through wet times and dry times, but lately things are getting more extreme and much more difficult to predict. After five years of severe drought, Californians are now talking about what it means to have too much water at once. The end of the drought is a blessing, but the state may need to find $50 billion to repair dams, roads and other infrastructure threatened by floods. The damaged spillway at Oroville dam highlighted what happens when the state doesn’t keep its water system in good working order. How is California preparing for the whiplash of going from really dry to really wet years? What will it take to fix the system that delivers the water that keeps us alive and lubricates our economy? How will the state and federal governments work together to modernize the water system that grows food that lands on dinner tables across the country? This program is made possible by support from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation. Guests: Don Cameron, General Manager, Terranova Ranch Inc. Felicia Marcus, Chair, State Water Resources Control Board Buzz Thompson, Director, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on May 24, 2017.

They were an unlikely group of activists; Native American youths concerned about teen suicide sparked the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)—a movement which ultimately spread across the country. Veterans and others joined in, traveling to the construction site and showing solidarity with activists. Protesters objected to the $3.8 billion pipeline route, which they say threatens freshwater supplies and disrespects ancestral lands. Guests: Pennie Opal Plant, Co-founder, Idle No More SF Bay L. Frank Manriquez, Indigenous California artist and activist Lynn Doan, Bloomberg News This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on May 11, 2017.

Do the baby boomers owe millennials a clean planet? Or is it every generation for itself? Consumption-crazed baby boomers are leaving their younger counterparts with a mountain of debt and a destabilized climate. Yet they still rule the roost politically. In his new book “A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America,” Gen-Xer Bruce Gibney argues that the aging baby boomers who make up most of congress are holding up progress -- and it’s time they got out of the way. How do we span the generation gap? What can boomers do to engage future generations and help empower them in the fight against climate change? Guests: Carleen Cullen, Founder and Executive Director, Cool the Earth Bruce Gibney, Author, A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America Professor Michael Ranney, Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Education, U.C. Berkeley Wilford Welch, Speaker on Sustainability and Resilience This program was recorded live at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on May 8, 2017.