Episode notes
Electric utilities are falling short on climate action. To explain why, we're bringing back our season one finale. This episode features former utilities regulator Kris Mayes, who recently won a nail-biting election to become the second woman and first openly LGBTQ attorney general of Arizona. Go, Kris! Since season one, Leah has been busy investigating utilities' past and present role spreading climate denial, doubt, and delay. You can read the paper she co-wrote on the topic last fall, and discover the dirty truth about your electric utility and their climate plans in the report she…
Podcast
A Matter of Degrees
Dr. Leah Stokes, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson · News · English
Give up your climate guilt. Sharpen your curiosity. Join Dr. Leah Stokes and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson as they tell stories about the powerful forces behind climate change — and the tools we have to fix it. This show makes sense of big climate questions and critical topics. Our episodes are filled wit
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7 Oct 2024 · 30 min
Project 2025
Project 2025 has been all over the news lately. But what exactly is this conservative playbook for the Federal government? And what does it mean for climate policy? This week, A Matter of Degrees dives into the Heritage Foundation's plan for the next conservative presidential administration. Just weeks away from a pivotal election, we lay out what Project 2025 would mean for the climate movement and how it threatens to unwind all the progress we've made. This 900+ page document covers a lot of ground and, as we found out, the devil is in the details. In this episode, we walk through the…
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26 Aug 2024 · 53 min
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Welcome back for a special bonus episode of A Matter of Degrees ! In this episode, we are taking a look back at our live conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris. Since we are once again at a pivotal moment for the climate, we wanted to kick off our new season by looking back at this incredible climate leader who has played a key role in getting us where we are today. We are excited to share this inspiring conversation with you one more time… "We must understand that we are in a very specific moment in time, and this window is going to shut on us. But it doesn't have to shut on us, if…
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S3 · E14 · 20 Jul 2023 · 59 min
Live Episode: A Climate Book Talk with Rebecca Solnit
Welcome back for a bonus episode of A Matter of Degrees ! We were lucky enough to sit down with Rebecca Solnit — author, historian, and climate activist — to talk about her newest climate anthology, Not Too Late . Leah and Nikayla Jefferson both wrote essays for the book and joined Rebecca onstage for this live episode. Not Too Late gets at the tough, vital work of culture change and features diverse climate voices from around the world. In this episode, Leah, Nikayla, and Rebecca hold an expansive conversation about hope, love, and how to stay engaged in the climate movement. Rebecca has…
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S3 · E10 · 2 Mar 2023 · 49 min
The Tongass: A Way Forward For The Forest
In our season three finale, we're transporting listeners to the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world and a vital carbon sink: the Tongass. Katharine and Leah investigate the impact of decades of industrial logging in Southeast Alaska and political debates pitting ecology against economy. We learn from the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people, who have lived on and with these lands for more than 10,000 years. And we discover how a new chapter for the Tongass is taking root. This episode features Marina Anderson , deputy director of the Sustainable Southeast Partnership , and…
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S3 · E9 · 16 Feb 2023 · 46 min
The Journey of Justice40
In his early days in office, President Biden took executive action to deliver environmental justice. Are those policies delivering justice in practice? This episode, we talk to EJ activists and federal policymakers about Biden's Justice40 Initiative, which directs 40% of the overall benefits of climate investments toward disadvantaged communities. We explore the decades of organizing that led to this moment, and what it will take now to fulfill the promise of the Justice40 Initiative. Our special guest host Nikayla Jefferson is back for this episode! She speaks with former People United for…
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S3 · E8 · 19 Jan 2023 · 49 min
The Case of the Killer Heat
In this episode, we explore the growing impact of heat on people and the planet. We talk to scientists and "climate detectives" trying to hold the perpetrators of this unprecedented global temperature increase accountable. Leah and Katharine speak with Neza Xiuhtecutli , executive director of the Farmworker Association of Florida ; Kate Marvel , climate science writer and physicist at Columbia University and NASA ; and Richard Heede , co-founder and director of the Climate Accountability Institute . Kate mentions the very first climate attribution study , which links human activity to the…
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S3 · 5 Jan 2023 · 56 min
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S3 · E7 · 15 Dec 2022 · 43 min
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S3 · E6 · 1 Dec 2022 · 37 min
Bold vs. BS in Corporate Climate Pledges
In this episode, we investigate corporate climate commitments and how to make them stronger. We get to the root of zero-emissions pledges and greenwashing — specifically in the oil and gas industry. Dr. Paasha Mahdavi , associate professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, joins us to report this story. Paasha talks with Louise Rouse , a consultant who teams up with investors to push corporations for climate accountability. He also speaks with The Science Based Targets Initiative 's head of standards, Emma Watson , and Jill Courtenay , director of…
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S3 · E5 · 17 Nov 2022 · 46 min
Crypto Has a Climate Problem
This episode delves into the murky world of cryptocurrency and its impact on our planet. Join Katharine and Leah as they discover how digital currencies are breathing new life into previously shuttered coal plants across the United States. This episode features Alex de Vries , data scientist and founder of Digiconimist , an online platform that tracks Bitcoin's energy consumption; Anne Hedges , the director of policy and legislative affairs at watchdog organization Montana Environmental Information Center ; and New York State Assemblymember Anna Kelles , who sponsored a bill to establish a…
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