Episode notes
While the federal government has all but abandoned trying to address the climate crisis, cities around the world are stepping up. C40 is an international network of 97 cities representing 920 million people and 23% of the world’s economy. Almost three out of four of these cities have already peaked their emissions. Here in the U.S., Climate Mayors is a bipartisan network of nearly 350 municipal leaders, representing 48 states and more than 70 million Americans. How are cities innovating on reducing emissions, adapting to increasing climate risks, and — perhaps most importantly — sharing…
Podcast
Climate One
Climate One from The Commonwealth Club · Tech & Science · English
We’re living through a climate emergency; addressing this crisis begins by talking about it. Co-Hosts Greg Dalton, Ariana Brocious and Kousha Navidar bring you empowering conversations that connect all aspects of the challenge — the scary and the exciting, the individual and the systemic. Join us. S
More from Climate One All episodes →
-
10 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
Press Start: Video Games and the Climate Crisis
About half the global population spends some amount of their leisure time playing games, whether it’s a board game after dinner with friends or online role-playing experience through an alternate world. While many video and board games have long incorporated elements we can imagine in a climate-altered future — such as resource scarcity, conflict, and survival — some in the industry are working to shift players’ mindsets towards protecting nature and reducing their own climate impacts in the process. Daybreak is a cooperative board game about stopping climate change. Cities: Skylines lets…
-
3 Apr 2026 · 57 min
Benji Backer: Nature is Nonpartisan
In a moment when nearly everything feels polarized, Benji Backer is trying to carve out a different path, one where caring about the natural world isn’t a partisan issue. As the founder of Nature Is Nonpartisan, he’s bringing together voices from across the political spectrum who might disagree on climate policy, but still share a desire to preserve public lands, wildlife, and the outdoors. Can conservation still serve as common ground in a divided country? What does it take to make environmentalism resonate beyond traditional audiences? Is a bipartisan movement possible in today’s political…
-
27 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
What the Rise of the Electrostate Means for Petrostates… And Everyone Else
For decades we’ve seen nations exercise geopolitical dominance tied to their production and control of fossil fuels – especially oil. But that leverage may be changing. Last year, China installed nearly twenty times the amount of wind and solar as the United States. In this essay in The National Interest, the authors lay out a global political and economic realignment already underway. Petrostates, like those in OPEC, are increasingly at odds with electrostates like China and many in the EU. This isn’t to say that electrostates are not without resource challenges – they’re seriously…
-
20 Mar 2026 · 55 min
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green Says Aloha to Decarbonization
More than perhaps any other state, Hawaii has major incentives to decarbonize. Imported oil accounts for about 90% of Hawaii's total energy consumption, and electricity prices are more than three times the national average. So it may not be surprising that Hawaii was the first state in the nation to set a 100% renewable energy goal by 2045. But that’s a hard goal to achieve, especially given the realities of geographic isolation and the costs of importing fuel and materials. Hawaii Governor Josh Green is bullish about the island state’s decarbonization and wants all options on the table.…
-
13 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
Trash Talk: Fresh Takes on Food Waste
Food loss and waste account for up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions and cost $1 trillion annually, according to the United Nations. About a third of all food grown on the planet gets wasted, rather than eaten. In developing countries, waste usually occurs between the field and the store, due to poor infrastructure, lack of refrigeration, and broken supply chains. In rich countries, most waste happens after food reaches the store, where consumers don’t buy imperfect food – or buy too much and toss what they don’t get around to consuming. How much pollution, deforestation and…
-
27 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
Electric Bills are Bonkers. What Can We Do About It?
Rising electricity rates across the country are adding pressure to families and businesses already dealing with inflation in other aspects of their lives. Most Americans get their power from a utility that needs to turn a profit for its investors. And people are fed up with the status quo. “Across the country, the utilities have just gotten greedy and are asking for more than they need,” says Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. Some communities are considering cutting out the profit motive for utilities, taking on the complicated and expensive prospect of moving to public power. But…
-
20 Feb 2026 · 55 min
EPA Cancels Billions in Grants. Recipients Won’t Back Down
Congress approved billions for federal grants and programs through the EPA during the Biden administration. Those dollars were meant to help disadvantaged communities and fund community resilience projects, public health programs, and initiatives to reduce energy insecurity on tribal lands. But just as these projects were getting underway, the Trump administration froze many of the grants, put others under indefinite review, or canceled them outright. Now, some of the groups that were awarded federal funds have banded together and are suing the federal government for the money they’re owed.…
-
13 Feb 2026 · 31 min
Figure It Out…Or Else: Feds to Colorado River States
It’s been an unusually warm and dry winter across the west, and that’s bad news for the seven states and 40 million people that rely on water from the Colorado River. The water flowing into the river from snowmelt and rain is dwindling, partly because of climate change. The basin's two major reservoirs are at historic lows, and without a sudden influx of snowstorms, streamflow forecasts for the coming year aren’t looking good. That adds stress to an already drought-stricken region where negotiations on how to share the river’s water in the future are tense and stalled out. “We’re at a point…
-
6 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
Crude Behavior: Venezuela and the Global Politics of Oil
On January 3, U.S. forces captured Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, and flew them to New York to stand trial for drug trafficking and narco-terrorisim. At the same time, President Trump has not been shy about stating his other motivation for intervening in the country: Back in December, he said, “We had a lot of oil there. As you know they threw our companies out, and we want it back." So what are the geopolitical ramifications of these actions? And in a world increasingly powered by renewable energy, could fossil-fueled conflicts become a thing of the past? Episode…
-
30 Jan 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
Under the Weather: The Climate Crisis is a Health Crisis
As the planet warms, the story of climate change is increasingly becoming a story about human health. Rising temperatures, wildfire smoke, flooding, and shifting disease patterns are no longer distant threats; they are everyday realities. The climate crisis is reshaping health care systems, exposing inequalities, and forcing doctors and policymakers to rethink some of their practices. Medical schools are beginning to adopt climate as part of their curricula, yet such education is widely variable across the country. So what policy and system changes might help address both the climate and…
