Political Climate

This is a pivotal moment in the fight against climate change. There is a need to act now and there are a lot of open questions on how to do that.

Net zero emissions by 2050 has emerged as the target that the world must hit in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Policymakers and activists in the U.S. are working to put the net zero goal into law, and multiple major companies have already pledged to achieve carbon neutrality. But what will it really take to reach zero?

That’s what Political Climate will explore in the coming months in a new podcast series called “Path to Zero,” presented in partnership with Third Way. This series will look at how people are being affected by the transition to cleaner energy resources, and the economic challenges and opportunities created in the process. It will examine the technologies and policies we need to drive down carbon emissions, and the politics influencing this activity.

In this first episode of the series — introduced by Josh Freed, senior vice president of the climate and energy program at Third Way — we discuss why we’re talking about net zero emissions by 2050 to begin with. What is the climate science underpinning this goal? What does “net zero” mean? And what will the future look like if this goal isn’t met? We get the answers from scientist and climate strategist Dr. Jane Long, former associate director for energy and environment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

“Path to Zero” episodes will air monthly on the Political Climate podcast feed, after the first two episodes air in January. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play or wherever you get podcasts!

Recommended reading:

• The Hill: Democrats outline sweeping legislation to make U.S. carbon neutral by 2050
• GTM: Spanish Oil Giant Repsol Sets Net-Zero Emissions Target for 2050
• Climate Home: Net zero: the story of the target that will shape our future
• Third Way: Zero by 2050: Understanding the Challenge Before Us

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.

Listen and subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, Overcast or any of these other services.

Hello and happy new year! It’s January, so we can still say that — right?

Between devastating wildfires in Australia, conflict in the Middle East, and a rapidly approaching Democratic presidential primary there’s been no shortage of news since 2020 began. 

In this week's episode, we discuss what the latest headlines mean for climate and energy policy. Plus, we bring you a sit-down interview with former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who put in place many of the state’s foundational climate and clean energy policies (in addition to being an actor, businessman and bodybuilder, of course).

We get the governor's reflections on 2019, including why he decided to support teen climate activist Greta Thunberg in her journey across North America last fall. And why he's also backing former Secretary of State John Kerry's star-studded and bipartisan World War Zero climate initiative, which some argue is at odds with the youth climate movement.

Schwarzenegger also weighs in on Congress' failure to extend clean energy tax credits last legislative session and the Trump administration's lawsuit against California's cap-and-trade program.

Recommended reading:

• Verge: John Kerry, Arnold Schwarzenegger wage ‘World War Zero’ on climate change
• Vox: John Kerry and the climate kids: a tale of 2 new strategies to fight climate change
• GTM: How the White House Killed Clean Energy Tax Credits
• CNN: Australia's deadly wildfires are showing no signs of stopping. Here's what you need to know
• Recharge: French solar power charity wins Zayed Sustainability Prize

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

We're technically on break this week, but couldn’t resist the opportunity to bring you our full interview with Emily Atkin, author of the popular climate newsletter HEATED.

Emily came on Political Climate in early December to talk about the fossil fuel industry’s climate change disinformation campaign in our episode “Big Oil on Trial.” We had a lot to cover on that show, so we weren’t able to share the entire conversation between Emily and podcast host Julia Pyper.

But there was lot of great content, so we wanted to share this extended interview. It goes deeper into the fossil fuel sector, looks at the controversy over Pete Buttigieg’s climate advisor David Victor, and explores shifting dynamics in the media industry and how to be a responsible climate journalist.

Political Climate will be back soon with our Democratic and Republican co-hosts, Brandon Hurlbut and Shane Skelton. In the meantime, as you pack up your holiday decorations or prep for a New Year’s Eve party, we hope that you enjoy this bonus episode.

And while you’re here, please give us a rating and leave a review! Let us know what we’re doing well and what we can improve on in 2020. Thank you!

Recommended reading:

• HEATED: Is Pete Buttigieg's climate adviser a fossil fuel shill?
• GTM: How Oil and Gas Giants Are ‘Buying Options’ for an Uncertain Future

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

Is radical reform needed to remake the U.S. electricity grid? What’s the role of nuclear power in the U.S. energy mix? Which Democratic presidential candidate has the best climate plan? What’s the most effective approach to climate advocacy? And how should journalists be covering highly politicized issues in today’s highly polarized information landscape?

On this week's episode on Political Climate, we put these and other questions to David Roberts, acclaimed energy and politics reporter for Vox.  

As a leading voice in the space, he has helped tens of thousands of readers better understand wonky topics like performance-based utility regulation and how batteries can benefit the power grid. He has also waded into covering broader political issues, like how the impeachment of President Trump is feeding into a bifurcated information ecosystem and may be fueling an epistemic crisis for the country.

We thought it would be enlightening to end the 2019 season of Political Climate by asking Roberts a wide range of questions on American politics and how to save the planet. We hope you enjoy the interview, and we will be back with new episodes in the New Year!

Recommended reading:

• Vox: The radical reform necessary to prepare California’s power system for the 21st century
• Vox: John Kerry and the climate kids: a tale of 2 new strategies to fight climate change
• Vox: Donald Trump and the rise of tribal epistemology
• Vox: With impeachment, America’s epistemic crisis has arrived

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

It’s week two of the United Nations COP25 climate summit, and it’s the last few days of Congress before the winter recess. 

What have American policymakers accomplished? 

We get an update from the U.S. Climate Action Center on site at the UN climate talks. We look at wildfire victim relief in California. And we discuss 12 pieces of clean energy legislation that House Republicans are calling on Democrats to support. What's the political strategy at play?

Plus, a prominent former senator weighs in on the climate, energy and security nexus and how to avoid the game of “political football” that climate policy has become today.

Later in this show, we speak to former Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire about what she calls “common-sense” solutions to combat climate change.

Recommended reading:

• Al Jazeera: As Trump walks away from climate pact, America's Pledge steps up
• Vox: The future of the Paris climate agreement is being decided this week
• NYT: PG&E Reaches $13.5 Billion Deal With Wildfire Victims
• E&C: Bipartisan Solutions to Protect the Environment and the Economy

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

Fossil fuel companies could be facing a Big Tobacco moment.

This fall, Exxon Mobil went to court, facing charges that the oil giant lied to shareholders and to the public about the costs and consequences of climate change. And that’s just one of several legal cases seeking to hold oil and gas firms responsible for their contribution to global warming.

As we discuss with UCLA environmental law professor Ann Carlson in this episode of Political Climate, the litigation could cost fossil fuel companies billions of dollars and fundamentally change the way the world approaches energy production. 

But lawsuits aren’t the only venue for challenging the fossil fuel industry. This battle is also being waged in the court of public opinion, which has put a spotlight on how oil companies can promote their positions on social media. In this episode, we also hear from journalist Emily Atkin, author of the newsletter Heated, about why she and others are angry about the oil industry’s political ads.

With the United Nations COP25 climate summit also taking place this week, fossil fuels are in the crosshairs.

Recommended reading:

• Inside Climate: Where the Major Climate Change Lawsuits Stand Today
• Heated: Exxon climate ads aren’t "political," according to Twitter
• Axios: To tackle climate change, clean energy isn’t enough
• NYT: ‘Bleak’ U.N. Report on a Planet in Peril Looms Over New Climate Talks
• GTM: Spanish Oil Giant Repsol Sets Net-Zero Emissions Target for 2050

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

The holidays can be difficult. It can be tough to get along in these polarized times. Family conversations on climate change can get heated. We get it.

Sometimes we have those heated conversations on this show. But it’s all in the interest of breaking out of our self-contained opinion bubbles.

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, on this episode of Political Climate we say thank you to our listeners for engaging with this podcast — even when the feedback comes in the form of a mean Tweet.

Then we cheers to the climate action happening on both sides of the aisle in an extended edition of our “Say Something Nice” segment of the show, where our Democrat and Republican co-hosts have to say something redeeming about the opposing political party.

Gobble. Gobble.

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

In the shadow of public impeachment hearings, a group of House Democrats is attempting to advance a bold climate action plan that the entire party can rally around. 

On Thursday, House members introduced legislation that would set a nationwide goal of achieving a 100 percent clean energy economy by 2050. The bill was announced with more than 150 co-sponsors.

In this episode of Political Climate, we conduct an exclusive in-depth interview with one of the bill’s authors, Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY). Tonko serves as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's environment and climate change subcommittee, where he’s been holding hearings for several weeks to flesh out what a 100 percent clean economy would look like. 

"There is a lot going on beyond the impeachment inquiries that have begun, and the people need to know that," Tonko said.

We ask Rep. Tonko about the newly introduced 100% Clean Economy Act of 2019 and get his outlook on how to get the bill to the president's desk. Plus, we get his thoughts on extending clean energy tax credits and what he makes of the Republican stance on climate policy. (Interview segment begins 13:50)

This week’s show opens with a first-hand account of what happened at the California Democratic State Convention, and with takeaways from a lunch with Southern Republican lawmakers touring California for tips on how to grow their local clean energy sectors. 

Recommended reading:

• McEachin, Haaland, Dingell, Blumenauer, Tonko & Pingree Introduce 100% Clean Legislation
• Washington Examiner: House Democrats Plan 100% Clean Economy Bill Thursday to Unite Party 
• GTM: Renewable Tax Credits Get Another Shot in Congress
• NYT: Obama Says Average American Doesn’t Want to ‘Tear Down System’

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

We’re officially less than one year away from the 2020 election.

What do the latest polls tell us about how the presidential candidates are stacking up? What do the 2019 elections tell us about how this could play out? And what does all of this mean for climate and energy policy?

In this episode of Political Climate, we look at Democrat wins in Virginia and Kentucky. We also discuss the results of a New York Times/Siena College poll that offers a mixed bag for Democratic candidates.

Plus, billionaire climate-action champion Michael Bloomberg flirts (once again) with entering the 2020 race. Does his campaign stand a chance?

Finally, we discuss a rift between Democrats and Republicans over climate language included in a defense bill. Are Democrats stalling on this climate measure in hopes for a bigger legislative win?

Recommended reading:

• GTM: Virginia’s Democratic Sweep and Its Implications for Dominion Energy’s Future
• NYT: Recent Polls Show Trump’s Support Is Flagging in the Suburbs — and Beyond
• CS Monitor: Why these Kentucky Democrats still love President Trump
• Cook Political: Democrats Need to Mind the Gap Between Their Base and Swing Voters
• BBC: US election 2020: Michael Bloomberg mulls presidential bid
• Washington Examiner: Why a key Democrat is holding back a bipartisan climate bill

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

If you’re following political news then you’ve probably heard of The Squad, a group of four newly elected congresswomen advocating for progressive policies like the Green New Deal.

But have you heard of the New Democrat Coalition and its plans for dealing with climate change? In this episode of Political Climate, we hear from a lawmaker who is leading that charge.

Last year, Sean Casten ran one of the most overtly pro-climate action campaigns of the 2018 midterms, in a historically Republican district. In the end, Casten, a biochemical engineer and a clean energy entrepreneur, beat out six-term Republican Rep. Peter Roskam.

Rep. Casten’s race in the Illinois 6th District was identified as a 2018 battleground that could have determined whether or not Democrats took control of the House. And it’s a moderate, suburban district that Democrats will want to keep in 2020.

As you’ll hear in this interview, Rep. Casten is intent on finding solutions to climate change and doesn’t shy away from getting wonky on topics like energy storage and attracting capital to the solar sector. But he also has a critical view of some of the policies his fellow Democrats have put forward.

Recommended reading:

• New Democrat Coalition Climate Principles
• ThinkProgress: Newly elected Democratic congressman casts doubt on Green New Deal
• GTM: A Green Wave? How Climate and Clean Energy Are Playing Into the 2018 Midterms

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

There has been no shortage of climate related news in recent days ⁠— from President Trump’s attack on California’s emissions-trading system to Senator Schumer’s $450 billion electric vehicle proposal, and disastrous wildfires raging in the West to the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy in the East.

It’s a grab bag of climate headlines on this week’s episode of Political Climate.

We begin by revisiting the wildfire crisis in California, as co-host Shane Skelton copes with a power outage and warnings that his community may soon have to evacuate. Governor Gavin Newsom's administration inherited this challenge, but now that he's in power what's his plan for coping with it?

Next we look at the Trump administration's attack on a foundational California climate policy: its cap-and-trade system. Did California overstep by partnering with the province of Quebec? We also look at the latest developments in the clash over California's clean vehicle standards.

Finally, we check in on the new bipartisan climate caucus in the Senate and debate the Republican backlash over the Democrats' climate agenda in the House.

Recommended reading:

• Vox: Wildfires and blackouts mean Californians need solar panels and microgrids
• SacBee: Gov. Newsom calls for Warren Buffett to buy PG&E as widespread power shutoffs continue
• WSJ: Trump Administration Sues California Over Cap-and-Trade Market
• Reuters: Senate Democrat Schumer proposes plan to swap gas cars for electric vehicles
• Reuters: GM, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler back Trump on California Emissions Challenge
• Washington Examiner: Republicans mount counter to Democrats’ ‘100 by 50’ climate plan

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

Are cites the world’s best hope for combating climate change? Many cities have committed to meeting the Paris Agreement goals. But are those targets translating to action on the ground?

In this episode of Political Climate, we look at San Diego’s quest to achieve 100 percent carbon free electricity by 2035 and what other cities can learn from this experience. 

We recorded this episode at the UCSD School of Global Policy and Strategy, where we were joined by Cody Hooven, the first chief sustainability officer for the City of San Diego.

We covered everything from how the city’s Republican mayor pushed through a bold climate action plan, to the community choice aggregation program San Diego is pursuing, to how cities are coping with the intersection of climate and equity issues. 

Before delving into the role that cities play in the fight against climate change, we touched on a few federal climate related news items. Here’s that conversation, we hope you enjoy.

Recommended reading:

• Politico: Trump to nominate Dan Brouillette as Energy secretary
• The Hill: Senate Dems lose forced vote against EPA power plant rule
• WSJ: City Pledges for ‘100% Renewable Energy’ Are 99% Misleading
• San Diego Tribune: San Diego City Council takes the leap into community choice energy
• GTM: San Diego Moves Ahead With 100% Clean Energy Community Choice Program

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

Last week, Pacific Gas & Electric, intentionally cut the power off to 800,000 electricity customers in Northern California — affecting roughly 2 million people — in an attempt to avoid sparking another potentially deadly wildfire.  

Classes were cancelled, businesses closed, food spoiled and people who rely on medical devices panicked. There was no fire, but the blackout has caused tempers to flare and political tensions to rise.  

How did we get to a point where California’s largest utility is resorting to planned power outages to prevent destructive wildfires? And how will politicians manage the increasing risk that wildfires present going forward?

We discuss on this week’s episode of Political Climate with Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University and a member of California's Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery (begins 17:00).

We kick off the show with a look at the fourth Democratic presidential debate, plus Brandon announces his 2020 candidate! As always, we end with our segment: “Say Something Nice.” 

Political Climate is recording a live show at UC San Diego on Monday, October 21st. The event begins at 5pm and it’s free. You just need to sign up here. So if you’re in the San Diego area — come join us!

Recommended reading:

• GTM: California on Edge as PG&E’s Power Outage Plan Goes Into Effect
• LA Times: There’s a quick way to help prevent wildfires: Shut off the power grid
• Guardian: California power shutoffs: when your public utility is owned by private investors
• NPR: PG&E's Blackouts Panic California's Vulnerable Population
• LA Times: Newsom and legislative leaders decline to embrace changes to California’s wildfire liability law
• WaPo: Green groups grapple with how to respond to Hunter Biden's gas company role
• Eventbrite: Political Climate podcast live show

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

This week, we bring you a special episode from our friends at The Years Project. 

David Gelber, creator of the Emmy Award-winning series “Years of Living Dangerously,” has teamed up with Jeff Nesbit, executive director of Climate Nexus and author of the book This is the Way the Earth Ends, on a new podcast called Climate 2020. 

Each week David and Jeff will discuss the latest developments in the political fight to mitigate the climate crisis in the lead up to the 2020 election. In this episode, they speak with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes about where the Democratic candidates stand on climate and which policy proposals make the most sense. 

They also discuss the recent climate strikes and UN Climate Action Summit, as well as new climate news project from veteran journalist Kyle Pope. Then they hear from voters in a Pennsylvania swing district.  

Political Climate has a shared mission to create a robust climate action dialogue in the lead-up to the 2020 election, so we’re publishing the first episode of Climate 2020 this week on the feed. Next week, we will return to our regularly scheduled programming. 

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

Millions of young people took to the streets last month to demand governments take bolder action on climate. 

Days later, world leaders assembled at the United Nations for the Secretary General's high-profile Climate Action Summit, where dozens of countries pledged to strengthen their climate goals.

But did any of this resonate with American policymakers? 

In this week’s episode of Political Climate we discuss takeaways from the Climate Strikes and UN climate summit, and how these events have (or haven't) influenced U.S. politics. 

We share excerpts from an exclusive interview with Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, host of the upcoming COP25 climate talks set to take place in Santiago this December. And we analyze how calls to action are being received by U.S. politicians.

Recommended reading:

• Vox: The UN Climate Action Summit was a disappointment
• KCRW: The UN: Climate change and future generations
• NPR: 'Game Recognizes Game': A Bipartisan Bond In The Age Of Impeachment
• Atlantic Council: Exclusive interview on climate leadership with H.E. Sebastián Piñera, president of Chile

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

Federal news tends to steal the limelight, but when it comes to spearheading innovative climate and energy policy states are really where the action is at.

World leaders gathered at the United Nations Climate Action Summit earlier this week, where Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on countries to boost their commitments to fighting the climate crisis with concrete plans rather than platitudes. But while President Trump stopped by the summit on Monday, the U.S. was effectively absent from the high profile event.

In fact, the federal government has been pulling back on its climate commitments. But there is still climate leadership to be found in the United States ⁠— it’s just coming largely from the subnational level.

In this week's episode of Political Climate, we discuss how states are leading the way on climate and clean energy policy in the absence of federal action.

We'll share an interview with New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on how she’s transitioning her fossil fuel heavy state to 100 percent clean electricity while also cleaning up the extraction industry.

Then we'll bring you a conversation recorded live at the National Association of State Energy Officials annual meeting earlier this month , where we sat down with NASEO’s seasoned legal expert Jeff Genzer to discuss how both red and blue states (including some you might not expect) are implementing innovative carbon reducing policies. 

Recommended reading:

• NYT: At U.N. Climate Summit, Few Commitments and U.S. Silence
• GTM: New Mexico Governor to Sign 100% Clean Electricity Bill ‘As Quickly As Possible’
• Reuters: Minnesota, New Mexico to adopt California vehicle emissions rules
• EcoWatch: States March toward 100% Clean Energy – Who’s Next?
• CCL: Bipartisan climate working group forms in Senate, led by Sens. Coons, Braun

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

Youth activists are spearheading a powerful political movement around addressing the climate crisis.

For many people, this is a moment of both fear and hope — global carbon emissions continue to increase, at the same time as demands for global climate action grow louder. Will 2019 be remembered as the year humanity turned a corner in the fight against climate change?

In this episode of Political Climate, we bring you a special interview with a group of leading youth activists ahead of the Global Climate Strike and United Nations Climate Change Summit.

We speak with Kelsey Juliana and Vic Barrett, two of the 21 plaintiffs in the Juliana v. United States lawsuit over the right to a safe climate and livable future, as well as and Jamie Margolin, co-founder of the organization Zero Hour and a plaintiff in a lawsuit alleging Washington State has failed to adequately regulate greenhouse gases.

But first we hear from Jonah Gottlieb, director of Schools for Climate Action and the executive director of the National Children’s Campaign, who is currently in Washington D.C. with famed teen activist Greta Thunberg and other youth leaders. What does it feel like for these young people to finally have so much attention on the climate threat?

Recommended reading:

• Grist: How 21 meddling kids could force a major turnaround on climate
• New Yorker: The Right to a Stable Climate Is the Constitutional Question of the Twenty-First Century
• CNN: NYC says its 1.1 million students can skip class for the climate strike (as long as their parents say OK)
• Rolling Stone: The Climate Crisis and the Case for Hope

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

Who stood out at the CNN Climate Crisis Town Hall? How did conservatives react? Did general voters even care?

Democratic presidential candidates covered a lot of ground over the course of the seven-hour climate policy telethon — from fracking bans to a new CarbonStar program, coal worker retraining programs to a major environmental justice fund. While there was widespread consensus on the need for climate action, some key differences also emerged between the contenders.

We discuss the top takeaways from town hall, as well as the latest candidate climate plans, in this week’s episode of Political Climate.

To understand how the Democratic platforms resonated on the right, we’re joined by Charles Hernick, director of policy and advocacy at Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, a non-profit organization founded to engage Republican policymakers and the public on conservative solutions to meeting the nation’s energy needs while preserving the environment.

Emma Foehringer Merchant, staff writer for Greentech Media, also joins the show to explain what’s new and novel in the latest release of candidate climate proposals. 

Recommended reading:

• GTM: Climate Town Hall Exposes Key Differences Among Democratic Front-Runners
• NYT: 5 Takeaways From the Democrats’ Climate Town Hall
• AP/US News: Democrats Step on Shaky Political Ground With Fracking Bans
• GTM: Coal Miners Doubt Promises of an Inclusive Energy Transition
• National Clean Energy Week

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and thanks to invaluable support from producer Victoria Simon.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Overcast or any of these other services.

The Democratic presidential primary is heating up, so we break down where the candidates stand on climate.

Labor Day Weekend typically marks a shift in a presidential campaign. Things get more serious and the field starts to winnow down.

And sure enough, the number of Democratic contenders is starting to decline with Jay Inslee, John Hickenlooper and Kirsten Gillibrand stepping out of the race in recent days.

In this episode of Political Climate, we examine how the remaining candidates stack up on climate policy, and take a close look at new proposals from Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang.

Emma Foehringer Merchant, staff writer for Greentech Media, has reported extensively on the Democratic primary candidates’ climate and energy plans and helps us walk through the numerous proposals.

Recommended reading:

• GTM: Bernie Sanders Proposes Huge Renewables Build-Out and Publicly Owned Power
• Vox: Andrew Yang’s plan to tackle climate change, explained
• CNN: Jay Inslee drops out of 2020 presidential election
• GTM: The 2020 Democratic Primary: GTM’s Definitive Climate and Energy Guide

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Overcast or any of these other services! 

Is abolishing the filibuster necessary in order for Congress to pass meaningful climate legislation?

A handful of Democratic presidential candidates have called for throwing out the Senate rule, claiming that it exacerbates gridlock in Washington DC.

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also believes that abolishing the filibuster is critical to passing legislation and tackling the most important issues facing the United States, including climate change. But could killing the filibuster end up making U.S. politics even more volatile?

We discuss with Senator Reid himself on this week’s episode of Political Climate. Plus we get his views on the Green New Deal and whether or not he sees hyper-partisanship subsiding in the U.S. anytime soon.

Recommended reading:

• NYT: The Filibuster Is Suffocating the Will of the American People
• Vox: The Democratic debate over filibuster reform, explained
• WaPo: Where 2020 Democratic candidates stand on the electoral college, court packing and changes to democracy
• Vice: Harry Reid: 'Of Course' Medicare for All and Decriminalizing Border Crossings Are Bad Ideas
• Hood to Coast Relay Fundraiser

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.

Subscribe to the Political Climate podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Overcast or any of these other services!