Climate One At The Commonwealth Club

Today’s Climate One program looks at innovative policies and products that could power a new era of clean and affordable energy. Is it possible to capture the CO2 pouring out of coal smokestacks? Can we make plastic bottles that break down in the ocean and become fish food? What if drivers paid the true cost of burning fossil fuels? These are some of the solutions that could create a new path to both a sound economy and a healthy environment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new American Dream is an energy-efficient home in a healthy, green community, and HUD Secretary Julián Castro wants to make it affordable for everyone. Julián Castro, Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The meat industry has been much maligned for its part in climate change. But can raising cattle in pastures help turn global warming into global greening? Diana Donlon, Director, Cool Foods Campaign, Center for Food Safety Nicolette Hahn Niman, Author, Defending Beef: The Case for Sustainable Meat Production (Chelsea Green, 2014) Whendee Silver, Professor of Ecology, University of California, Berkeley This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on January 29, 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We tackle the facts and fantasies of clean energy. Using satellites in space to peer into the ocean deep; untangling the knot of oil, coal, nuclear and green power; and learning how storytelling can be a scientist’s best friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple tries to make conservation cool with energy-efficient products and green manufacturing practices. Can they lead the way to cleaner capitalism? Lisa Jackson, Vice President, Environmental Initiatives, Apple; Former Administrator, US Environmental Protection Agency Rajendra Pachauri, Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on January 14, 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With gas prices plummeting and support growing for a reduction on fossil fuels, what does the future hold for the oil industry? Must they adapt or perish? Lou Allstadt, Member, Citizens Climate Lobby; Former Executive Vice President, Mobil Oil Angus Gillespie, Vice President for CO2, Shell Oil Company Mary Nichols, Chair, California Air Resources Board This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on January 12, 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Biotechnology promises weed-resistant crops, bigger yields, more food for a growing population. But are genetically modified fruits and vegetables safe? Are they healthy? “Man has been improving crops from the beginning of time, whether it’s the tomato or the corn or all of our fresh fruits and vegetables,” says Robert Fraley of Monsanto. “There’s a whole set of tools that we’re going to need to be able to meet the challenge of food production for the future.” “This is about chemical companies selling chemicals,” says Andrew Kimbrell of the Center for Food Safety. “It’s not about feeding the earth. We have yet to see a GMO crop that has greater yield, that does anything about malnutrition, about a better taste, a lower cost.” In the face of climate change and its agricultural challenges, is biotechnology the answer? Should we be working to strengthen the world’s rural farming communities? Or is there a sustainable balance between Big Ag and the family farm? This program was recorded in front of a live audienc

The way we think influences what we think about wild weather. The human brain shapes how we see the risks of fossil fueled storms and the opportunities of clean energy. Our next program looks at the stories we tell ourselves – and each other. And how these stories can protect the climate and the economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jane Lubchenco oversaw NOAA during the worst 4-year weather period in U.S. history. What can we do to predict – or mitigate – future weather disasters? Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. Ecology, Harvard; Former Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Former President of American Academy of Arts and Sciences Alex Bakir, Director of Business Development, Planet Labs This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on December 16, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you believe in climate denial? According to climate scientists, it’s all around us. How can scientists learn to communicate to a skeptical public? Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard; Co-Author, Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco to Global Warming (Bloomsbury Press, 2011) Joe Romm, Founding Editor, Climate Progress; Author, Language Intelligence: Lessons on Persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga (CreateSpace, 2012) Eugenie Scott, Chair, National Center for Science Education This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on December 16, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Companies big and small are conjuring up new technologies, production methods and delivery systems to capitalize on the trend towards a green economy. Greg Dalton, Founder and Host, Climate One David Crane, CEO, NRG Energy, Inc. Katie Fehrenbacher, Reporter, GigaOm.com Adam Lowry, Co-Founder and Chief Greenskeeper, Method Products PBC Arun Majumdar, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University; former Vice President for Energy, Google This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on September 15, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coffee, beer and chocolate – oh my! How is global warming affecting our beloved guilty pleasures? Can growers and producers adapt to a changing climate? Ken Grossman, Co-Founder & CEO, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Paul Katzeff, Founder & CEO, Thanksgiving Coffee Company Brad Kintzer, Chief Chocolate Maker, TCHO Chocolate This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on November 20, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The way we think influences what we think about wild weather. The human brain shapes how we see the risks of fossil fueled storms and the opportunities of clean energy. Our next program looks at the stories we tell ourselves – and each other. And how these stories can protect the climate and the economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite abundant evidence that climate change threatens our planet, public concern is on the decline. How do we foster awareness of the imminent danger? Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology, UC Berkeley George Marshall, Author, Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change (Bloomsbury USA, 2014) Greg Dalton, Host and Founder, Climate One – Moderator This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on September 12, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The amount of food needed to feed the earth’s growing population is expected to double by mid-century. How will we manage the world’s food supply? Karen Ross, California Secretary of Food and Agriculture; former Deputy US Secretary of Agriculture Jonathan Foley, Executive Director, California Academy of Sciences Helene York, Director, Google Global Accounts at Bon Appétit Management Company This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on November 28, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By land, by sea or via the Keystone Pipeline, Canadian oil is coming to satisfy our energy thirst. But is our need for fossil fuel a foregone conclusion? David Baker, Energy Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle John Cushman, Author, Keystone and Beyond: Tar Sands and the National Interest in the Era of Climate Change (Inside Climate News, 2014); former New York Times reporter Dan Matross, Trade Commissioner on Science and Sustainable Technologies at the Consulate General of Canada This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on October 30, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Climate change exacerbates effects of both drought and flood conditions worldwide. Too much, then too little – how do we make sense of “water whiplash”? Brian Richter, Chief Water Scientist, The Nature Conservancy; Author, Chasing Water: A Guide for Moving from Scarcity to Sustainability (Island Press, 2014) Peter Gleick, President, Co-Founder, The Pacific Institute; Author, Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water (Island Press, 2011) Brooke Barton, Director, Water Program at Ceres This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on October 28, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can America balance its energy boom with the need to reduce carbon pollution? A discussion with U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on October 23, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s a big year for water politics in California. Will voters approve a $7.12 billion bond for water projects to help get us through a record drought? John Coleman, president, Association of California Water Agencies; board member, East Bay Municipal Utility District Danny Merkley, director of water resources, California Farm Bureau Federation Anthony Rendon, California Assemblyman (D-63); Chairman, State Water Parks and Wildlife Committee Lauren Sommer, reporter, KQED Science This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California in Lafayette on September 12, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crude oil is riding the rails to East Bay refineries at an increasing rate. How can local communities safeguard themselves against potential disaster? Speakers John Avalos, Member, Bay Area Air Quality Management District and San Francisco Board of Supervisors Jess Dervin-Ackerman, Conservation Program Coordinator, Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter Molly Samuel, Reporter, KQED Science Tupper Hull, Vice President, Strategic Communications Western States Petroleum Association Greg Dalton, Host and Founder, Climate One – Moderator This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on October 3, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices