Episodes

When Neil Chatterjee was appointed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by President Trump in 2017, stakeholders in the climate and clean energy space were concerned about what his agenda would be. Headlines dubbed him “McConnell’s coal guy” and “fossil fuel champion Chatterjee,” referring to his role as a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). But Chatterjee has proven to be much more than a “coal guy,” despite his sympathies for struggling Kentucky coal communiti...

2020 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for fossil fuel divestment. Despite economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a growing number of countries, companies and financial institutions are committing to quit coal and are beginning to ditch oil and gas projects, too. In this episode of Political Climate’s special DITCHED series, host Julia Pyper speaks to Tim Buckley at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) about what’s driving the increase in fossil ...

The coronavirus pandemic has created an opportunity to reboot the American economy in a way that is cleaner and helps to mitigate climate change for future generations. But it’s not only that, this is also a moment to build back the U.S. economy with more resilience. The word “resilience” is thrown around frequently. But what does it really mean? And how should leaders be factoring resilience into their recovery efforts? In this episode, we speak to Norfolk, Virginia City Councilwoman Andria M...

A growing number of financial institutions are moving their investments from fossil fuels into less polluting projects and resources. So what do oil and gas companies make of this shift? Some of them are waking up to the clean energy transition in response to investor pressure. But there are leaders and laggards when it comes to oil and gas companies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. There are also valid concerns about greenwashing. And yet, some of these firms are fundamentally reshaping ...

In the past two years, climate change has gone from the back burner to the center stage. Why? It all started with a protest in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in 2018. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez teamed up with a then-obscure youth activist group called Sunrise Movement to launch the fight for a Green New Deal. It took a lot of planning, courage, and luck to make the protest happen. We bring you the inside story of the Pelosi sit-in on this special episode from Generation Green New Deal, ...

Banks don’t just hold on to your dollars and cents, they also play a role in addressing the climate crisis. In the latest episode of Political Climate's DITCHED series, we take a closer look at the banking sector and what institutions like JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and others can do to fight global warming. Patrick McCully, climate and energy director at the Rainforest Action Network, explains how activists are pressuring banks to clean up their act through initiatives like...

Young Americans voted in record numbers during the 2020 election and played a key role in tipping the scales to Joe Biden. Early research shows that climate change was a major driver of that robust turnout. The Sunrise Movement and other environmental groups mounted extensive campaigns to register and mobilize voters to oppose President Trump and vote climate champions into office. Biden’s climate platform isn’t the Green New Deal plan that many climate activists called for, and Democrats will...

Americans are waiting with bated breath for the results of a long and contentious election. At the time of publication, former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden looks poised to take the White House, while Republicans are likely to hold on to the Senate. But the final outcome of this unprecedented pandemic election remains uncertain, with ballots still being counted in several key states. In this episode, we discuss what we know so far — from the top of the ticket down to local ballot initiati...

What comes after November 3? As presidential candidates make their closing arguments, many stakeholders in the climate and energy community are already looking beyond Election Day. In this episode, experts discuss the top action items they’re watching for in a potential Biden versus returning Trump administration. What are the most tactical policy moves? Who will be making decisions? How will the private sector respond? What role will the courts play? We hear from Josh Freed, founder of Third ...

At least 40 million Americans have already cast a ballot in early voting, with still more than a week until Election Day. In this episode of Political Climate, we examine if environmental issues are mobilizing voters the way that analysts anticipated. Who are those voters and do they hold sway? We discuss with Nathaniel Stinnett, founder of the Environmental Voter Project, a non-partisan organization focused on identifying inactive environmentalists across the United States and turning them int...

There is a lot of money in American politics. Campaign spending in 2020 is expected to reach $11 billion dollars — making it the most expensive election in U.S. history. In light of these growing dollar figures, a group of billionaire donors from across the political spectrum say they’re laying down arms and joining forces to transform politics and tackle critical issues, such as climate change. The action plan is entitled: In This Together. In this episode, we speak to Dallas real estate sci...

How do you elect political candidates who will make tackling climate change a priority? In this episode, we speak to two groups attempting to figure that out and put climate change at the center of races up and down the ballot. In 2018, Caroline Spears launched the Climate Cabinet Action Fund to offer bespoke climate data, policy ideas and messaging suggestions to candidates and lawmakers. The organization currently focuses on the state level, where races are low-budget but highly consequential...

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden faced off in their first debate this week. To the surprise of many, Fox News moderator Chris Wallace asked the presidential candidates a series of questions on climate change. Energy and environmental issues got more air time on Tuesday night than at all 2016 presidential debates combined. On this week's episode of Political Climate, our hosts discuss takeaways from the debate (from snippets in between interruptions). Did Trump shift h...

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, more Americans worked in clean energy than there were school teachers in the country. The once booming sector is now experiencing hundreds of thousands of job losses as a result of the coronavirus recession. What will it take to not only get these jobs back but to grow the clean energy sector beyond where it was at the start of the year, putting the industry at the center of a U.S. economic recovery? In this episode of Political Climate, we speak to Ellen Hughes-C...

“Climate change poses a major risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system and to its ability to sustain the American economy.” That’s the top line takeaway from a landmark new report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. While the core finding isn’t entirely new, the CFTC report carries weight. “Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System,” commissioned by a panel of President Trump appointed federal regulators, is the first comprehensive federal government study to focus...

The youth climate movement has gained enormous momentum over the past few years. While progressive groups tend to be the most well known, conservative youth activists are also expanding their presence in American politics. The Republican Party stands to lose an entire generation of voters if it doesn’t embrace a more environmentally friendly agenda. We speak to Benji Backer, founder and president of the American Conservation Coalition, about what he thinks Republicans are getting right and wron...

In the face of a mounting climate crisis, financial institutions are reevaluating their relationships with coal, gas and oil. But while the divestment movement is picking up speed, it isn’t on a one way street. There is still lots of money flowing into fossil fuels through various public and private channels. At the same time, fossil fuel interests are spending heavily to influence policy that protects their assets and future growth opportunities. In this episode, we speak to Leah Stokes, assi...

Financial regulators have a key role to play in addressing the systemic risks presented by climate change. Arguably, it’s part of their mandate to safeguard financial markets and the real economy from disruptive shocks. Like the COVID-19 pandemic, change change has the potential to wreak havoc on asset valuations and economic stability, as well as the lives and livelihoods of millions of people — particularly if these events are poorly managed. We discuss the steps regulators can take to protec...

Is a green recovery within the oil and gas industry a contradiction in terms? Can these fossil fuel firms meaningfully decarbonize their businesses, while creating new jobs in a struggling economy and volatile energy market? We discuss with a panel of experts, including oil and gas giant BP, in this episode of Political Climate. The oil and gas industry was hit hard by COVID-19, but business was already rocky ahead of the pandemic. Oil and gas companies were under mounting societal pressure to ...

Fossil fuel divestment ain’t what it used to be. In a good way, if you ask advocates. In this episode — the second episode of Political Climate's special DITCHED miniseries — we get further into the weeds on what’s driving the Divest/Invest movement and where it’s going. We cover a lot and connect the dots in an interview with Justin Guay, director of global climate strategy at the Sunrise Project. Prior to joining Sunrise, Justin managed grant-making and strategy development for global coal c...

The Golden State is in a dark place. Power outages in the midst of a historic heatwave were followed by devastating wildfires. All of which comes on top of persistently high COVID-19 case numbers and a once roaring economy now faced with a $54 billion budget shortfall. But despite these challenges, there’s reason to believe that California can build back in an economically and environmentally sustainable way, says Tom Steyer, former Democratic presidential candidate, billionaire climate activis...

A decade ago, hopes that world leaders would rally around meaningful policies to combat climate change were at a low. The 2009 United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen had ended with little to show for it and the U.S. failed to pass a major climate bill the following year. Then in 2011, the first divestment campaigns struck up on college campuses. In the climate space, divestment is all about shifting capital out of fossil fuels — the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from huma...

You may have seen the headlines about universities ditching their fossil fuel investments. Or perhaps you saw the news that BlackRock, one of the world’s largest financial firms, is getting out of coal and putting climate change at the center of its investment strategy. Pension funds, insurers, family offices and others are also moving their assets out of the fossil fuel industry and re-assessing the risk these resources present to the planet and their bottom line. These are all pieces of a gr...

Texas, home of the U.S. oil and gas industry, has become a clean energy superpower. The state already leads the nation in wind-power generation and solar is booming. Last year, Texas generated more electricity from renewable energy sources than from coal. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic delivers a blow to the state’s struggling oil and gas industry, wind and solar production remain on a trajectory for continued record growth. The rise of renewable energy isn’t the only notable change taking p...