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Many experts argue that massive government mobilization on the scale of World War II deployment is needed to address the catastrophe of climate change. Such is the scope of the Green New Deal, a policy calling for 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, universal health care, living wages, and jobs guarantees. But some economists argue it could cost between $51 trillion and...
Experts believe climate change is not a technological problem, it’s a social problem. Americans have diverse and opposing views about global warming, which fundamentally shape the politics of climate change. What are the recent, and often surprising, trends in American knowledge, attitudes, and behavior on the issue? Where do liberals and conservatives across age and regio...
Dr. Eliza Nemser, geoscientist and executive director of Climate Changemakers, on how to recognize your own agency in the climate crisis.
Cities are responsible for 70 percent of global carbon emissions, and by 2050, two out of every three people will live in one. Fortunately, cities are getting serious about environmental footprint — New York announced its own Green New Deal, Melbourne aims to be carbon neutral by 2020, and Los Angeles will use 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. Mayors are often more nim...
The colorful story behind the latest energy bonanza in this red state is the story of entrepreneurs, environmentalists, ranchers, and politicians of all stripes who developed public policy that unleashed Texas’s renewable growth. Long known for oil and gas, Texas is dominated by a conservative legislature and governor’s office. But politics is local, business is business,...
A 2018 UN report on climate change urged swift and unprecedented action to curb the rise of the planet’s temperature. Experts argue that avoiding a crisis will require significant breakthroughs in technology, a full stop on fossil fuel projects, fundamental changes to the way we feed the world, and ubiquitous carbon policies. Who will lead the charge towards a multilateral...
As secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres led the global adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. But she was not always so hopeful, and recalls a turning point as she consciously shifted her attitude from despair to stubborn optimism. Jeff Goodell, author of The Water Will Come sits down with Figueres to reve...
Most people now agree that climate change is real and that humans are causing it. But that’s where the consensus stops. Political pollster and strategist Frank Luntz, known for pioneering political focus groups, believes there is a better way to reach more people, more effectively in order to mobilize real action on climate change. In this highly interactive talk, he’ll sh...
The Colorado River Compact is 100 years old, and its guidelines for water use across the American West are about to expire. Facing drought, increased population, and disagreements on how to share the water, what policies and technologies could get a new agreement across the finish line? John Entsminger, Nevada’s lead negotiator for the Compact; Bidtah Becker, attorney with...
Even if we stopped emitting carbon tomorrow, trillions of tons would remain in our atmosphere, causing climate change for generations. While natural, agricultural drawdown techniques are being deployed, high-tech carbon capture tools are getting major buzz in the environmental movement. From direct air capture to retrofitting power plants, what are the most promising solut...
Two US Department of Agriculture Secretaries, one past, one present, come together to talk about American food policies. Agricultural supports and other decisions made on US soil, and the trade agreements we negotiate around the world, have powerful effects on the global food supply; land conservation; the use of water, nitrogen, and pesticides; and animal and plant diseas...
The health effects of climate change sound a clarion warning that we must attend to a rapidly deteriorating environment. Polluted cities, severe droughts and flooding, and devastating storms are portents of a world in which risks to the health of the planet and the health of families are closely linked. We urgently need visionary and strategic leaders who can identify and...
Last year the State of Washington, one of the most progressive in the country, voted against a carbon tax. Why? Do we face major resistance as climate policies land on ballots across the country, even though awareness and concern for the issue is at a historical high? Can we avoid hurting middle-class Americans and focus instead on corporations? What is working in other co...
Federal funds could not be used to pay for sugar-sweetened beverages under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps), if recommendations from the Bipartisan Policy Center are adopted. In its 2018 report, Leading with Nutrition, the center calls for restrictions and incentives that would recast SNAP as a tool for healthy eating. Other...
Population growth, shifting agricultural practices, and altered weather patterns are weighing on the food supply, a pressure that will only intensify over the next 30 years, when the planet holds an estimated 10 billion inhabitants. Rising temperatures will reduce crop yield and spawn more pests, higher carbon dioxide levels will lessen the nutritional value of food, and f...
How is constitutional law being harnessed to address climate change? Ahead of Aspen Ideas: Climate, we caught up with Andrea Rodgers, Senior Attorney at Our Children's Trust, whose environmental law practice is fighting on behalf of young people and future generations.
Jeffrey Sachs is distressed about the political and social atmosphere in the United States.
Our coffee makers, phone chargers, washing machines — our lives — are powered by the humble flip of a switch or press of a button. And it’s easy to lose sight of where the energy that powers our everyday conveniences comes from. Fossil fuels, predominantly through transportation and electricity, account for roughly 74 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions. As the principa...
How are business leaders navigating rising expectations from employees, investors, customers, and communities in a fractured political environment, while progressing on the long-term success of their companies? Hear from executives working in real time to balance competing interests, and about what they see ahead.