Climate Sense

Burning fossil fuels for energy is the primary source of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, fossil fuels are so central to the global economy that phasing them out will take time. Host Samantha Gross speaks with Deepak Anand from GHGSat and Halfdan Millang from IFC Finance about how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in oil and gas production, through eliminating methane emissions and flaring.

Show notes and transcript

Climate Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Activists and civil society groups are very focused on climate change. They use a number of different tactics, from peaceful marches to more disruptive acts of civil disobedience to further their cause. Host Samantha Gross speaks with Dana R Fisher, director of the Center for Environment, Community, and Equity at American University about the goals of these actions, whether they change public opinion on climate, and how they compare to past social justice movements.

Show notes and transcript

Climate Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

The transition of our energy system away from fossil fuels will drastically increase the world’s need for certain minerals. This episode describes what some of these critical minerals are, the current state of supply, and how to ensure adequate supply in the future. Host Samantha Gross speaks with Heidi Crebo-Rediker of the Council on Foreign Relations, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernie Moniz, and Doug Wicks of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Show notes and transcript

Climate Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, so clearly it must be involved in any effort to minimize climate change. But relations between the United States and China have gotten much more challenging in the last few years. Host Samantha Gross speaks with Heidi Crebo-Rediker from the Council on Foreign Relations and Eyck Freymann of Stanford’s Hoover Institution about China’s views and actions on climate change and whether there is room for cooperation between the two countries.

Show notes and transcript

Climate Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Finance is needed to turn climate ambition into action, to transform the energy system to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and to make our infrastructure more resilient to climate-related events. The need for finance is especially acute in the developing world. Host Samantha Gross talks with Amar Bhattacharya of Brookings and David Victor of UC San Diego about how to get important climate projects financed.

Show notes and transcript

Climate Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

The climate implications of our “stuff” economy—appliances, cars, clothes, roads, buildings and more—are enormous. The industrial sector that makes all this stuff accounts for 30 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. In this episode, host Samantha Gross talks with Rebecca Dell, senior director for industry at ClimateWorks Foundation, about ways to make the industrial economy—from steel to chemicals to plastics—cleaner.

Show notes and transcript

Climate Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

The world needs emissions-free electricity that is available when and where we want it, rather than on Mother Nature’s schedule as wind and solar generation are. Nuclear power has the potential to be that source. In this episode, host Samantha Gross talks with former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernie Moniz, who says that fission reactors, the kind in use today, have the potential to become safer and less expensive. And fusion reactors, long the holy grail of carbon-free energy, are quickly moving from science fiction toward reality.

Show notes and transcript

Climate Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

The first episode of season two of Climate Sense, hosted by Samantha Gross, is all about hydrogen. Hydrogen will have an important role in a zero carbon energy system, enabling decarbonization of energy end-uses that cannot easily use electricity. Hydrogen is made today by splitting molecules of either water or natural gas, using significant energy in the process, so it’s important to reserve hydrogen for its highest and best uses. However, future production of geologic hydrogen could be game-changing, giving us a zerocarbon fossil fuel.

Show notes and transcript

Climate Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In season two of Climate Sense, host Samantha Gross focuses on how to transition to a clean, zero-carbon energy system—the technical, political and social challenges in getting from here to there. She'll talk to leading experts and government officials on a range of approaches to this zero-carbon goal, including hydrogen, nuclear, and securing critical minerals as well as climate finance, the role China plays in pursuing global emissions reductions, and whether climate activism is moving the needle on climate action.

Climate Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

This episode of Climate Sense is a Q&A with host Samantha Gross, including questions sourced from our listeners on a wide range of topics from climate as a national emergency, to electrification, bipartisan action, and adaptation versus mitigation. Concerns about the speed and consequences of climate change are valid and at times quite scary, but that doesn’t mean we should not talk about the energizing and hopeful potential of climate solutions.

Transcript and show notes: https://brook.gs/3G6klix

Climate Sense podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to [email protected].

This episode of “Climate Sense” is about U.S. policy—the challenges of implementing climate legislation in the U.S. and recently enacted laws. Climate change and other environmental issues are caught up in our country’s increasingly polarized politics. Nonetheless, new climate legislation will bring real benefits to people—with emphasis on financing existing technologies, innovation for new solutions, and promoting U.S. industry.

Transcript and show notes: https://brook.gs/3FduycD

Climate Sense podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to [email protected].

In this episode of “Climate Sense,” Samantha Gross explores the issue of justice and fairness in global climate action. Many of the world’s poorest countries have contributed the least to existing greenhouse gases but are on the front lines of the changing climate. It is not enough to have science, knowledge, and resources. What is essential to climate justice is making sure that climate change is not an excuse to let the developing world shoulder the work and costs of reducing emissions.

Transcript and show notes: https://brook.gs/3hYl6k0

Climate Sense podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to [email protected].

Americans love cars, and trucks, and SUVs. Our country is designed around the automobile. This episode of Climate Sense, hosted by Samantha Gross, is about transportation–an important part of our culture, our energy use, and our greenhouse gas emissions. She talks with two experts on the use of electric vehicles and seeks answers to the transportation challenge. What is the solution? Expanding our perceptions on the way we get around.

Transcript and show notes: https://brook.gs/3Ggy5I6

Climate Sense podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to [email protected].

This episode of “Climate Sense” is about electricity—the stuff that comes out of the outlet in your wall. Electricity is the future, but many of us don’t think about it beyond the wall plug. In this episode, Samantha Gross explains that electricity is central to transforming our energy system. The costs of wind and solar electricity have plummeted in recent years, making them no longer cool and expensive, but now cool and cheap, in many cases cheaper than the fossil fuel electricity they replace. And electricity is a clean, quiet, and very efficient method for using energy in everything from homes to transportation to industry.

Transcript and show notes: https://brook.gs/3E1c9ir

Climate Sense podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to [email protected].

Addressing climate change must be a global undertaking, even though the world’s wealthy nations have been responsible for most of the global warming to date. In this episode of “Climate Sense,” Samantha Gross speaks with experts on why climate is such a challenging political problem, what it took to get an agreement in Paris in 2015, and how the world can collaborate on this thorniest of global problems.

Transcript and show notes: https://brook.gs/3DNlE4L

Climate Sense podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to [email protected].

Fossil fuels built the modern world and brought us conveniences that we now take for granted, but science has made it clear that we need to move away from fossil fuels to prevent the worst effects of climate change. However, the energy system is the backbone of the global economy, and changing it quickly is a huge task. In this episode of Climate Sense, Samantha Gross speaks with Daniel Yergin about our energy system—how we got here and the challenges in moving to a new, greener energy system.

Transcript and show notes: https://brook.gs/3Szzsnq

Climate Sense podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to [email protected].

Climate change is all over the news these days. We hear about hurricanes and heatwaves, droughts and floods, and young people protesting to fix the problem now. Climate change was a centerpiece of President Biden’s campaign in 2020, but it is still a divisive issue in U.S. politics. In this inaugural episode of Climate Sense, Samantha Gross and her guests address the science and origins of climate change and the sources of the pollutants that are warming our world.

Transcript and show notes: https://brook.gs/3DrDsST

Climate Sense podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to [email protected].

From hurricanes and floods, to wildfires and extreme temperatures, climate change is happening all around us. In this podcast series, energy and climate expert Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution, sheds light on the essentials of climate change and how to deal with it. She talks to other experts in various climate-related areas to help you understand the issue. How serious is climate change and what causes it? How does our energy system work and why do we use fossil fuels anyway? What are potential solutions and are they ready for prime time? Why is it taking so long for the world to act?

Episodes 1 and 2 debut on October 26.

Climate Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to [email protected].