James Lawler
Viewing 24 of 161 Podcast Episodes
Climate News Weekly: Oct 30, 2023
Chevron acquires Hess, what happens to captured CO2 today, Hurricane Otis, and more
On today’s Climate News Weekly episode, James Lawler is joined by Dina Cappiello to discuss Chevron’s latest acquisition of Hess, what really happens when CO2 is captured in the US, the severe impacts of Hurricane Otis and what they mean, and more.
Climate Now: Oct 24, 2023
Pope Francis’ Laudate Deum: uniting faith and science in a call to climate action
In 2015, Pope Francis – head of the Catholic Church – published Laudato Si: On Care For Our Common Home, a “papal cyclical,” or open letter, to the world’s more than 1.3 billion Catholics about the ethical imperative of addressing climate change, a
Climate News Weekly: Oct 23, 2023
Grid Upgrades, Species Extinction, New European Reporting Rules, and more
On today’s Climate News Weekly episode, James Lawler, Julio Friedmann, and Dina Cappiello discuss the need to invest in our grids to ensure a reliable energy transition, in the US and abroad, the sobering reality that climate change is speeding up speci
Climate News Weekly: Oct 16, 2023
Tesla Price Drop, Exxon Buys Pioneer, New Hydrogen Hubs, and more
On today’s Climate News Weekly episode, James Lawler, Julio Friedmann, and Dina Cappiello discuss Tesla’s new prices for their electric vehicles, Exxon’s massive purchase of rival Pioneer Natural Resources for $60 billion, the announcement of
Climate Now: Oct 10, 2023
Energy Superhighways: Bridging the Gap for Clean Energy
The US’s energy system is at a crossroads. As more and more renewable energy projects come online and demand for electricity keeps rising, many utilities and developers are being asked to build more transmission infrastructure to bring all this power to
Climate News Weekly: Oct 9, 2023
Paying Firefighters, Oil Conference, Pope’s Message on Climate Action, and more
On today’s Climate News Weekly episode, James Lawler and Julio Friedmann discuss how a US government shut down could impact firefighter pay, the oil and gas industry Adipec conference and what it means ahead of COP28, the latest EV sale numbers, and how
Climate News Weekly: Oct 2, 2023
Climate Week NYC recap, IEA’s new 1.5°C scenario, new geothermal plant, and more
On today’s Climate News Weekly episode, Dina Cappiello recaps her Climate Week NYC experience. We discuss the International Energy Agency’s updated 1.5°C scenario, including an in-depth explanation of what a “scenario” is, China’s strong stance ag
Climate Now: Sep 26, 2023
Two views on the future of the US electricity grid
The United States’ aging electricity grid is a problem. Over 70% of the major transmission networks – which transfer electricity from power generation centers to endpoint users in homes and buildings, sometimes in other states – are at least 25 years old
Climate News Weekly: Sep 25, 2023
Decarbonizing Heavy Industry, Europe’s Deadly Air Quality, Insurance at Risk, and more
From a new White House climate jobs training program that echoes the Civilian Conservation Corp of the FDR era, to UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rolling back carbon reduction targets, global leaders are taking a stance after the UN’s Climate Week in New
Climate News Weekly: Sep 18, 2023
Apple’s Green Ad, Peak Fossil Fuels, G20, and more
This has been a big week for nations and companies ‘talking the talk’ about reducing their emissions footprints, from updated commitments at the G20 summit, to a carbon-neutral product launch by Apple, and the family that owns the Mærsk shipping company c
Climate Now: Sep 11, 2023
The IRA Progress Report
When the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law in August 2022, policy analysts predicted that the incentives it provided for renewable energy deployment, home electrification and EV adoption would put the U.S. on track to reach at least two third
Climate News Weekly: Sep 4, 2023
Hurricane Idalia, Insurance Companies Leaving FL and CA, Ecuador’s Big Climate Win, and more
This week, listen to our news segment with Dina Cappiello, in which we cover the drivers of hurricane Idalia’s destructive impact on Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, fueled by increased ocean temperatures. In Florida, insurance companies are leavi
Climate Now: Aug 28, 2023
Made in America: The next generation of solar
You may recall an Auxin Solar tariff case in which a small domestic solar PV manufacturer, Auxin Solar, alleged that solar cells produced in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam were circumventing U.S. trade duties against China. On August 18th, the U.S.
Climate Now: Aug 21, 2023
Building Solar Neighborhoods
There are over 8 billion square meters of rooftops in the US that are viable for solar energy generation, and could produce as much as 40% of national energy needs. And yet, only 8% of US households have installed rooftop solar panels. With so much availab
Climate Now: Aug 14, 2023
Climate Now Debates: Carbon Capture and Storage
One of the most controversial parts of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act – the most ambitious climate spending bill in history – was the large pot of federal dollars that could now subsidize the nascent Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) industry. The
Climate Now: Aug 7, 2023
Revolutionizing ammonia production
The Nobel-prize winning discovery of how to create synthetic ammonia has been called the “most momentous technical advance in history,” and for good reason. Today about half of the food consumed worldwide comes from the increased harvest yields resulting f
Climate Now: Jul 24, 2023
What happens after forests burn?
2020 was a record breaking season for forest fires in California. Over 4 million acres burned, releasing enough CO2 into the atmosphere to wipe out the prior 18 years of emissions reductions progress in the state. Effective forest restoration and management ca
Climate Now: Jul 17, 2023
Tracking Methane Leaks for Planet and Profit
In September 2022, two pipelines carrying natural gas from Russia across the floor of the North Sea were sabotaged, rupturing and emitting an estimated 500,000 tons of the potent greenhouse gas methane (the primary component of natural gas) into the atmosphere
Climate Now: Jul 11, 2023
Getting on track with home decarbonization
The Biden Administration in the U.S. has set a goal of achieving a net-zero emissions economy by 2050, which among other things means that U.S. households, and the appliances and machines that run within them, will need to be powered almost entirely by carbon-
Climate Now: Jun 26, 2023
In the Navy! There is a climate action plan
In 2003, the U.S. Department of Defense released a report entitled, “An abrupt climate change scenario and its implications for United States national security,” which “imagined the unthinkable” – that gradual global warming could lead to relatively
Climate Now: Jun 20, 2023
Less waste, more energy
Landfills emit about 2% of the world’s greenhouse gases, but in terms of lowering global emissions, they represent some of the lowest hanging fruit. When organic waste – like municipal food waste, agricultural waste, and forest residue – is disposed
Climate Now: Jun 12, 2023
This Week in Climate News: Fires, national EV charging standards, and the global stocktake
This Week in Climate News: One of the greatest difficulties in addressing climate change has been how invisible the crisis was. You cannot see the 40 billion metric tons of CO2 being added to the atmosphere each year, or necessarily feel that average global
Climate Now: Jun 5, 2023
What could climate instability mean to you?
Since humans began settling down and building civilizations 10,000 years ago, the Earth’s climate has been relatively stable. But before that, the climate was more unstable – unpredictable – and humans were nomads, forced to follow the good c
Climate Now: May 29, 2023
Episode 100: How to talk about climate change
A 2022 study by Yale University found that two thirds of Americans (67%) rarely or never talk about climate change, and rarely or never hear people they know talking about it either. Despite the existential threat that it poses, one third of Americans (32%)