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Dr. Katharine Wilkinson

Dr. Leah Stokes

Give up your climate guilt. Sharpen your curiosity. Join Dr. Leah Stokes and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson as they tell stories about the powerful forces behind climate change — and the tools we have to fix it. This show makes sense of big climate questions and critical topics. Our episodes are filled with stories of bold climate leadership, groundbreaking campaigns, and people doing their best to be part of the solution.

A Matter of Degrees is produced in partnership with FRQNCY Media, The 2035 Initiative at UC Santa Barbara, and The All We Can Save Project.

A Matter of Degrees

Dr. Kate Marvel builds climate models — digital worlds that simulate our possible futures. They can tell us how hot it will get, how high the seas will rise, and which forests will burn. But they can’t tell us what humans will do next — or how we’ll feel as the planet transforms.

In this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we talk with Kate about her new book, Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet. This conversation has it all: science, feelings, geoengineering, fossil fuel industry mischief, and even witches.

The Only Good Planet

”In the midst of a lot of big, bad things happening, there's one big good thing happening on planet Earth right now.”

Today on A Matter of Degrees, we’re bringing back the podcast’s very first guest — legendary activist and author Bill McKibben. Bill’s latest book, Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization, shows how clean energy can create a healthier, safer, more prosperous world.

Bill is also organizing “Sun Day” – a national day of action on September 21st to celebrate the power of clean energy. You can get involved in an event in your area by visiting SunDay.earth

In this episode, Bill takes us through the history of solar – how it became the cheapest energy on earth, its potential to transform our lives, and how we can harness it to heal our planet.

The Sun Is Having Its Day

Donald Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” took a sledgehammer to U.S. climate policy, including tax credits for clean cars and appliances. These incentives were helping people cut pollution, lower their energy bills, and make their homes more comfortable. Trump’s bill eliminates the credits by the end of this year. 

Wait, don’t change the channel—because these incentives haven’t expired yet! So for the next few months, there is a federally-funded BLOWOUT SALE on clean tech. Shop until your energy bills drop!

In this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we break down which credits are expiring, what they can do for you, and how to take advantage of them before they’re gone. We also dive into how the incentives were cutting pollution, improving people’s lives, and transforming our economy. Finally, we talk about what’s next for household electrification and how we can continue to make progress under the current administration. 

To help tell these stories, we bring on Ingrid Malmgren, the Senior Policy Director at Plug In America. Visit pluginamerica.org to learn more about electric vehicles and how to get one before federal incentives expire at the end of September. We’re also joined by Sarah Gracia, a Senior Go Solar Help Desk Associate at Solar United Neighbors. Visit solarunitedneighbors.org/help-desk to find resources to help you get solar panels on your home and save on your energy bills. Lastly, we hear from Saul Griffith, engineer, inventor, and clean energy entrepreneur. Saul Griffith’s new book “Plug In! The Electrification Handbook” walks you through how to electrify your home, save money, and cut climate pollution.

Cash In On Clean Tech Incentives (Before It's Too Late)

Thousands of people lost their homes in the Los Angeles wildfires. Now, they’re looking to their insurance companies to help them rebuild. But as the world warms, disasters like these are becoming more frequent and more severe, exposing an insurance system that isn’t equipped to cover the rising damages. In Los Angeles, people who lost everything were left to fend for themselves. This is just the latest example of how insurance is failing to keep up with climate change. 

In this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we’re joined by Dave Jones, California’s Insurance Commissioner from 2011 to 2018 and the current Director for the Climate Risk Initiative at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment. We dive into how the climate crisis is breaking our home insurance system, what we can do to fix it, and how to make fossil fuel companies pay their fair share.

The Climate Crisis Is Breaking Insurance

This week we are sharing a special bonus episode from Boiling Point, a new podcast produced by the LA Times and hosted by climate columnist Sammy Roth. This new audio series explores how climate change is impacting California and the American West. 

The first episode focuses on the recent wildfires in Los Angeles and what they mean for the future of the city. Sammy talks with Kelly Sanders, an engineering professor at USC and former White House advisor on energy policy, about how Los Angeles can look at resilience as it builds back. 

Boiling Point is an LA Times Studios podcast and releases new episodes every Thursday.

Presenting: L.A. Wildfires: Rebuilding for a Hotter, Drier Future

In this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we partner with Climate One to share an inspiring conversation between Dr. Leah Stokes and Greg Dalton, the founder and co-host of Climate One, when Leah received the 2024 Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication in December.

And as a double feature, this episode also includes a conversation between writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit and Climate One co-host Ariana Brocious from 2023.

This episode was also released on the Climate One podcast.

Leah Stokes: 2024 Schneider Award Winner

The industrial sector makes all of our physical stuff – the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the buildings we live in, and much more. It’s also one of the biggest sources of U.S. climate pollution.

In this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we bring on guest host Dr. Eric Masanet, world-leading industrial decarbonization expert, to break down how we can clean up this sector. We are also joined by Rebecca Dell, the Senior Director of the Industry Program at the ClimateWorks Foundation, Nick Santero, the Sustainability Science Team Lead at Rivian, and Yinka Bode-George, the Founder, President, and CEO of Sustain Our Future.

Cleaning Up Industry

In this live episode of A Matter of Degrees, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson joined Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson for a conversation on Ayana’s new book, What If We Get It Right, Visions of Climate Futures.

The need to build community and the imperative to imagine the futures we want are now more important than ever. These topics are at the heart of this discussion, which took place before the election at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

This episode was also released on the What If We Get It Right? podcast.

The Questions We Ask Matter with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

The election is over, but climate progress doesn’t have to be. How can we continue to push for equitable climate policies and defend current investments in clean energy? What are the state and local avenues for addressing the climate crisis? 

In this live episode of A Matter of Degrees, Dr. Leah Stokes is joined by Adrian Deveny, the Former Director of Energy and Environmental Policy for Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer. Leah and Adrian talk through what the results of the 2024 election mean for the future of our planet and how we can keep moving forward.

Mentioned in this episode is the All We Can Save Project’s facilitation guide for coming together in community during this moment.

What the Election Means for Climate Policy

On this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we tell the story of how a powerful grassroots movement, ambitious lawmakers, and Governor Tim Walz turned Minnesota into a climate leader. Then, we talk about using the Minnesota blueprint to make change everywhere else.
It’s election season, but the federal government isn’t the only venue for climate action. States also play a huge role in our path to healing the planet. Beyond just cutting pollution within their borders, states implement our big federal climate laws, test new innovative policy ideas, and build momentum for nationwide progress. And the center of gravity for state-level climate action isn’t California, or Washington, or Massachusetts. It’s Minnesota. Over the past few years, Minnesota has done more on climate than perhaps any other state, anchored by a nation-leading clean electricity standard that requires 100% carbon-free power by 2040. 

But these wins didn’t happen overnight, and they didn’t come easy. To tell Minnesota’s success story, we spoke to Aimee Witteman, the Vice President of Investment and Network at Rewiring America, Chris Conry, the Managing Director of 100 Percent MN, and Rep. Jamie Long, the Majority Leader of the Minnesota State House of Representatives.

Minnesota’s Climate Breakthrough

In 2013, a series of attack ads blitzed television sets across Arizona. They warned of a dire threat to senior citizens. Who was the villain? Solar energy.
These ads came from front groups funded by Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest utility. It was part of a years-long fight against rooftop solar that turned ugly.
“I mean, for Star Wars fans, APS became the Darth Vader of electric utilities in America. I mean, I think you would be hard-pressed to find a utility that behaved as badly as APS did in the last decade,” explains former regulator Kris Mayes.
But APS isn’t alone. It’s a prime example of how monopoly utilities abuse their power to influence regulatory decisions and slow clean-energy progress.
What happens if your electric utility starts doing things you don’t agree with? What if they start attacking solar and proposing to build more and more fossil gas plants? What if they actively resist clean energy progress? 
Well, you don’t get a choice. You have to buy electricity, and you have to buy it from them. As a customer you’re funding that. 
In this episode, we’ll detail how it happened in Arizona -- and how public pressure forced APS’ to come clean.
Featured in this episode: Ryan Randazzo, Kris Mayes, David Pomerantz. 
Follow our co-hosts and production team:

Leah Stokes

Katharine Wilkinson

Stephen Lacey

Jaime Kaiser

A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio. 
For more episodes and transcripts, visit our website.

The ‘Darth Vader’ of Electric Utilities

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