153 episodes

Explaining the key scientific ideas, technologies, and policies relevant to the global climate crisis. Visit climatenow.com for more information, video series, and events.

Climate Now James Lawler

    • Science
    • 4.6 • 30 Ratings

Explaining the key scientific ideas, technologies, and policies relevant to the global climate crisis. Visit climatenow.com for more information, video series, and events.

    How climate changes where people live

    How climate changes where people live

    In the U.S. alone, 162 million people will experience a worse quality of life due to the changing climate within the next 30 years. Rising sea levels stand to displace 13 million Americans in the long run while wildfires and other risks are likely to displace millions more. With 3.2 million American climate migrants to-date, it’s time to start thinking about what our country’s future might look like.
    Even these statistics may be vast underestimates because nailing down someone’s exact reason for moving is harder than it may seem. So, how do we determine what factors influence people’s decisions to move? Why is climate migration about more than beating the heat? What history brought us here and where are we headed? This week’s episode with investigative journalist and author Abrahm Lustgarten will answer these questions and more. 
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    • 32 min
    Climate News Weekly: Increasing electricity demand, building more battery storage, and more

    Climate News Weekly: Increasing electricity demand, building more battery storage, and more

    This week on Climate News Weekly, James Lawler is joined by Julio Friedmann and Canary Media Reporter Julian Spector. Julio reports on his experience at CERAWeek, and discusses rising energy demand. Julian shares his thoughts on new battery construction projects.
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    • 22 min
    Charging Electric Fleets (3/3)

    Charging Electric Fleets (3/3)

    In 2023, electric vehicle drivers reported that, when pulling up to one of the more than 140,000 EV public charging stations across the United States, something went wrong about 21% of the time, leaving them unable to charge their vehicles. Such unreliability in charging availability could be crippling to what needs to be rapid growth in the EV market, and produces particular challenges to fleet operators considering EV adoption. They will be dependent on reliable EV charging to ensure their business remains operational and on schedule. 
    Increasing the reliability of public EV charging is a two-part problem: 1) understanding what causes charging failures in a system that is a combination of electrical hardware, computer hardware, and software, and 2) having a workforce that knows how to solve the problems. In the final episode of our series examining the fleet charging landscape in the US, we are joined by Kianna Scott and Walter Thorn of ChargerHelp!, a company that offers charger support services, and charging technician training certification programs. We will discuss why we need specialized training to develop a workforce that can service EV chargers, and what kind of servicing infrastructure will be necessary to support the expansion of a widespread and reliable national EV charging network.


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    • 23 min
    Climate News Weekly: SBTI updates, CERAWeek, and more

    Climate News Weekly: SBTI updates, CERAWeek, and more

    This week on Climate News Weekly, James Lawler is joined by GreenBiz Editor at Large Heather Clancy, as well as regular contributors Dina Cappiello and Julio Friedmann. They discuss the latest updates to the Science Based Targets Initiative dashboard and what they really mean for companies' climate goals, what happens at the Aspen Ideas: Climate festival and CERAWeek, as well as the DOE's latest Voluntary Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchasing Challenge, and more.
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    Visit our website for all of our content and sources for each episode.

    • 24 min
    Climate News Weekly: MethaneSAT and the SEC Climate Risk Guidelines

    Climate News Weekly: MethaneSAT and the SEC Climate Risk Guidelines

    This week we're joined by Dina Capiello and Julio Friedmann to talk about the latest climate news. The IEA released its global warming emissions report for 2023, and emissions continue to rise, but at a slower rate than in previous years. Meanwhile, to better track those emissions, EDF launched its long-anticipated MethaneSAT on March 4th, a satellite that will measure methane pollution worldwide.  And on March 6th the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) released its final rules to require companies to disclose their climate risk.
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    Visit our website for all of our content and sources for each episode.

    • 12 min
    Charging Electric Fleets (2/3)

    Charging Electric Fleets (2/3)

    Today, given route lengths and cargo capacity, it is possible to electrify 65% of medium-duty and 49% of heavy-duty trucks. Commercial fleets’ are responding to this promise, with announced commitments to electrification surpassing 140,000 vehicles in 2022 in the United States alone. Still, the number of electric fleet trucks currently on the road in the US is well under 1% of all medium and heavy duty trucks, and companies are facing a dearth of EV charging infrastructure to support the expansion of these commercial fleets. 
     The good news is, companies are emerging to fill the gaps in charging infrastructure, assuage concerns from prospective EV fleet owners, and make commercial adoption not just a possibility but an advantage. In this episode, the second installment of a three-part series on the state and future of electric fleet charging, Climate Now is joined by three industry leaders: Anthony Harrison (TeraWatt Infrastructure), Jonathan Colbert (Voltera), and Jeffrey Prosserman (Voltpost). Anthony, Jonathan, and Jeffrey join Climate Now’s James Lawler and Darren Hau to discuss what factors prospective EV fleet adopters are considering, what their companies are doing to facilitate buildout of charging infrastructure, and how that buildout means growth for many industries – not just EV charging. 

    You can find the full transcript as well as sources mentioned in this episode here: https://climatenow.com/charging-electric-fleets-2-3

    These interviews were recorded in Summer 2023. Since then, Voltera has published additional playbooks, which you can find here: Playbook 1, Playbook 2, Playbook 3.


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    Visit our website for all of our content and sources for each episode.

    • 35 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
30 Ratings

30 Ratings

Dan1777999877 ,

Incredibly important, and incredibly impactful!

It’s obvious James puts extraordinary effort in covering salient topics and finding guests that are authentic and truly care about being a positive force in this world - the insights they bring to bear are still mind-blowing every. single. time.

CosaXiKZ ,

Unbelievable

These people come across as uneducated and ill informed. Quite predictable commentary as they leverage natural disasters to further their own personal political opinions.

Michael Tobiasz ,

Highly recommend this podcast!

Great podcast! Climate Now does an excellent job of explaining complex climate issues in a way that inspires action at every level. If we know more, we can do more. Climate Now is really informative on how we can all play a part in protecting our planet.

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