Climate One series year-end review: Climate change in a year of many crises

Winter season warming
In this special episode, host Greg Dalton looks back at the climate stories of 2020.
NOAA data via Climate Central file

“Unprecedented” is one of the most overused words of 2020, but it reflects the superstorm of disruption brought on by an overlapping pandemic, racial justice awakening and presidential election.

For the first time ever, climate change helped to galvanize a record number of voters to elect Joe Biden to the presidency. How has the focus on climate change shifted in a year shaped by multiple social and economic crises?

In this special episode, host Greg Dalton looks back at the climate stories of 2020 with excerpts from a year of climate conversations, beginning with a post-election update from Justin Worland, senior climate correspondent for TIME.

Guests (in order of appearance):

  • Justin Worland, senior climate correspondent, TIME.

  • Katharine Wilkinson, vice president, Project Drawdown.

  • Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist; co-author, “All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis.”

  • Darryl Molina Sarmiento, executive director, Communities for a Better Environment.

  • Kevin de Léon, Los Angeles City council member; former president, California State Senate.

  • Susan Clayton, professor of psychology; chair of environmental studies, College of Wooster.

  • Peter Atwater, adjunct professor of economics, College of William & Mary.

  • Aaron Bernstein, interim director of The Center for Climate Health and the Global Environment, Harvard School of Public Health.

  • Amy Jaffe, director, Program on Energy Security and Climate Change, Council on Foreign Relations.

  • Kathleen Day, finance lecturer, Johns Hopkins University.

  • Tamara Toles O’Laughlin, North America director, 350.org.

  • Gina McCarthy, president, NRDC Action Fund; former administrator, US EPA. 

  • Saul Griffith, founder and chief scientist, Otherlab.

  • Chase Purdy, author, “Billion Dollar Burger: Inside Big Tech’s Race for the Future of Food.”

  • Sophie Egan, author, “How to Be a Conscious Eater: Making Food Choices That Are Good for You, Others, and the Planet.”

  • Hui He, China Regional Director, International Council on Clean Transportation.
    Colin McKerracher, head of transport analysis, Bloomberg NEF.

Use the audio player above to listen to the program.

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