A Matter of Degrees

Dr. Kate Marvel [https://www.marvelclimate.com/] 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.

”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 [https://billmckibben.com/]. Bill’s latest book, Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization [https://billmckibben.com/books/here-comes-the-sun/], 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 [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.

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 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingrid-malmgren/], the Senior Policy Director at Plug In America. Visit pluginamerica.org [https://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 [https://solarunitedneighbors.org/people/sarah-gracia/], a Senior Go Solar Help Desk Associate at Solar United Neighbors. Visit solarunitedneighbors.org/help-desk [http://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 [https://www.saulgriffith.com/], engineer, inventor, and clean energy entrepreneur. Saul Griffith’s new book “Plug In! The Electrification Handbook [https://www.amazon.com/Plug-Electrification-Handbook-Saul-Griffith-ebook/dp/B0DFG8BLR8]” walks you through how to electrify your home, save money, and cut climate pollution.

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 [https://x.com/ca_davejones?lang=en], 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.

This week we are sharing a special bonus episode from Boiling Point [https://www.latimes.com/about/pressreleases/story/2025-01-16/l-a-times-studios-launches-podcast-slate-with-boiling-point-hosted-by-times-climate-columnist-sammy-roth], a new podcast produced by the LA Times and hosted by climate columnist Sammy Roth [https://www.latimes.com/people/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 [https://viterbi.usc.edu/directory/faculty/Sanders/Kelly], 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 [https://boiling-point.simplecast.com/] is an LA Times Studios podcast and releases new episodes every Thursday.