A Climate Change with Matt Matern

Today, Matt is joined by Dan Miller - Managing Director of The Roda Group and host of Climate Chat on YouTube - for a wide-ranging conversation on the economics of the energy transition and the 2026 race for California Governor. Dan explains why renewables are already cheaper than fossil fuels (a Harvard study attributes 8 million deaths a year to fossil fuel pollution), why EVs will replace gas cars the same way cars replaced hors...

Today, Matt speaks with Ibhade Eigbobo, Director of Corporate Project Management at Budderfly, about why the small and midsize business sector is one of America's most underused energy assets. Ibhade explains Budderfly's energy-as-a-service model - where the company takes over a customer's entire utility bill, invests its own capital to upgrade aging equipment, and earns revenue as a share of the savings. They cover why quick servi...

Today, Matt is joined by Brett Jenks, CEO of Rare, a global conservation nonprofit that helps coastal fishing communities, smallholder farmers, and local leaders in 60+ countries build climate resilience through behavioral science and community-led solutions. Brett shares how Rare's Fish Forever program grew from three pilot communities in the Philippines to more than 2,000 communities across Indonesia, Brazil, Mozambique, the Baha...

Today, Matt speaks with Marci Zaroff - founder of ECOfashion Corp and one of the pioneers of the sustainable fashion movement - about the real cost of what we wear. They cover how 60% of the cotton plant ends up in our food supply, why organic and regenerative fibers matter for human health, the difference between greenwashing and genuine certification, and how the industry is shifting toward traceability and outcome-based standard...

Today, Matt speaks with Annie Leonard and André Carothers, co-authors of Protest: Respect It, Defend It, Use It, published by Patagonia Books. Annie is the creator of The Story of Stuff and former Executive Director of Greenpeace USA. André is a four-decade activist and co-founder of the Rockwood Leadership Institute.

They discuss why peaceful protest is foundational to democracy - and how it's under unprecedented attack. They brea...

Today, Matt speaks with Doug Weir, Director at the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS), about the environmental toll of armed conflict - and why it rarely gets the attention it deserves. They cover CEOBS’s real-time tracking of 300+ environmental incidents from the Iran war, including the Tehran oil fires and threats to the Persian Gulf’s fragile marine ecosystems. Doug also explains how rising military budgets are quietly...

Today, Matt speaks with Peter Reinhardt, co-founder and CEO of Charm Industrial, about one of the most ambitious bets in climate tech: putting carbon back underground permanently. Peter explains how Charm takes wood from wildfire thinning projects in the Colorado Rockies, converts it into bio-oil through a process called pyrolysis, and injects that carbon-rich liquid deep into sandstone formations in Louisiana — where it stays for ...

Today, Matt checks back in with Michelle Moore, CEO of Groundswell and author of Rural Renaissance, nearly a year after the EPA canceled Groundswell's $156 million Solar for All contract. Michelle shares how Groundswell is pressing forward anyway, building a new financing model around corporate off-takers and utility partnerships to keep 20MW of community solar alive. They also dig into the full-blown energy crisis hitting American...

Note: This episode was recorded on March 23, 2026. The situation is fast-moving — some details may have evolved, but the underlying story hasn't.

Today, Matt speaks with award-winning investigative journalist Miranda Green about the fossil fuel dimensions of the U.S.-Iran conflict. Miranda - author of The Understory, Atmos Magazine's weekly climate-culture newsletter - traces how the conflict has disrupted roughly 20% of the worl...

Today, Matt speaks with Nathaniel Stinnett, returning guest and Founder and Executive Director of the Environmental Voter Project (EVP), about the climate movement’s political power problem. Nathaniel explains why tens of millions of environmentalists don’t vote — and why the number one answer people give for how to address the climate crisis is recycling. He shares how EVP uses predictive modeling, randomized control trials, and b...

Today, Matt speaks with Katie Surma, reporter at Inside Climate News and one of the world’s leading journalists covering the rights of nature movement. Katie has covered the movement across four continents, and in this conversation she and Matt take stock of where things stand: the wins, the rollbacks, and the road ahead.

They discuss the groundbreaking Indigenous-led treaty recognizing whales’ rights in New Zealand, scientists u...

Today, Matt speaks with award-winning journalist and author Michael Grunwald about his new book, We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate. Grunwald makes the case that food and land use are responsible for roughly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions — a massive blind spot in most climate conversations. They discuss why the world is on track to eat 70% more meat by 2050, the limits of vega...

Today, Matt speaks with Jennifer Pitt, Colorado River Program Director at the National Audubon Society, about the deepening water crisis facing the American West. Jennifer explains how the Colorado River's reservoirs — once full just 25 years ago — now sit at roughly one-third capacity, and why the expiration of the existing water management agreements at the end of 2026 creates an urgent governance challenge. They discuss the role...

Today, Matt Matern speaks with Amelia Southern-Uribe, Director of Global Organizing at Zero Hour, about building youth-led climate power in the American South. Amelia shares how frontline communities shaped their activism and how organizing, storytelling, and coalition-building drive change.

Read more about Zero Hour: https://thisiszerohour.org

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Today, Professor Michael Gerrard joins Matt to share his journey into environmental law, inspired by growing up amid pollution and attending the first Earth Day in 1970. He explains the mission of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and outlines the most effective legal tools to combat climate change. They also explore the need for federal climate legislation, the role of state-level climate action, and the gr...

Today, Matt speaks with Dr. Catherine Weetman about why recycling alone cannot solve the environmental crisis and why businesses must adopt circular and regenerative models. She explains how finite resources, critical materials, and geopolitical pressures collide with rising demand from green technology and AI. She also shares her journey from corporate supply chains to sustainability and discusses her new book, The Circular Econom...

Today, Matt is joined by environmental filmmaker Matt Podolsky, co-founder of Wild Lens Collective. They discuss the power of storytelling in the climate and conservation movement. Podolsky reflects on his Sundance-winning documentary Sea of Shadows, which chronicles the near-extinction of the vaquita due to illegal fishing, and his more recent work on bat populations threatened by white-nose syndrome. He also shares how conservati...

Today, Matt Matern speaks with Doug Parsons, host of the America Adapts, about why climate adaptation is becoming as urgent as emissions reduction. They discuss how the Department of Defense continues adaptation work despite political shifts, why states and cities are now leading resilience efforts, and how better storytelling can turn adaptation from a niche policy concept into a public movement focused on practical, near-term act...

Today, Matt speaks with Dr. Marcius Extavour about the role of innovation in addressing climate change, drawing on his background in physics, energy systems, and climate-focused technology. They explore why solar energy has become economically dominant, how carbon removal technologies can reduce long-term climate risk, and how data, design, and AI can empower communities and policymakers to act. Dr. Extavour also emphasizes practic...