Shows / A Climate Change with Matt Matern
A Climate Change with Matt Matern
A Climate Change with Matt Matern is a weekly show featuring influential guests from government, business, activism, academia, and culture. The show serves to inform its audience with a focus on environmental and climate issues. Join us as we commit to making "a climate change." Similar to these great podcasts: TED Climate, Reversing Climate Change, Climate One, My Climate Journey, Volts, America Adapts, & A Matter Of Degrees.
Episodes
A Climate Change with Matt Matern267. How Communities Are Using Their Constitution to Fight Data Centers w/ Maya van Rossum
Today, Matt speaks with Maya van Rossum, founder of Green Amendments For The Generations and the Delaware Riverkeeper, about putting the right to clean air…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern266. Your Garage Could Be Part of a Power Plant w/ Regan George
Today, Matt speaks with Regan George, Founder and CEO of SOLRITE Energy, about turning home batteries into a power plant that helps homeowners and the grid at…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern265. Why Do We Know So Much About Climate Change and Do So Little? w/ Frédéric Samama
Today, Matt speaks with Frédéric Samama, adjunct professor at Sciences Po and author of The Enigma of Climate Inaction, about a simple question: if almost…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern264. The XPRIZE Winner Pumping Antacid Into the Ocean w/ Mike Kelland
Today, Matt speaks with Mike Kelland, Co-founder & CEO of Planetary, about using the ocean to pull carbon dioxide out of the air. Planetary adds calcium and…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern263. Buildings Cause 40% of Global Emissions and Fewer Than 1% Are Net Zero w/ Drew Shula
Today, Matt speaks with Drew Shula, trained architect and Founder and CEO of Verdical Group, about the part of the climate problem hiding in plain sight: the…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern262. EPA's New Water Rule Could Strip Protections From 60% of America's Streams w/ Jim Murphy
Today, Matt Matern speaks with Jim Murphy, Associate Vice President of Legal Advocacy at the National Wildlife Federation, about EPA's proposal to rewrite…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern261. The Forest That Stopped Storing Carbon and Started Releasing It w/ Rob Mullen
Today, Matt Matern speaks with Rob Mullen - artist, author, and Director of the Wilderness River Expedition Art Fellowship - about the boreal forest, the…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern260. Leah Qusba on Why Republicans Still Support Solar
Today, Matt Matern speaks with Leah Qusba, CEO of GoodPower, a nonprofit working to win public support for the clean energy transition. They talk about moving…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern259. California Just Passed Balcony Solar - Now It's Up to Newsom w/ Cora Stryker
Today, Matt is joined again by Cora Stryker, co-founder of Bright Saver. One year after first joining us on the show, a lot has changed. When she was last on…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern258. The AI Beehive Fighting Colony Collapse w/ Saar Safra
Today, Matt is joined by Saar Safra, co-founder and CEO of Beewise, to talk about one of the quietest threats to our food supply - the collapse of the world's…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern257: Building the “Apple of EV Charging,” w/ Zak Winnick
Today, Matt Matern speaks with Zak Winnick, founder and CEO of Rangeway Energy, about building America’s first hospitality-forward EV charging network. Zak…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern256. Why the Ocean Always Wins with Bren Smith
Today, Matt speaks with Bren Smith, co-founder and co-executive director of GreenWave, about his journey from commercial fisherman to pioneer of regenerative…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern255. What If We Could Store Carbon the Way the Ocean Already Does? w/ Garrett Boudinot
Today, Matt is joined by Dr. Garrett Boudinot, founder and CEO of Vycarb, to talk about a new approach to carbon capture and storage that works with water…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern254. How Fossil Fuel Companies Are Quietly Buying Legal Immunity with David Fenton
Today, Matt is joined by David Fenton - veteran progressive communications strategist and host of The Fenton Forecast - for a conversation about the climate…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern253. He Helped Build Waymo. Now Tom Chi Builds Robots That Replant Forests
Today, Matt speaks with Tom Chi, founding partner of At One Ventures and a founding member of the Google X team behind Waymo, about using deep tech to restore…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern252: Why Only 1% of US Farmland Is Organic with Linley Dixon
Today, Matt speaks with Dr. Linley Dixon, Co-Director of the Real Organic Project and cohost of the Real Organic Podcast, about why how we grow food may be the…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern251. Why 40% of Americans Can't Charge an EV at Home with Jeff Prosserman
Today, Matt speaks with Jeffrey Prosserman, CEO and co-founder of Voltpost, about a simple idea with big potential: turning the lampposts and utility poles…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern250. The Founders Loved the Land - and Left One Thing Unfinished
In this milestone 250th episode, Matt Matern goes solo for the final installment of our “250 for 250” series - tracing what the people who founded the country…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern249. He Watched January 6 Happen - Then Wrote This Book w/ Brian Jay Jones
Today, Matt speaks with New York Times bestselling biographer Brian Jay Jones, author of Becoming Dr. Seuss and the new book The Capitol: The Surprising…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern248. Why The Lorax Matters More Now Than Ever with Philip Nel
Today, Matt speaks with Philip Nel, University Distinguished Professor of English at Kansas State University and one of the world's leading Dr. Seuss scholars…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern247. America’s Best Idea: How the U.S. Invented the National Park
Today, no guest - just Matt, with the story of what one writer called “the best idea America ever had”: the national park. In 1872, in a country built on…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern246. How FEMA Became the Most Hated Agency in America with Micah Loewinger
Today, Matt speaks with Micah Loewinger, co-host of WNYC’s On the Media and the reporter behind the new four-part series American Emergency: The Movement to…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern245. How 20 Million Americans Got a Republican President to Build the EPA
Today, no guest - just Matt, telling one of the strangest and most hopeful stories in American politics. It's the story of the first Earth Day, when 20 million…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern244. He Left SpaceX After 13 Years to Solve the Water Crisis with Jonathan Criss
Today, Matt speaks with Jonathan Criss, CEO and co-founder of Vital Lyfe, about reinventing how the world gets clean drinking water. After 13 years at SpaceX…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern243. How CarbonCure Locked 768,000 Tons of CO2 Permanently into Concrete with Dean Forgeron
Today, Matt speaks with Dean Forgeron, Chief Technology Officer at CarbonCure Technologies, about the Halifax-based clean tech company decarbonizing one of the…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern242. Why a Top Climate VC Is Endorsing Tom Steyer for Governor w/ Dan Miller
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…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern241. How 9,000 Restaurants Became America's Newest Power Plant with Ibhade Eigbobo
Today, Matt speaks with Ibhade Eigbobo, Director of Corporate Project Management at Budderfly, about why the small and midsize business sector is one of…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern240. Why Protecting Nature Starts With Protecting People w/ Brett Jenks
Today, Matt is joined by Brett Jenks, CEO of Rare, a global conservation nonprofit that helps coastal fishing communities, smallholder farmers, and local…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern239. Fast Fashion Is Killing the Planet - Here’s What to Do About It with Marci Zaroff
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…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern238. The Right to Protest Is Under Attack with Annie Leonard & André Carothers
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…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern237. The Environmental Toll of the Iran War with Doug Weir
Today, Matt speaks with Doug Weir, Director at the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS), about the environmental toll of armed conflict - and why it…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern236. The Man Who Put Carbon Back Underground with Peter Reinhardt
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…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern235. The Fight for Affordable Energy in Rural America with Michelle Moore
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…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern234. Why the War With Iran Is Really About Fossil Fuels w/ Miranda Green
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…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern233. The Plan to Flip the 2026 Midterms w/ Nathaniel Stinnett
Today, Matt speaks with Nathaniel Stinnett, returning guest and Founder and Executive Director of the Environmental Voter Project (EVP), about the climate…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern232. Can Nature Have Rights? The Legal Movement Reshaping Environmentalism w/ Katie Surma
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…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern231. How We Feed the World Without Frying the World w/ Michael Grunwald
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…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern230. The Colorado River Is Running Out of Time with Jennifer Pitt
Today, Matt speaks with Jennifer Pitt, Colorado River Program Director at the National Audubon Society, about the deepening water crisis facing the American…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern229. How Gen Z Is Rewriting the Climate Playbook
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…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern228. The Legal War on Fossil Fuels
Today, Professor Michael Gerrard joins Matt to share his journey into environmental law, inspired by growing up amid pollution and attending the first Earth…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern227. Why Recycling Won’t Save the Planet
Today, Matt speaks with Dr. Catherine Weetman about why recycling alone cannot solve the environmental crisis and why businesses must adopt circular and…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern226. How Close We Are to Losing Entire Species Forever, with Matt Podolsky
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…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern225. Why Adapting to Climate Change Matters More Than You Think with Doug Parsons
Today, Matt Matern speaks with Doug Parsons, host of the America Adapts, about why climate adaptation is becoming as urgent as emissions reduction. They…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern224. How Solar Is Now the Cheapest Power on Earth Here’s Why That Matters with Marcius Extavour
Today, Matt speaks with Dr. Marcius Extavour about the role of innovation in addressing climate change, drawing on his background in physics, energy systems…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern223. How Dr. James Danoff-Burg Helped Stop Poachers Without Guns
Happy New Year! Hope your 2026 is off to a great start! We have a special episode for you today. Matt speaks with Dr. James Danoff-Burg about innovative…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern222. Making Sustainability Make Sense with Cecilia Rios
Today, Matt speaks with sustainability podcaster and Georgetown graduate Cecilia Rios about her path into climate work and environmental communications…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern221. How AI and Satellites Are Unmasking the Biggest Ocean Polluters with Nick Wise
This week, Matt Matern speaks with Nick Wise about how satellite technology and artificial intelligence are transforming ocean protection and climate…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern220. How Plug In Solar Could Succeed Where Climate Policy Failed with Cora Stryker
Today, Matt Matern speaks with Cora Stryker, co-founder of BrightSaver, about expanding access to clean energy through plug-in “balcony solar.” Cora shares her…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern219. Kelly Bills’ Plan to Save Pollinators Worldwide
Pollinators are declining fast - here’s why it matters. This week, Matt speaks with Kelly Bills, Executive Director of Pollinator Partnership, who explains why…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern218: The Green Girl Changing Climate Activism with Leah Thomas
Leah Thomas (aka Green Girl Leah) is an award-winning environmentalist, writer, and founder of the Intersectional Environmentalist nonprofit. She hosts the new…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern217: Stephen Lezak Challenges Bill Gates’s Climate Argument
In this episode, Matt speaks with climate writer and researcher Stephen Lezak about Bill Gates’s recent essay arguing that climate change is serious but will…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern216: The Endangerment Battle and Why Climate Science Still Matters with Naomi Oreskes
Matt speaks with Harvard historian of science Naomi Oreskes about the long-standing scientific consensus on climate change and the political forces undermining…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern215: Inside the News Cycle: Comedy, Policy, and Real-World Climate Choices with Bill Kessler
In this week’s episode of A Climate Change, host Matt Mattern welcomes comedian and writer Bill Kessler for a spirited, no-filter take on the intersection of…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern214: Why Renewables Are Beating Fossil Fuels on Cost with Dr. Gernot Wagner
Fact: According to an IRENA report on Reuters from mid-July, over 90% of new renewable projects are now cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives. Solar is 41%…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern213: Small-Scale Fisheries Can Solve World Hunger with Andrew Zimmern
Every single person, regardless of vocation, can be a climate activist. Just ask Andrew Zimmern - world renowned chef, James Beard awardee and Emmy-winning TV…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern212: Inside the Global Treaty to End Fossil Fuels with Tzeporah Berman
Fact: According to a December 2024 report by WRI, 75% of greenhouse gases and 90% of CO2 emissions are linked to extracting and burning fossil fuels. While…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern211: Why Heat is the #1 Climate Killer and How Cities Are Fighting Back with Dr. Sheila R Foster
Two birds, one stone is always a good approach, isn't it? Especially when it comes to climate action. So, what if cities could tackle climate change while…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern210. Trump’s Environmental Manifesto (and Why It’s a Joke)
In this bonus episode, Matt is joined by comedian and writer Bill Kessler, to take a lighter look at President Trump’s infamous UN speech from last week. They…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern209: How One Executive Transformed Corporate Climate Strategy with Alexia Kelly
While corporate companies chase returns and profits, there are those few who chase sustainability, and even fewer who get it right. In this episode, we sit…
A Climate Change with Matt Matern208: The Hidden Secrets Behind Profit-Driven Climate Action with Joel Makower
There’s a spectrum of ways to fight against climate change and smart, intentional business lies right in the middle of that spectrum. Joel Makower, Chairman of…