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Climate change is battering California. Can the state find a way forward? Listen every Thursday as award-winning L.A. Times columnist Sammy Roth dives deep with scientists, energy leaders, legislators, activists and journalists who are experts on today's climate challenges and solutions. They’ll discuss everything from electric cars to renewable energy to the difficulties of phasing out fossil fuels.
Sammy has been reporting on climate and energy in California and the American West for over a decade, touring sprawling solar farms, coal-fired power plants and hilltops blanketed with wind turbines. He’s focused on telling stories that challenge public officials and energy companies to do better.
Sammy has been reporting on climate and energy in California and the American West for over a decade, touring sprawling solar farms, coal-fired power plants and hilltops blanketed with wind turbines. He’s focused on telling stories that challenge public officials and energy companies to do better.
38 Episodes
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Sammy Roth talks with Jason Rondou, an assistant general manager at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, about the city’s shift from coal to clean energy. Believe it or not, L.A. still operates a giant coal-fired power plant, more than 500 miles away in rural Utah. In November, DWP is finally closing it — and replacing it with a combination of gas and green hydrogen.
Sammy Roth talks with Los Angeles Times environment reporter Hayley Smith about the Trump administration’s regulatory rollbacks, the misinformation driving them, and what they mean for the future of climate action.Project 2025 Tracker:https://www.project2025.observer/en Read Sammy’s latest column:https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2025-09-18/california-legislative-session-climate-issues
Sammy Roth talks with Matt Freedman, staff attorney at the Utility Reform Network, about what California lawmakers are doing to rein in soaring electricity costs, and why it’s crucial for the state’s climate goals.Read Sammy’s latest column:https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2025-09-18/california-legislative-session-climate-issues
Rabbi Jennie Rosenn started Dayenu to provide a much-needed space for the Jewish community to discuss and address climate change. Now, amid the Trump administration’s hostility to environmental regulations and climate solutions, Dayenu is bringing a new kind of urgency to the work ahead. Sammy sits down with Rabbi Rosenn to discuss the state of faith-based climate action and why we need groups like Dayenu now more than ever.
This week we’re sharing an episode of another L.A. Times Studios podcast, Rebuilding Los Angeles. Hosted by Kate Cagle, this episode discusses post-fires Los Angeles and what our city can do to live smarter in the face of climate-fueled fires.
Los Angeles has long been famous for its smog — and while things are better today, the fight isn’t finished. Sammy Roth talks with L.A. Times columnist Patt Morrison about her new podcast on the city’s smog history, and what it will take to build a future with truly clean air.
Sammy Roth welcomes award-winning actor Hannah Einbinder to the show. You may know her for her role as Ava Daniels on HBO Max’s “Hacks.” Or maybe you’re familiar with her climate advocacy — including a new campaign for fossil fuel divestment in Hollywood. She and Sammy discuss the intersection between climate and creativity, and why she thinks mushrooms (the legal kind!) will save us all.
Environmental journalist Jonathan P. Thompson joins Sammy Roth to discuss the future of the Colorado River, the state of America’s public lands, and the myths surrounding the West’s natural resources.Read Sammy’s latest column about the Colorado River:https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2025-08-14/river-rafting-in-colorado-offers-climate-lessons-for-southern-california
The Colorado River is shrinking, and the stakes couldn’t be higher for California. Sammy Roth talks with JB Hamby, the state’s lead Colorado River negotiator, about his vision for one of the West’s most important — and most threatened — water sources.
Sammy Roth talks with a California solar industry leader and a conservation advocate about where big solar farms should go — and where they shouldn’t. They discuss wildlife habitat, the urgency of the climate crisis and how to build renewables without destroying nature.
In the first of a two-part series on “abundance,” Sammy Roth talks with L.A. Times housing reporter Liam Dillon about California’s controversial move to roll back environmental protections in hopes of building more homes, and what that means for climate change.
1Sammy Roth talks with journalist Michael Grunwald about his new book, “We Are Eating the Earth,” which began as a story about food and became a story about land. They explore how agriculture — especially the way we raise livestock and grow crops — has become one of the biggest drivers of climate change. They also unpack realistic solutions, and think about what it means to love hamburgers and also want a livable planet.Order “We Are Eating the Earth” here:https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/We-Are-Eating-the-Earth/Michael-Grunwald/9781982160074
President Trump’s new budget law guts federal support for solar and wind power, while boosting fossil fuels. Sammy Roth talks with Princeton researcher Jesse Jenkins about how the “One Big Beautiful Bill” could increase climate pollution and make energy more expensive.Read Sammy’s recent column:https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2025-07-03/republican-budget-bill-would-slaughter-americas-cleanest-cheapest-energy
This week, we're sharing an episode of A Matter of Degrees. Hosted by Dr. Leah Stokes and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, this award-winning series tells stories about the powerful forces behind climate change. This episode discusses how insurance companies are failing to accommodate for the impacts of climate change.
Sammy Roth returns to Esmeralda County, Nevada, to tour the proposed Rhyolite Ridge mine with Bernard Rowe, managing director of Ioneer. Rowe explains why he believes the mine can operate without harming an endangered wildflower, and lays out his company’s vision for responsible extraction of lithium and boron.
Sammy Roth travels to Esmeralda County, Nevada, to meet Naomi Fraga, a botany professor at Claremont Graduate University, and see the endangered Tiehm’s buckwheat up close. The wildflower stands in the way of one of the country’s biggest proposed lithium mines — a project supporters say is crucial to the clean energy transition. This is Part 1 of a special two-part episode.
What’s a greater threat to humanity: climate change, or the potential collapse of democracy? In this episode, Sammy Roth speaks with Clark University geography professor James McCarthy, who’s studied how authoritarianism and environmental destruction can be deeply intertwined.
Sammy Roth visits America’s second-largest nuclear plant, Arizona’s Palo Verde Generating Station, and sits down with three experts to explore the pros and cons of atomic energy. It’s one of the few climate solutions with bipartisan support — but it’s also plagued by high costs and pollution concerns from uranium mining.Read Sammy’s recent column on Palo Verde:https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2025-05-15/nuclear-reactors-power-los-angeles-should-we-panic-or-celebrate
NPR climate editor Sadie Babits talks about why the media has long overlooked the climate crisis, and how that’s starting to change. Her new book, “Hot Takes: Every Journalist's Guide to Covering Climate Change,” is essential reading — not just for journalists, but for anyone who cares about how the climate story gets told.Pre-order the book here:https://islandpress.org/books/hot-takes#desc
This week, we're sharing an episode of Living Planet, a podcast by the German broadcaster DW. It explores the idea of 15-minute cities — and why the climate-friendly concept is drawing backlash.Read more about Living Planet:https://www.dw.com/en/living-planet/program-19028671
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