The True Price Per Gallon

Price signals are powerful, says futurist Chris Martenson. Gasoline should cost from $5-$8/gallon to cover the cost of protecting pipelines around the world by the US military, he says, and that would be a powerful driver of behavioral change.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming

The chief executive of America's biggest energy exporting state weighs in on coal, greenhouse gases, and climate legislation. He says energy efficiency offer "permanent gains" and that the House climate bill "makes no sense."

Wild Winds of the West

With America’s largest deposits of coal and uranium, Wyoming is a big time energy player. It fuels a good portion of the California economy. Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal is eyeing a new path for an extraction state where half the people don’t believe global warming is real. He’s bullish on natural gas and certain renewable resources. Can the king of coal become the prince of wind? Join us for an opportunity to discuss America’s energy future with the chief executive of this powerhouse state.

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Sun Up: Scaling Solar in California

Solar power is surging in popularity as a renewable energy source, yet still remains a small part of California's overall energy supply. How will this situation change, in light of a state plan calling for a massive scaling up of renewable sources by 2030? What factors are driving the ongoing decrease in the price of photovoltaic systems, and what technology, project financing and policy will enhance the availability and affordability of residential, commercial and utility scale solar power?

Our guests on January 12th are:

Bob Epstein, Founder, Environmental Entrepreneurs
Mike Peevey, Chair, California Public Utilities Commission
Mike Splinter, CEO, Applied Materials
Nancy McFadden, Senior Vice President, PG&E

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Don't Wait for Leaders at The Top

What is a safe level of carbon pollution in the atmosphere? Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, gives his personal view on what the target should be in this Climate One conversation in Copenhagen. He also suggests what it will take to light a fire under the UN process that has failed to produce a global agreement. Finally, Pachauri and Caio Koch-Wesser, Vice Chair of Deutsche Bank, weigh in on one of the most controversial points in the Copenhagen negotiations, whether trade sanctions should be used as a stick to make sure countries live up to any new commitments to curb greenhouse gases.

With the Copenhagen negotiations grinding toward some modest achievement, focus has turned on sub-national actors - states, cities, counties and other entities that are moving toward a clean energy future. California is in the vanguard of that and Governor Schwarzenegger came to Climate One in Copenhagen to discuss how regional efforts are vital to the overall movement to reduce greenhouse gases. He said America's level of renewable energy (less than 3 percent) is "pathetic" and slammed the U.S. for not having a comprehensive climate strategy. He appeared with Huang Ming, a former petroleum engineer turned solar entrepreneur who is now one of China's wealthiest men.

Down to the Wire in Copenhagen

The Copenhagen climate negotiations get serious tomorrow, when the political leaders of 192 countries start arriving at the talks. After all the groundwork laid by policy experts in recent weeks and months the big honchos who can make, or break, a political deal will flood into the sprawling conference center. Protesters vow to also make their way into the talks tomorrow morning by storming the gates.

Access to the center is now subject to a quota system with only a fraction of credentialed participants allowed into the building every day. Today Governor Schwarzenegger and Al Gore make their keynote presentations.

Various draft treaties continue to swirl around with developing countries arguing for an extension of the Kyoto Protocol and developed countries preferring to scrap it and start over with a new treaty. Yvo de Boer, the United Nations chief climate negotiator, said recently the Kyoto Protocol should be extended beyond it's 2012 expiration date until enough countries ratify a new climate treaty and it comes into force. That helps smooth the procedure for closing a deal but huge gaps remain over funding. Developing countries want $100 billion a year to deal with climate change and industrialized nations are offering up $10 billion, including considerable money already pledged as foreign aid. As Boone Pickens said earlier this year at Climate One: "We have a saying in Texas that whatever you're talking about, you're talking about money."
Same here in Copenhagen.

(Photo: Downtown Hopenhagen, a village in Copenhagen related to the Hopenhagen campaign to frame responding to climate change as an opportunity rather than a downer)