How Students and Teachers Are Talking About Climate

How Students and Teachers Are Talking About Climate

Author: Climate One from The Commonwealth Club September 5, 2025 Duration: 57:59
Students are heading back to school, and in addition to all of the usual challenges of the school year, some children are carrying an extra weight: climate anxiety. Teachers are also swimming in tricky waters as conversations around the climate crisis — and renewable energy — become more polarized. Yet there are educators who have worked to create resources for students and teachers, to help bring climate education into the classroom. The question is: How can schools, parents and teachers better help young people navigate the ideas and feelings around a warming planet?  Guests:  Margaret Wang-Aghania, Executive Director and Co-Founder, SubjectToClimate Robin Cooper, Co-Founder and President, Climate Psychiatry Alliance Melissa Lau, High School Environmental Science Teacher, Piedmont, Oklahoma Leah Christenson, 2026 Piedmont High School Senior; Vice President, Piedmont High School Green Team  Alyson Dennie, 2026 Piedmont High School Senior; President Piedmont High School Green Team This episode features a field piece by Mary Catherine O'Connor, who originally reported the ⁠story⁠ for KALW Public Media.  Highlights: 00:00 - Intro 3:33 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on her aha moment 5:42 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on how lessons get developed 12:33 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on teacher development 15:00 - Alyson Dennie and Leah Christenson on their climate related feelings 17:10 - Robin Cooper on how the emotions young people face because of climate 24:17 - Robin Cooper on how the moment the guides her thinking  26:52 - Robin Cooper on how to know if a young person is dealing with climate anxiety 33:34 - Mary Catherine O'Connor’s Piece on Electric Buses in Oakland  40:05 - Melissa Lau on the arctic trip that changed her life 44:33 - Melissa Lau on not being shy about teaching climate  48:35 - Melissa Lau on the importance of relationship building For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The conversation about our changing planet is often reduced to headlines and political noise, but Climate One moves beyond that. Hosted by Greg Dalton, Ariana Brocious and Kousha Navidar, this podcast from The Commonwealth Club creates a space for the full, complex dialogue we need. Each episode features candid discussions with scientists, policymakers, activists, and thinkers who are on the front lines. The focus is on drawing connections-between personal action and economic systems, between daunting scientific reports and tangible community solutions. You’ll hear analysis that doesn’t shy away from the severity of our situation while actively exploring pathways for genuine progress, from technology and finance to culture and justice. This isn't about alarmism or easy answers; it's about equipping listeners with a deeper understanding of the intertwined challenges and opportunities. Tuning into this podcast means joining a crucial exploration of how we adapt, mitigate, and fundamentally rethink our relationship with the natural world. The dialogue here is built on the idea that confronting the climate emergency honestly, in all its facets, is the first necessary step toward shaping a livable future.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Climate One
Podcast Episodes
Is the EV Transition Stuck in Neutral? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:59
In 2024, BloombergNEF predicted electric vehicles would make up nearly half of U.S. new car sales by 2030. Now, they’ve revised their projection down to less than 30%, just one year later. In a time when we need to be sp…
Dead Heat: The Danger Of Home Power Shutoffs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:11
Summer is here, temperatures are rising — and so are electric bills. That also means many people are facing a severely overlooked issue: power shutoffs. In 2024, over 600,000 households in the United States had their pow…
Super Pollutants: The Hidden Half of Global Warming [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:13
Carbon dioxide is a big deal. It’s responsible for about half of global heating. But what about the other half? There’s actually good news here: Nearly half of the temperature increases driving climate disasters come fro…
Three Big Thinkers With No Room for Doom [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:09
There’s so much hard and heavy news out there right now, climate related and not. It feels like decades of progress is being lost. But — good news! — there are many solutions that can be deployed right now. This week we’…
I’m Walkin’ Here! A Report Card on Congestion Pricing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:31
In January, congestion pricing went into effect in New York City. The policy’s implementation took decades; along the way, multiple moments suggested that it wouldn’t happen at all. Now, drivers entering Manhattan south…
Murder, Pollution as Policy, and Two Women Who Won’t Give Up [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:16
“In the course of saying no with their bodies, they were met with more violence… including moms who were carrying babies on their backs and were pushed to the edge of the river — and had to choose the river.” That’s Abby…
Honoring Environmental Heroes in 2025 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:05
Would you stand up against a giant corporation to stop toxic chemicals from harming your town’s water? Could you get policy enacted to cut emissions affecting people living in your state’s “diesel death zone?” How would…
Official 2025 Trailer: Climate One [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00
We're living through a climate emergency. The best way to begin addressing this crisis is by talking about it. Join co-hosts Greg Dalton, Ariana Brocious and Kousha Navidar as they guide you through empowering conversati…
Tracking Trump’s Attack on Environmental Protections [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:32
About fifty years ago, multiple environmental disasters forced a reckoning with how we care for the Earth. President Richard Nixon signed numerous environmental protection bills into law in the 1970s, including what is c…
San José Mayor Matt Mahan: Live from SF Climate Week [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:40
Climate progress is stalling at the federal level, making local action more critical than ever. “In an increasingly urbanized world, cities must play the leading role in achieving our climate goals,” says San José Mayor…