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 ESG BS? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:52
Who’s responsible for climate change? Fossil fuel companies would like us to believe it’s all of us as individuals (after all, BP invented the idea of the personal carbon footprint). But many large corporations bear at l…
The $300M Lawsuit That Could Crush Dissent [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:55
Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, is suing Greenpeace for $300 million. The pipeline company accuses Greenpeace of criminal behavior — trespassing, vandalism, and assault of constru…
Disasterology: Navigating Fossil-Fueled Chaos [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:26
From hurricanes on the East Coast to wildfires in LA, to floods in Vermont and storms in Texas, communities across the U.S. are facing a growing number of intense and devastating disasters. There are significant disparit…
Solar Power to the People [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:40
At this moment, the cheapest way to create electricity is by pointing a solar panel at the sun. That’s good news for the climate. It’s also good news for communities who want to take control of their own electricity gene…
Drag Queen Pattie Gonia: Bringing Joy to Climate Action [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:11
When individuals want to take action on climate, it’s often in the form of electrifying a home, voting, or maybe even traditional activism. Those are very important, but we often overlook how individual skills and talent…
What Climate Progress Is Possible Now? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:08
The second Trump administration has hit the ground running. The president has signed a flurry of executive orders targeting everything from birthright citizenship to pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords. This is a fa…
LA Wildfires: Loss, Recovery and Resilience [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:06
The wildfires ravaging Los Angeles have caused incredible destruction — loss of life, thousands of homes and businesses gone or damaged and hundreds of thousands of people displaced. While the scale and speed of these fi…
Even Old Houses Can Learn New Elec-Tricks [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:06
If we include personal cars, along with appliances like water heaters, stoves and furnaces, more than 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from individuals at the home level. The good news: no matter where yo…
Leah Stokes: 2024 Schneider Award Winner [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:14
Every year we highlight the work of a scientist who excels in communicating their work to the world. Climate One is delighted to present the 2024 Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication t…
REWIND: Geothermal — So Hot Right Now [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:55
When most people hear the phrase renewable energy, they imagine fields full of solar panels or giant spinning wind turbines. But another source may be heating up: geothermal. Twenty years ago, it was thought that geother…