Policy for the Planet

The US drive for critical minerals is now fueled by national security concerns instead of climate mitigation. Policymakers speak of shoring up global supply chains for these minerals to protect US defenses, an objective...

Europe faces a new challenge: Mosquito-borne viruses, such as chikungunya, zika, and dengue, are now prevalent throughout the region, driven by warmer temperatures. Europe must combat these potentially debilitating...

Brazil has made many attempts to reform its fiscal problems, while never adequately addressing its increasingly burdensome government debt. At the same time, the country is home to the Amazon rainforest and is one of...

China's population, a little over four times as large as the United States, and its economic ambitions are driving a gargantuan need for electricity. But China has been able to meet that need by expanding its electrical...

The Panama Canal suffered severe droughts in 2023 and 2024. Lower water levels disrupted vital US commercial trade routes for liquefied natural gas and other products. The canal's disabled state opens an opportunity for...

Is it possible to pursue climate efforts, create jobs, and achieve social justice at the same time? That was the challenge that the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was designed to meet. Ben Beachy (Global Fund for a New...

Ukraine has been defending itself from Russia's attack for more than three years, forcing it to struggle with a wartime economy. Negotiations to end the fighting have gone nowhere, but it is not too early to think about...

In the age of the Internet, artificial intelligence, social media, and instant access to knowledge, disinformation has become a challenge in public discourse on climate change. Naomi Oreskes (Harvard University) joins...

Access to water, a vital necessity for every walk of life, is increasingly jeopardized by the malign effects of climate change, from pollution to melting glaciers, erratic rainfall, and droughts. Finding science-based...

India's poverty and tropical heat pose extraordinary challenges as its population faces rising temperatures, less rainfall, and torrid weather. But India is also uniquely positioned to deal with global warming...

Telling stories about the challenges of climate change has never been harder. The world is beset by other problems as the newscycle churns from crisis to crisis. Communicating the urgency of dealing with climate needs...

An outbreak of bird flu in the United States and Canada is ravaging chicken flocks and driving up egg prices. What's causing the spread? Dr. Shayan Sharif (University of Guelph) joins to explain how climate change is...

Climate change is jeopardizing the future survival of millions of different kinds of seeds needed by growers to meet global food demands. Cary Fowler (Svalbard Global Seed Vault; former Department of State), a founder...

The current political establishment's opposition to climate change incentives makes it easy to assume businesses are going along. But that's far from the case. Kristina Costa (formerly at the White House and Department...

We spoke last year on this podcast about the European Union's ambitious climate agenda. The world has changed since then! A new US president determined to impose tariffs on Europe poses tough new challenges for Europe's...