The Climate Fight Without America: Why Hope Isn't Optional

·29 min·2 clips

In 2026, climate change is everywhere in geopolitics but vanished from U.S. discourse as the world's largest emitter accelerates backward.

The episode opens with host Jeff Sheckman framing climate change as central to global crises like Russia-Ukraine and U.S.-China competition, yet absent from American political discourse. Guest Mads Christiansen, Greenpeace's executive director, recounts starting as a volunteer in 1992 inspired by international cooperation on the ozone layer. He describes climate change as a marathon, with recent impacts like natural disasters shifting public opinion around 2019-2020. Christiansen highlights Greenpeace's role in securing the UK's ban on new North Sea oil and gas exploration after nearly 30 years of campaigning. He argues that despite U.S. inaction, renewable energy adoption is accelerating globally due to market forces and better products like electric vehicles. Christiansen points to examples like Pakistan reaching 25% renewable energy and China installing hundreds of gigawatts of solar and wind annually. He warns against waiting for technological silver bullets, emphasizing existing solutions like energy efficiency and renewables. The discussion covers China's transformation of Beijing into a greener city and democratic countries like Denmark achieving 80% wind and solar in their energy mix. Christiansen stresses the need for policy to ban new fossil fuel projects, as recommended by the International Energy Agency. He reflects on the youth movements of 2019-2020 and the importance of interconnected solutions to systemic crises. The episode concludes with Christiansen finding optimism in collaborative alliances and the compelling story of hope over fear.

As heard by us

A sober climate conversation connects public concern, political drift, and the slow pressure for change.

Climate change anchors the episode as both a force reshaping geopolitics and a subject pushed to the margins of American political debate. Jeff Sheckman follows the shifting language around fossil fuels, then turns to a guest whose long record in climate activism gives the…

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Why you'd press play

You want to understand why climate urgency still holds when American political leadership is stepping back and accelerating the other way.

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