Already this summer, there have been huge wildfires in the Southwest and Great Plains and an extraordinary heat wave in Europe, as the world stares down the barrel of a powerful El Niño. Climate change is accelerating, and yet climate politics right now is in disarray.
But something else is happening, too. Advances in clean energy technology mean it is now possible to build a world of energy abundance that was the stuff of dreams just a few years ago. That means a new kind of climate politics is possible — one that doesn’t just talk about sacrifice and disaster prevention but also can present decarbonization as a path to somewhere better, where everyone has more, not less.
Bill McKibben is one of the best people at articulating that vision. He’s a founder of the climate action groups <a href="http://350.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">350.org</a> and Third Act, and he’s been at the vanguard of the climate movement for decades. His 1989 book, “The End of Nature,” is considered the first book on global warming written for a general audience. His latest book, published last year, is “Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization.”
Mentioned:
“<a href="https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-review-2026/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global Electricity Review 2026</a>” by Ember
<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/111998/the-end-of-nature-by-bill-mckibben/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The End of Nature</a> by Bill McKibben
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/05/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-helen-lewis-gender-right.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The New Right’s Very Old Vision of Men</a>,” The Ezra Klein Show with Helen Lewis
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-naomi-klein.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">We’re All Living in the ‘Mirror World’ Now</a>,” The Ezra Klein Show with Naomi Klein
Book Recommendations:
<a href="https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-glorians/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Glorians</a> by Terry Tempest Williams
<a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2617-the-beginning-comes-after-the-end" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Beginning Comes After the End</a> by Rebecca Solnit
<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/828107/the-carbon-wave-by-leah-c-stokes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Carbon Wave</a> by Leah C. Stokes
<a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/brought-to-you-by-9781639736331/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brought to You By</a> by Amy Westervelt
<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621384/endtimesfascism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">End Times Fascism</a> by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.
You can find the transcript and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/column/ezra-klein-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast</a>. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html</a>
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Jack McCordick. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris and Julie Beer. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Johnny Simon. Our recording engineer is Johnny Simon. Cinematography by Kyle Kelley and Marina King. Video editing by Brandon Belk-Yee, Dani Dillon and Julian Hackney. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin and Emma Kehlbeck. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser.
Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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