As a divisive election drags on, what are the prospects for confronting climate disruption?

Climate One conversations feature all dimensions of the climate emergency, the personal and the

systemic, the exciting and the scary. I'm Greg Dalton. Later in the show, we'll hear from

psychologist Renee Lertzman about self-reflection and empathy

in the wake of high-stakes election. We also will hear from Eric Utney, founder of the Utney

Reader, about his surprising approach to hope. First, a quick take on the election.

The path for climate action is narrower now in the United States than it seemed a few weeks ago amid talk of a potential blue wave, opening up new possibilities for moving to cleaner energy.

Some of the biggest advances for Republicans came in areas experiencing climate impacts, according to reports from Climate Wire and the New York Times.

In Miami, voters ousted two Democratic House members. Donald Trump improved his vote in that

Democratic stronghold that is experiencing sunny-day flooding related to rising seas that are caused by burning

fossil fuels. Charleston, South Carolina is being hit by rising tides, and voters there

ousted Democrat Joe Cunningham in favor of Republican Nancy Mace, who says that climate science

is unsettled. In Texas, Democrat Krista Castaneda received $2.5 million from Michael Bloomberg

as part of his climate campaign. But Castaneda appears to have lost her bid to serve on the

Texas Railroad Commission, the state's powerful oil and gas regulator. Democrats also lost

house seats in Oklahoma and New Mexico and districts dependent on fossil fuels. There were a few slivers

of light for people concerned about climate. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,

Elon Omar, Rashida Talib, and Ayanna Presley, all strong supporters of the Green New Deal, won decisively. Denver increased the local sales

tax to raise money for efforts to reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions. In Nevada,

voters affirmed a state initiative requiring half of their electricity come from renewable

sources by 2030. Add it all up, and the election didn't accelerate a transition to cleaner energy,

although markets, technologies, and companies are all reducing carbon pollution. To make sense of it

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