Considering carbon offsets: What’s in a name?
I often get asked what I think about carbon offsets. Are they a good idea? Do I buy them myself? If so, how do I choose which ones to buy? So here is my answer: I think carbon offsets are an excellent idea for people who...
Guest Blog: Yes, it’s still up to you to do something about climate change
Reposted with permission from Ensia. There is one statistic easing pangs of guilt for people who feel they are not doing enough to fight climate change: About 71% of greenhouse gas emissions from 1988 to 2015 came from only 100 companies. Increasingly, the message is: Stop...
Guest Blog: How do we convince climate deniers? That’s the wrong question
Reposted with permission from ENSIA. Instead of wasting time trying to convert opponents, we should invest it in motivating passive allies to act. November 20, 2019 — “How do you convince people that climate change is real?” is a question I’m invariably asked after I give a...
Climate change for busy people: Ten key words
The climate crisis can seem complicated. Yet as warming accelerates, impacts grow more powerful and solutions become more feasible, I keep coming back to a ten-word summary of climate change that includes all the essentials you really need to know to get involved: It’s real It’s us Experts...
The single most powerful way to fight climate change, and what you can do to support it
Probably the number one question people ask when they learn I’m a climate solutions advocate is, What is the most important thing I can do? It’s a difficult question, because there is no single solution to the climate crisis. We know that individuals alone cannot...
The kids are not all right: The student climate strikes, Greta Thunberg’s message and where to go from here
What a week it’s been! On September 20th, I went to the Corvallis school climate strike to support high school students as they marched to City Hall to demand action on climate change. It was a first in our town, and the kids were mad....
Guest Blog: Redefining hope in a world threatened by climate change
Reposted with permission from SueEllen Campbell and Yale Climate Connections: Perhaps you have read that The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom has decided to use the terms climate emergency, crisis or breakdown instead of climate change in its news stories; and global heating instead of global warming. As...
The four things we need to do now for climate action (Thank you, David Roberts!)
Last fall, I did something I thought I would never, ever do: I leased a brand-new car. I had been driving a used all-electric Nissan Leaf, and its 40-mile range just didn’t work for me anymore. So I leased an all-electric Chevy Bolt. Although I’m...
One clean energy solution you may be underestimating
When I was a kid, my favorite grandfather--a retired businessman and a dreamer--bought us a windmill. We were excited by the idea of wind generating some of our electricity, but that's not what happened. After a series of delays and mishaps, the assembled structure was...
Improbable is not impossible: Choosing optimism about solving climate change
Even at times when I can't see a clear path to solving climate change, I find reasons for optimism. No one knows what will happen in the next few years, but a full scale transformation to contain climate change is not impossible. I take heart...