Climate Change

Fellow Beckie Menten has joined East Bay Community Energy as a Program Manager in Building Electrification and Energy Efficiency. Visit her LinkedIn profile

Some climate-related projects start local and stay local – but in other cases, there may be an opportunity to expand the initiative to broader scales. Over the course of just four years, Fellow Amber Pairis brought together more than 280 organizations, agencies, and groups of people keen to address climate change adaptation.

Continental-scale risks from climate change affect both regional communities and country dynamics across the world, with climate models forecasting an average global temperature rise of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. This rise in global temperatures may increase South American environmental security risks through sea level rise, changing weather patterns, and extreme storms—ultimately influencing the security and health of citizens.

Permitting of linear oil and gas pipeline projects involves complex processes undertaken by a range of parties that are each working to address specific regulatory goals and requirements. In recent years, the growth of the natural gas industry has expanded pipeline development into states unaccustomed to pipeline permitting and has increased the number of permits necessitating review by states and tribes. While this growth is a critical economic driver, it comes with challenges.

Fellow Frances Roberts-Gregory has a confession to make: She does not drive or own a car. For her, this approach is a part of a strategy to equip herself emotionally for inevitable future changes. The approach is also a part of her strategy to build deeper connections with her neighbors and colleagues so that she might survive the breakdown of systems and governance that she believes is likely to result from climate change.

Fellow John Berger published a full-length feature on decarbonizing the United States in Sustain Europe, a semiannual magazine and website promoting responsible solutions to ensure long term climate protection. The article features an interview with David Freeman, one of the most knowledgable energy and utility policy experts in the U.S. Download the article (PDF, < 1 MB)

In a new opinion piece in The New York Times, Fellow Frank Lowenstein and colleagues argue that trees are some of our best allies in solving the climate crisis.

Editor's note: Fellow Kevin Kennedy has published a report, Putting a Price on Carbon: Evaluating A Carbon Price and Complementary Policies for a 1.5° World, for the World Resources Institute website. Read the Executive Summary and download the full report.

Fellow Ayana Elizabeth Johnson spoke at the September 20th Climate Strike in New York City where, she says, "I was the oldest person to address a gloriously large and diverse crowd."