How to solve climate change and make life more awesome

Episode • Dec 16, 2019 • 1h 34m

The climate series is back! The reason for the delay is that I wanted to make sure that this episode was next up in the series. Once you start listening, you’ll understand why.

So far, we’ve spent the series talking about the problem we're facing and what the world will ultimately look like if we fail. Today’s conversation is different: It is about what it will take to solve climate change and what kind of world we can build if we succeed.

Saul Griffith is an inventor, a MacArthur genius fellow, and the founder and CEO of Otherlab, a high-tech research and development company on the frontlines of trying to imagine our clean energy future. Griffith and his team were contracted by the Department of Energy to track and visualize the entirety of America’s energy flows — and as a result, he knows the US energy system better than just about anyone on this planet. Griffith is also clearer than anyone else I’ve found on the paths to decarbonization, and how to navigate them.

Most conversations about climate change are pretty depressing. This conversation is not. We have the tools we need to decarbonize. What’s more, decarbonizing doesn’t mean accepting a future of less — it can mean a more awesome, humane, technologically rich, and socially inspiring future for us all. This conversation is about a vision of decarbonization that is genuinely awesome, and how we can actually get there.

References:

Otherlab's diagram of US energy flows

Griffith's piece on paths to decarbonization

Book recommendations:

Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber

Freedom's Forge by Arthur Herman

The Extinction Rebellion Handbook

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

My book is available for pre-order! You can find it at www.EzraKlein.com.

The first batch of stops for my book tour is up! Get tickets at http://www.whywerepolarized.com

Submit questions for our upcoming "Ask Me Anything" at ezrakleinshow@vox.com

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