Why tackling climate change is absolutely doable w/ Jonathan Foley, Ex. Dir. Project Drawdown (S0EP04)

Dr. Jonathan Foley, world-renowned environmental scientist, sustainability expert, author, and executive director of Project Drawdown, joins host Grant Oliphant to talk about why – despite seemingly insurmountable political and cultural obstacles - he believes tackling climate change is “absolutely doable.”

 

Regardless of climate science deniers, Jonathan says there is no contesting the reality of what we are facing. “Climate change is real,” he says. “Mother Nature is slapping us in the face about it.”

 

Jonathan earned his doctoral degree in atmospheric sciences from the University of Wisconsin, where he launched the Climate, People, and Environment Program and founded the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment.

 

He has served as the founding director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota and as the executive director of the California Academy of Sciences, widely regarded as the greenest and most forward-thinking science museum on the planet.

 

Jonathan was honored with a 2014 Heinz Award in the environmental category, and in 2018 took the reigns as the executive director of San Francisco-based Project Drawdown, which bills itself as ““the world’s leading resource for climate solutions.”

 

Jonathan shares surprising facts about the history of climate change, why he believes the world-wide education of girls plays a key part in the future of the movement, and the invaluable advice his mother instilled in him about the importance of active listening: “You’re born with two ears and one mouth, and you should use them in that ratio.”

 

Listen to Jonathan’s honest, straight climate talk on this episode of “We Can Be.”

 

 “We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Grant Oliphant, and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Guest image: Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries can be made to Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org.