Ep 79: Katharine Hayhoe: Climate scientist and chief scientist for the Nature Conservancy

Katharine Hayhoe is a climate scientist and chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy.  She is also the Endowed Professor in Public Policy and Public Law and Paul W. Horn Distinguished Professor at Texas Tech University. She has been named a United Nations Champion of the Earth and one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People.  She holds a PhD in atmospheric science from the University of Illinois.  Her latest book is titled: Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World.

 

Some interesting insights from this episode:

  • We would need only a square area of 120 miles by 120 miles covered with present day solar panels to supply the entire United States with electricity.
  • We could cut carbon emissions in half through efficiency alone.
  • “Our planet has a fever caused by our lifestyle choices since the dawn of the industrial revolution. If we don’t change our habits at a systemic level, the consequences for humanity will be enormous.”
  • Climate change is not just an environmental issue but a serious health issue.
  • Air pollution from fossil fuels is responsible for nearly 9 million premature death every year.
  • Climate change disproportionally effects the poorest and most vulnerable and most marginalized people.
  • “Excellence is your own standard of doing everything you can toward the goal that you’ve set.”

 

Show Notes

Book: Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World

Personal Website: Katharine Hayhoe

Project DRAWDOWN

Ep 38: Mark Tercek: The Nature Conservancy CEO

Mark Tercek is the CEO of The Nature Conservancy, the world’s largest environmental organization. He is a former Managing Director and Partner at Goldman Sachs and is the author of the bestselling book Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature.

 

Some interesting insights from this episode:

  • We all have an inner environmentalist inside of us.
  • His executive coach taught him some valuable lessons early on including how to listen better and how to not sweat out the details.
  • In the nonprofit world, he had to learn how to understand employees’ psychic income and use that as motivation to drive behavior.
  • Saving nature isn’t just the morally right thing to do, it’s also the smartest investment we can make.
  • Learn how he pivoted his 4,000 employee organization from pure land conservation toward embracing climate change as a top priority.
  • “Excellence is matching ambition with a good dose of reality.”
  • We all have a tendency to overestimate risks in our lives. The returns are greater than perceived and the risks less that perceived.  More of us should just go for it.