Today's guest is Ken Caldeira, Atmospheric Scientist in the Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University’s Carnegie Institution. Founded in 1902 as an organization for scientific discovery, the Carnegie Institution was envisioned to be a home to exceptional individuals working at the cutting edge of their fields. As Senior Scientist of the Caldeira Lab, a specialized group of climate scientists that work within the institution, Ken oversees climate change-related research pursued by a team of post-doc students. His specific areas of research are ocean acidification, climate effects of trees, and geoengineering. Caldeira was a lead author for the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR5 report and was coordinating lead author of the oceans chapter for the 2005 IPCC report on carbon capture and storage. Ken’s research has received support from Bill Gates, who has taken personal interest in addressing climate change. Shortly after the publication of this episode, Ken announced on Twitter that he is assuming a new role, in which he will be “working for [Gates], helping to develop the knowledge and human capacity needed to address the global climate/energy problem.” We delved into a lot of great topics, ranging from the latest climate research to the thorny socio-cultural obstacles that inhibit needed action. This conversation was so robust that this episode runs a little longer than usual! I think you’ll be fascinated by what Ken has to say about where we’re at in the climate fight, the role of scientists, and the various research projects pursued by his team. Enjoy the show! You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at info@myclimatejourney.co, where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

In today’s episode, we cover:

• Ken’s journey from making money on Wall Street to making meaning as a scientist
• The perceived “information deficit” problem in public policy
• How Ken distinguishes his role as a concerned citizen from his work as a scientist
• How getting past social identities is a major challenge to effecting change
• Bill Gates’ support and patronage of Ken’s work
• The various climate change research, pursued by Ken’s post-doc graduate students
• The prospect and viability of a 100% renewable energy model
• Bill Gates’ notion of a “green premium”
• Carbon pricing solutions
• The problem of split-incentives
• The viability of geoengineering as a solution
• The need to reframe the problem and solutions to make it palatable for social acceptance

Links to topics discussed in this episode:

• Caldeira Lab at the Carnegie Institution: https://carnegieenergyinnovation.org/
• Steve Schneider: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Schneider
• The Charney Report (1979): https://www.bnl.gov/envsci/schwartz/charney_report1979.pdf
• Manoela Romano De Orte: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/mromano
• David Koweek: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/dkoweek
• Yixuan Zheng: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/yxzheng
• Enrico Antonini: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/eantonini
• Candise Henry: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/chenry
• Rebecca Peer: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/rpeer
• Variable renewable energy source (“Intermittency”): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_renewable_energy
• Prof. Mark Jacobson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Z._Jacobson
• Advanced Research Projects Agency: e.energy.gov/">https://arpa-e.energy.gov/

Get connected with MCJ: 

• Cody Simms X / LinkedIn
• MCJ Podcast / Collective / YouTube

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