CLIMATE ONE: Jonathan Foley: 2025 Schneider Award Winner
Commonwealth Club of California Podcast
Hope versus optimism
Foley distinguishes hope as an active commitment to change, not passive optimism about outcomes.
Project Drawdown is the world’s leading science-based guide to climate solutions. According to Jonathan Foley, Project Drawdown’s Executive Director, they aim to be the Consumer Reports for climate change. “We synthesize every paper ever written in science, engineering, technical, economic literature, all the data, and bring it together and say, ‘Hey, does this actually work? And if so, how much would it cost? And how long would we have to wait for it?’”
Foley is not just an expert on the intricacies of hundreds of potential climate solutions; he’s also the winner of the 2025 Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Science Communication, and an expert at explaining complex ideas in easily digestible terms. As he said on a past Climate One episode, “The great news about addressing climate change is we also build a better world in the process. Imagine going to the doctor and they're like, ‘Wow, you're really sick and I'm gonna give you this medicine, and its side effects are, you're gonna feel better.’ Climate solutions are like that.”
Episode Guests:
Jonathan Foley, Executive Director, Project Drawdown
Eliza Nemser, Executive Director, Climate Changemakers
Highlights:
00:00 Intro
02:11 Jonathan Foley on Stephen Schneider
06:33 Jonathan Foley on balancing science and communication
13:09 Jonathan Foley on Project Drawdown
20:08 Jonathan Foley on less effective climate solutions
23:27 Jonathan Foley on the food industries effect on climate
26:22 Jonathan Foley on being attacked for speaking out about beef
34:20 Jonathan Foley on the need to stop doing “stupid” stuff
40:31 Greg Dalton on meeting Stephen Schneider
41:25 Greg Dalton on creating the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Science Communication
45:52 Greg Dalton on Stephen Schneider’s legacy
47:14 Eliza Nemser on her journey to climate activism
49:12 Eliza Nemser on effective volunteerism
53:23 Eliza Nemser on finding your place in climate action
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