David Wallace-Wells On Climate Change, Complacency, & Progress

“The best antidote to a feeling of despair is progress, and that’s what we are seeing now”

David Wallace-Wells is a Deputy Editor & climate change columnist with New York Magazine & the author of “The Uninhabitable Earth” a book which caused a tremendous stir around where our planet is heading due to climate change. We discuss overcoming complacency, why we should end fossil fuel subsidies, and the importance of progress and discussion to overcome despair.  His sense of urgency and clarity of message is incredibly compelling!

Key Learnings

1. How the book has been received, and how it’s a reflection of how serious climate change is being viewed

2. Honing in on the impact the book and the response has had on David himself

3. The ripple effect from the UN Report on Climate Change using alarming and clear language and how his book has served as an accelerant

4. Being both a journalist and an activist

5. Reflecting on how we viewed climate change during the 1990s, how complacency reigned, and how complacency can be overcome

6. Data behind the horrifying trajectory of natural disasters including wildfires in California, the warming track we are on now, and the projected toll on human life

7. Why ending fossil fuel subisidies is David’s first step towards rapid change

8. Why we need to focus on large scale changes we can enact through new policies and the vital need for individuals to participate in driving political action around climate change

9. Resources for learning more and the importance of talking about climate change with one another!

Links

Twitter @dwallacewells

UN Report on Climate Change 10/2018 https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/climate-change/

New York Magazine article on California wildfires http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/los-angeles-fire-season-will-never-end.html

Carbon Brief: www.carbonbrief.org

350.org: www.350.org