Inevitable Ep 80: Phil Duffy, President & Executive Director at Woodwell Climate Research Center
Today’s guest is Phil Duffy, President & Executive Director at Woodwell Climate Research Center.
Expertise Climate modeling, extreme weather risk, societal impacts of climate change, domestic climate policy, international climate change negotiations, climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Dr. Philip Duffy is a physicist who has devoted nearly 30 years to using science to address the societal challenge of climate change. Dr. Duffy frequently engages domestic and international policy- and decision-makers, including delegates at the United Nations climate conferences, and the United States Congress. Dr. Duffy is frequently quoted in major national media outlets such as The New York Times, the Washington Post, Science, the Boston Globe, NPR, CNN, and MSNBC. He serves on committees of the National Academy of Sciences and advises state and local policymakers. Dr. Duffy is particularly interested in working with diverse groups to address climate change, including faith leaders, business leaders, and thought leaders across the political spectrum.
Prior to joining WCRC, Dr. Duffy served as a Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and as a Senior Advisor in the White House National Science and Technology Council. In these roles he was involved in international climate negotiations, domestic and international climate policy, and coordination of US global change research. Before joining the White House, Dr. Duffy was Chief Scientist at Climate Central, an organization dedicated to increasing public understanding and awareness of climate change. Dr. Duffy has held senior research positions with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and visiting positions at the Carnegie Institution for Science and the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. He has a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Harvard in astrophysics and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford.
In today’s episode, we cover:
- Overview of Woods Hole Research Center
- Origin story & nature of the work
- Role of natural solutions
- Physical climate risk
- How Phil’s views on the nature of the problem have evolved over the years
- What are the highest impact solutions
- The role of political will
- The future of capitalism and GPD growth
- Carbon removal and direct air capture
- Solar geoengineering
- Nuclear
- How Phil would allocate a big pot of money to maximize its impact in the climate fight
- Phil’s advice for others looking to find their lane
Links to topics discussed in this episode:
- Woods Hole Research Center: https://whrc.org/
- George Woodwell: http://whrc.org/staff/george-woodwell/
- John Holdren: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/john-holdren
- Susan Natali: http://whrc.org/staff/susan-natali/
- Wellington and Woods Hole: https://whrc.org/wellington-management-and-woods-hole-research-center-announce-initiative/
- McKinsey and Woods Hole: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-investment-climate/climate-scientists-partner-with-mckinsey-to-push-companies-to-self-regulate-idUSKCN1T52CU
- NOAA arctic report card: https://arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant