Inevitable Ep 55: Ken Kimmell, President of Union of Concerned Scientists
Today’s guest is Ken Kimmell, President of Union of Concerned Scientists, a leading science-based nonprofit that combines the knowledge and influence of the scientific community with the passion of concerned citizens to build a healthy planet and a safer world.
Ken has more than 30 years of experience in government, environmental policy, and advocacy. He is a national advocate for clean energy and transportation policies and a driving force behind UCS’s “Power Ahead” campaign to build a large and diverse group of clean energy leadership states. Ken served on the Commission on the Future of Transportation in the Commonwealth, which advised Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s administration on future transportation needs and challenges. Ken was one of 18 members the governor appointed to the panel charged with looking at five areas anticipated to have a dramatic impact on transportation: climate and resiliency, transportation electrification, autonomous and connected vehicles, transit and mobility services, and land use and demographic trends.
Prior to joining UCS in May 2014, Ken was the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), an agency with a $100 million budget and 800 employees, including a large staff of scientists and engineers. As commissioner, he also served as chairman of the board of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, helping to prod the nine member states to reduce power plant carbon emissions by almost 50 percent through 2020, reducing emissions in the region by some 90 million tons.
Ken has also served as general counsel at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs in Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s administration, and spent 17 years as the director and senior attorney at a Boston-based law firm specializing in environmental, energy, and land-use issues.
Ken decided to focus his legal work on environmental issues after clerking for the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, where he assisted a judge in a case involving the health effects of Agent Orange. Originally from New York, he earned his bachelor’s degree at Wesleyan University and his law degree at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Ken has been quoted widely, including by the Associated Press, the Boston Globe, Bloomberg Business, the New York Times and the Washington Post, and has appeared numerous times on E&E TV and National Public Radio.
In today’s episode, we cover:
- Overview and origin story of Union of Concerned Scientists
- Scientists, and their changing views regarding political advocacy
- Nature of UCS work, and some example project
- How UCS selects these projects, and what success looks like
- Details on tactics and execution
- What motivates Ken personally do the work he does
- Ken’s assessment of where we are, and what has gone right and wrong in climate fight
- What gives Ken optimism looking forward
- Role of States vs Federal Government
- Ken’s thoughts on the best way to get meaningful bipartisan legislation done
- Ken’s thoughts on most impactful things that could happen to accelerate progress
- 'How Ken would allocate big pot of $ to maximize it’s impact in climate fight
- Ken’s advice for how you and I can help
Links to topics discussed in this episode:
- Union of Concerned Scientists website: https://www.ucsusa.org/
- Housing & Economic Recovery Act of 2008: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_and_Economic_Recovery_Act_of_2008
- Los Angeles’ pledge to ban gas-powered cars by 2030: https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-mayors-emissions-free-cities-20171023-story.html
- Environmental Voter Project: https://www.environmentalvoter.org/
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce: https://www.uschamber.com/
- California’s goal of 100% clean energy by 2050: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-100-percent-clean-energy-20190110-story.html
- Louis Brandeis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Brandeis
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.
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant