Climate Interviews
As part of our mission, we have conducted in-depth interviews with several climate change luminaries, individuals who have worked in politics, social activism, research, or in special-interest groups on the issue of climate change. Here are our interviews to date:
Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben is one of the pre-eminent international figures in the area of climate change. He is a teacher, journalist, author, and activist who has written extensively on the topic over the past thirty years, beginning with his seminal work The End of Nature in 1989. In 2017, he published his most recent work on climate change, Oil and Honey. He is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College, and leader of 350.org, which is dedicated to lowering carbon emissions. Here is our interview with Bill, recorded in June 2017.
Michael Brune and Loren Blackford, Sierra Club
The Sierra Club has long been the most important environmental organization in the U. S., founded in 1892 by John Muir. They have been active in lobbying for multiple environmental issues since their founding, and have recently been very active in issues of sustainable energy and the mitigation of global warming. We spoke with the current Sierra Club president, Loren Blackford, and the Executive Director, Michael Brune, asking for their current concerns regarding climate change. Here is our interview with them, recorded on August 23, 2017.
Ken Kimmell, Union of Concerned Scientists
Ken Kimmell is the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a science-based nonprofit dedicated to voicing the concerns and findings of the scientific community for the purpose of creating a better world. Prior to becoming head of UCS in 2014, Ken was Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. He was also chairman of the board of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, attempting to encourage the nine member states to reduce power plant carbon emissions. We interviewed Ken in November 2017, and here is our interview with him.
Sophie Dauerman and Hazel Civalier, Vermont poets on Climate Change
One of our members first heard the poetry of Sophie Dauerman and Hazel Civalier at the 2018 convergence of Vermont 350.org. We were immediately taken with the passion and wisdom of their poetry, and reminded that there is a huge, active community of young people who are pursuing climate justice, as well. Listen to their poetry here.
Deborah Markowitz, University of Vermont
Deborah “Deb” Markowitz is a Visiting Professor of Environmental Policy and Leadership at the University of Vermont Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. She served from 2011-2017 as the Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. As Secretary, Markowitz was responsible for protecting Vermont’s environment, natural resources and wildlife and for maintaining Vermont’s forests and state parks. In this role she shaped the environmental agenda of the state, focusing on the challenges of climate change, habitat fragmentation and the need to make Vermont more resilient to flooding. Prior to this, Markowitz was elected six times to serve as the Secretary of State of Vermont.
We interviewed Deb in June 2018. Here is our interview with her.