Public universities play a key role in combating the climate crisis, from innovation to policy. This week, we spoke to Bruce Riordan, Director of the Berkeley Climate Change Network, about how exactly public universities create and support changemakers in the climate space. For a transcript, please visit: https://climatebreak.org/how-public-universities-are-helping-to-fight-climate-change-with-bruce-riordan/.
The Role of Public Universities in the Fight Against Climate Change
Public universities like UC Berkeley have played a major role in developing climate solutions, from innovation in labs to policy initiatives. In order to create positive change in the climate space, science requires funding, which universities can provide. Further, universities, of course, educate, train, and interact firsthand with people who, in the future, will work in the climate space, putting them in an essential position in terms of climate education.
How UC Berkeley is Making a Difference
UC Berkeley specifically has made several important contributions across all aspects of climate science, climate education, and climate solutions. Some examples include Omar Yaghi’s lab and its discovery of a potentially revolutionary approach to carbon capture with COF-999, as well as the EcoBlock project in Fruitvale, Oakland, where Berkeley is helping to retrofit “residential homes to improve resilience, sustainability, and quality of life for all community members.” Further, Berkeley has established over fifty undergraduate courses related to climate issues. These courses and initiatives largely attract students because younger generations have significant firsthand experiences with climate change, including wildfires, heat waves, flooding, and air pollution.
Why Climate Action from Public Universities is More Important Now than Ever Before
With the current uncertainty of continued federal government funding and support, some climate work may face limitations. Nonetheless, university focus on climate change is increasingly necessary to ensure that future generations of citizens are fully informed and well able to participate in a climate change constrained future. As explained by Bruce Riordan, director of the Berkeley Climate Change Network, “these problems require multiple disciplines,” and Berkeley is well positioned across multiple fields of study, research, and action, recognizing that climate change requires integration of business, policy, and research and beyond.
About Our Guest
Bruce Riordan is the Director of the Berkeley Climate Change Network, a collaboration of 300+ faculty and staff at UC Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley Climate National Laboratory working in the climate change space. The BCCN seeks to accelerate Berkeley’s research, education and service to meet the urgency of the climate crisis by connecting researchers for interdisciplinary projects, helping to raise money for climate research, and building connections between Berkeley academics and off-campus climate leaders across industries.
For a transcript, please visit: https://climatebreak.org/how-public-universities-are-helping-to-fight-climate-change-with-bruce-riordan/.
Ethan: I’m Ethan Elkind, and this is Climate Break. Climate solutions in a hurry. Today’s proposal: how public universities like UC Berkeley are helping to fight climate change. Bruce Riordan, the Director of UC Berkeley’s Climate Change Network, explains:
Riordan: We're not here to tell people what to do. What we can do is provide good advice and good science so that our elected officials and our agency heads in government and our community groups and all can do smarter things around climate.
Ethan: Riordan cites some recent university-based climate successes.
Riordan: Omar Yaghi's Lab last year really came up with, really a breakthrough it looks like around direct air capture, which is covalent organic frameworks or COF. And it looks like it really will be a tremendous breakthrough 'cause we're not reducing emissions fast enough here in California and globally.
Ethan: Riordan says that fighting climate change is also about deploying solutions beyond the campus, in surrounding communities.
Riordan: A second example would be the EcoBlock project in Fruitvale, in Oakland, where they're retrofitting basically every house on a block, and it's gonna be energy efficiency, solar storage, electrification of all the appliances, a whole set of things.
Ethan: Riordan says universities are well positioned to engage both current and future leaders to improve policy.
Riordan: We have so many policy people here who have been and are not inventing things, but inventing policy. We also have students, so our opportunity to engage with students more around climate and help them become the climate leaders that we badly need, so that they'll do a better job than our generations have done.
Ethan: To learn more about the role of public universities like UC Berkeley in the fight against climate change, visit climatebreak.org.