Ep 8: Gary Yohe, Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies at Wesleyan University

In this episode, I interview Gary Yohe, the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies at Wesleyan University. Most of his work has focused on the mitigation and adaptation sides of climate change.

A quick reading of Professor Yohe’s bio will give you a sense of what a heavy hitter he is:

- He is the author of more than 175 scholarly articles, several books, and many contributions to media coverage of climate issues.

- He has been involved since the early 1990’s with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), he received a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize as a senior member.

- He was a Lead Author for four different chapters in the Third Assessment Report that was published in 2001 and as Convening Lead Author for the last chapter of the contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report that was published in 2007.

- He was a Convening Lead Author for Chapter 18 of the Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report on “Detection and Attribution” and a Lead Author for Chapter 1 on “Points of Departure”.

- Most recently, he has been a contributing author to the IPCC Special Report on a 1.5 degree temperature target for mitigation.

In this episode we discuss:

- Professor Yohe’s history at Wesleyan and how his views of climate change have and have not changed since he entered the field in the early 80’s.

- His views on the three choices our planet has in response to climate change.

- How an economist approaches the issue of studying and addressing climate change as well as Professor Yohe’s work with the IPCC.

- Professor Yohe’s views on the political climate and the role policy and regulations play in climate change, including his thoughts on the Green New Deal.

- Professor Yohe’s thoughts on Tobacco, Big Oil, President Trump, Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, and Michael Bennet.

- His advice to people who are looking for ways to get involved in the fight against climate change.

I hope you enjoy the show!

You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 and email at info@myclimatejourney.co, where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and provide suggestions for future guests or topics you'd like to see covered on the show.