WEBVTT - From Fossil Fuels to Climate Action with Tom Steyer 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:05.360 I know that if we don't do this, we're flirting 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:08.760 with disaster. But what I really think we should focus 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:13.280 on is we can build the most beautiful future that 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:16.160 anyone can imagine too. Yeah, of course we're trying to 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:19.360 avoid this huge problem, but really what we're trying to 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:24.760 do is build this incredible future better than anybody's ever lived, 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:27.800 than humans have ever had it in the history of 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:30.000 the planet. That's what we're really trying to create is 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:31.280 a fantastic future. 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:34.239 Oh fucked. 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:38.440 Hi. 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:42.280 I'm Chris Turney and this is I'm Fucking the Future, 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.720 a show about a climate crisis and what we can 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:50.159 do about it. The future can sometimes seem bleak, so 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:53.159 every episode we'll talk to someone with a big idea 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:56.720 for turning things around. I believe it. Together, we really 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.480 can on fuck this. Let's get started. 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:04.000 We fucking the future. 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:08.600 There are a lot of ways you can fight global heating. 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:12.280 You can eat less meat, you can drive an electric car, 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:16.160 or you can try to become president of the United States. 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:20.119 That's what our guest today decides to do. His name 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:21.200 is Tom Steyer. 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:22.000 Here. 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.560 He is one of the Democratic primary debates Back in 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:25.760 twenty twenty. 0:01:26.000 --> 0:01:28.440 Rachel I'm the only person on this stage who will 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:31.480 say that climate is the number one priority for me. 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:36.800 Vice President Biden wrong say it. Senator Warren won't say it. 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.679 It's a state of emergency, and I would declare a 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:43.480 state of emergency on day one. I've spent a decade 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:49.080 fighting and beating oil companies, stopping pipelines, stopping fossil fuel plants, 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:51.360 ensuring clean energy across the country. 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.600 I know that we have to do this. I also 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:56.520 know that we can do this. 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:00.720 Tom doesn't fit a profile of your typical climate activists, 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:04.440 because Tom is a wildly successful businessman who made his 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:08.880 fortune in part by investing in fossil fuel companies. Here's 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:11.960 Tom on CNN talking about his time in the private sector. 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.680 Our company invested in every part of the American economy, 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.639 including oil and gas and coal, and I realized as 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:22.399 we were doing it, I basically thought, the American government works. 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.320 If there's a big problem, the American government will solve it. 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:29.200 And somewhere around fourteen or fifteen years ago, I thought, 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.760 this doesn't seem to be working. There's this huge, unintended 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:35.639 consequence of having a fossil fuel economy, which is climate 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:39.920 change and I started to do whatever I could to 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:41.800 try and solve this problem. 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:47.840 Then the climate crisis is a direct result of industrialization 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:52.600 of runaway business development. But Tom has come to believe 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:56.120 that one way we can fight against global heating is 0:02:56.200 --> 0:03:00.240 through the power of business and industry. In twenty twenty one, 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:05.080 Tom founded Galvanized Climate Solutions. It's a financial firm but 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:09.600 only invests in companies making a positive climate impact. How 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:13.800 did Tom go from fossil fuel investor to climate advocate, 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:18.120 I asked him. So, I think a lot of people 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:22.320 are having their are harr moment, that oh fuck climate 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.480 change is real moment for me. I remember I was 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:27.760 a nerdy teenager. It was back in nineteen eighty seven 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:30.400 at the weather station and a hurricane hit London, and 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:33.320 just a year later British Prime Minister Margret Factor was 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:36.040 given these powerful speeches about climate change and we're going 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:39.000 to do something about it. So what is your aha, 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:40.120 oh fuck moment? 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:45.720 Basically I had spent a summer when I was twenty 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.040 four up in Alaska. I had an office job, but 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:55.080 I basically spent every weekend out in the woods, climbing, fishing, canoeing, 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.200 everything I could think of to get as far deep 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:00.960 into the woods as I could. Incredible summer. And then 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:05.480 I went back with my family, including four kids, to 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.640 give them the same appreciation that i'd have show them 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:14.200 how incredibly fertile and wild America was, you know, the 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:19.440 huge fish, the incredible animals, the birds, just how incredibly 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.920 rich the country is. And basically we got up there 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:25.920 and we did see that, But what we also saw 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:29.080 inescapably was well, this place is melting. 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.039 Okay, let's pause here for a segment we like to 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:34.839 call holy fuck. 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:37.200 Fuck. 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:46.640 When Tom says for Alaska is melting, he means literally melting. 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:50.360 The average temperature across Alaska has increased by up to 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:54.080 six degrees fahrenheit over the last forty years. That's more 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.960 than three times for warming of the rest of the country. 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:00.480 This has led to a dramatic melting of glacier across 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:03.760 the state. It's a trend that's set to continue, with 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:07.200 at least half of Alaska's remaining ice expected to disappear 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:11.920 in the coming years. This matters for two reasons. First, 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:14.839 the melting of glaciers in Alaska and across the Arctic 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:19.240 are one of the biggest causes of rising sea levels today. Second, 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.159 this heating is also melting Arctic sea ice, which you 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:26.279 can think of as a world's air conditioner. This is 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:30.000 a thin layer of the Earth's surface that's totally frozen, 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:34.120 and since sea ice is mostly white, it reflects sunlight, 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.679 which pushes at heat off the Earth's surface and back 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:41.160 into space. And if that ice isn't there, then the 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:45.400 sunlight gets absorbed into the ocean, warming the waters and 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:49.839 melting more ice. It's a vicious cycle, and it's one 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.359 of those facts that just stops in your tracks and 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:54.719 makes you say, holy fuck. 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:56.680 Fuck. 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:04.400 Okay, back to Tom, seeing all this change in Alaska change, 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.760 what was happening so fast, was shocking to him. 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:10.120 And you know, we had as a family, both my 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:12.200 wife's side of the family and my side of the family, 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:15.919 hundreds of years of going into the woods in North America. 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:18.720 And so it wasn't like going to Disneyland. It was 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:23.839 going to this place that Americans have gone, well Native 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:29.839 Americans for thousands of years and immigrants like us for 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:36.039 hundreds of years to find meaning and spirituality and beauty 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:38.800 and incredible natural wealth. 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:44.000 Tom saw how in just one generation, so much of 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:47.600 Alaska's landscape had changed, and like a lot of people, 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:50.120 Tom at first looked to the government to solve a 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:54.720 climate crisis. He supported politicians and causes that were pro climate, 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.600 and eventually he took a stab at running for office himself. 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:03.400 Tom's presidential platform was heavily focused on climate action. Here's 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:04.200 one of his ads. 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.760 Hi, I'm Tom Steyer. I'm running for president, and I'm 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:12.600 committed to creating a sustainable future for all Americans. Our 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:16.800 planet is at a crossroads. Wildfires are taking lives and 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:21.800 destroying communities. Prolonged heat waves and extreme storms are putting 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:25.760 the vulnerable at risk. We can't continue to deny science 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:29.880 and roll back environmental protections. We must treat the climate 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:34.760 crisis with the urgency it demands. That's why, on day 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:38.440 one of my presidency, I will declare the climate crisis 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:39.680 a National Emergency. 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:44.040 Tom helped make climate a more central focus in the election, 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:48.360 but ultimately he didn't manage to win the presidency, and 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:51.680 so he decides to shift gears. Tom had spent a 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:54.600 lot of time trying to convince people that fighting the 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:58.000 climate crisis was for riving to do, but he thought, 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:02.320 what if he could appeal to people more pragmatic interests. 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:05.480 What if doing the right thing for the climate was 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:08.680 also the right thing for their bank accounts. It's an 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.120 idea Tom calls movement capitalism. 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:20.440 Well, you know, capitalism scales, profitability scales. It's somewhat cynical 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:22.760 of me to say, but unfortunately, I think it's realistic 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.040 for me to also say altruism doesn't scale. 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:28.960 Right, or it scales less. I mean, we see more 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.120 and more consumers choosing to buy from climate conscious companies, 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:34.120 but it's not moving a needle in the way that 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.520 would incentivize other companies to do the same. 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:42.400 Right, we need to have these changes be profitable so 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:45.840 that people can make the decisions in their own self interest. 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:51.079 And so it's not that I think capitalism is by 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:57.640 definition good, it's capitalism can be good. Capitalism is basically, 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.280 we're going to produce what you want, so you pay 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:04.760 us money. That's capitalism. Like, you tell us what you 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.319 want and we'll produce it if you'll pay us for it. Okay, 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:11.680 And the idea is okay, So my self interest is 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:14.199 to produce something you want yours. You're just going to 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:16.400 get whatever you want, you tell me, and I'll make it. 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:21.160 And so in this if society decides we need to 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.959 do things that take into account the cost of pollution, 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:27.240 then we're just going to say we're going to produce 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:30.400 all the things you want, but we're not going to pollute. 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:33.280 And if you think about it, there's nothing wrong with oil. 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:38.760 Oil is this incredibly powerful energy source. People did it 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:41.880 as a way of moving cars, moving ships, moving planes. 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:44.120 They weren't trying to destroy the world. They were basically 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:49.079 giving people exactly what they wanted energy. It just turned 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:52.080 out there was this unintended consequence that in burning the 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.800 oil and burning the natural gas and burning the coal, 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:57.360 we were going to basically heat up the planet in 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:01.200 a way that was going to cause all kinds of 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:04.080 problems for human beings and all the other eight million 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:08.680 species on the planet Earth. And so all we're saying is, okay, 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:12.040 let's give people what they really want, which is all 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:15.280 of that capability for them to move around and to 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.360 fuel the things that they like in a way that 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:22.000 doesn't have this unintended consequence that basically burns clean And 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.200 if we can do that, then we're basically producing what 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:28.040 people want. And for that to really happen in a 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:30.800 big way, then we need to build big businesses that 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:34.480 hire people and paying them competitive wages and really give 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:36.200 an incentive for this thing to grow. 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:45.320 Weird fucking the future. Weird fucking the future. 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:53.240 For years, a big obstacle in getting people to switch 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:57.320 to renewable energy sources was cost. Solar and wind was 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:00.760 just too expensive compared to oil and coal. But in 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:04.800 the past few years that's all changed. Clean energy is 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:08.240 now far cheaper than fossil fuels. Fa'st creates a lot 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.200 of demand, and that in turn is to an explosion 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:14.760 of investment by the private sector. It's one example of 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:18.520 a positive alignment of business interests and climate interests. 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.480 Well, a ton of things have changed in terms of 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.040 making it possible for the private sector and step up. 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.960 If you just look at the amount of money that's 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:31.640 being invested in climate solutions, that's being invested in clean 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:34.440 energy versus fossil fuel for the first time. Last year, 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:36.280 I think more money was invested in clean energy to 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:41.200 possi fuels. So there's no question that relatively the private 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:44.360 sector is stepping up. I think the costs have crossed 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:48.360 in terms of electricity generation, whether it be solar or 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:53.840 wind or batteries. I think the costs of evs electrical vehicles, Yeah, yeah, 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:57.000 are going to be a lot lower, both in terms 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:58.679 of how much it cost to buy, but how much 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:01.120 it cost to maintained much it cost to fill up 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:06.360 than internal combustion engines. You know, we're seeing really the 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:11.680 tipping points in multiple technologies where basically you're not asking 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:14.720 someone to make a sacrifice, that we're in this place 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:16.920 where it's like, this is just the smart thing to do. 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:21.600 And you know, as we see that those really rapid 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:26.120 adoptions around the world, we're going to see that be 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:31.640 the dominant technologies and that really we're going to see 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:33.559 the end of the fossil fuel layer. 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:36.840 Oh no, I can't wait for that. I mean, that's 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:40.200 just an amazing headline, isn't it. The amount of investment 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:44.240 in this space is extraordinary, and just seeing the changing costs. 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:46.960 But why things got so much cheaper, Tom, I mean, 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:48.640 what's actually driving out change? 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.800 If you think about when I first went to work 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:57.640 forty years ago, the computer that would fill a room 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:02.640 now would have a tiny fraction of the capability of 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:09.160 your iPhone because that multiplication of capabilities every single year. 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.840 And so we see that kind of technological advancement, which 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:18.360 is increasing productivity and reduced cost in every one of 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:22.360 these technologies, whether it's solar or wind, or batteries or evs. So, 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:25.120 for instance, in solar, I think the way that people 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:30.520 think about it is that every doubling of solar capacity 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:34.520 in the world leads to a twenty four percent drop 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:38.280 in price for the equivalent amount of energy. So as 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:42.359 that goes on, it's like it just goes down inexorably. 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:46.360 And so if you're selling oil and gas, like there's 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:49.760 no doubt next year your competitor is going to be 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.440 a lot cheaper, and the year after that, by the way, 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:54.000 they're going to be a lot cheaper. 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:55.480 A game change, isn't it. 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:59.240 And so that's not true of fossil fuels. You know, 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:05.200 fossil fue mules become harder to find, more remote, more 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:08.320 difficult to reach. The price of oil has gone up 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:12.199 about two percent a year, you know, forever. So in fact, 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:16.760 you've got one technology that's going up very gradually but continuously, 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:20.160 and one that's going down very steeply. If you look 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:23.880 at the cost of a kilowatt hour of energy, and 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:28.640 whether you look at coal or natural gas or wind 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:30.320 or solar wind and solar by farther too. 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:33.880 Cheapness, fast, incredible change for world, and you see it happen. 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:36.440 This speed is scale, that's just amazing. 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:39.960 You know, China is the biggest car market in the world. 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:46.160 China is scheduled to have eighty percent car sales be 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:51.120 evs by twenty thirty. Eighty percent eight zero percent. Those 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:54.560 cars do not need to fill up. So when this happens, 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:58.080 Once the sales move like that, then the percentages of 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:01.560 the fleet just in egg changed and you can see 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:03.240 the end of the fossil fuel era. 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:07.320 We're already seeing this happening around the world. Here's a 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:09.440 news clip from a recent cast show in China. 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:13.520 Foreign automakers, including American brands, are now playing attention to 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.600 Chinese players like bud It's number one in China and 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:19.600 the competition is now so intense it sparked an EV 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:20.760 price war. Here. 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:24.760 From a climate perspective, an EV price war is exactly 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:28.200 what we want to see. As EV's become more affordable 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:32.760 to buy, it incentivizes consumers to buy greener cars, which 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:37.080 in turn incentivizes companies to build more and better electric vehicles. 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.320 It's the power of capitalism. 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:45.040 I drive electric Mustang and so you know, did I 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.720 buy it because I wanted to have no emissions? Yeah? 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:49.840 I really only considered an electric car last time time 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:53.720 before I a plug in hybrid. But honestly, it has 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:59.240 amazing pickup. It has way better pickup than any car 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:01.320 I've ever done drive. I mean, it's like being in 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.720 a rocket, you know. I think we're going to see 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:06.280 this is going to enable a lot of things where 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:10.920 you go. It's not just that we have clean air, 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:17.760 safe water, normal temperatures, normal seasons. It's also a great ribe. 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:22.600 In twenty twenty one, Tom took this concept of movement 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:26.280 capitalism a step further. He found in a business called 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:30.560 Galvanized Climate Solutions. It's an investment firm with two goals. 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:35.360 Make a positive climate impact and make investors a lot 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:39.400 of money. So you're helping investors find those opportunities, those 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:44.960 amazing opportunities to decarbonize economy, builviss and our cities, our communities. 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:48.280 But I'm curioused to know are they really aware of 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:50.720 what they're doing? I mean, are the investors aware of 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:53.480 the rest of economic system if they don't take action 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:56.600 on global heating and is that a motivator for them. 0:16:56.800 --> 0:17:02.560 So I think that our investor have two motivations. One 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:06.800 is they want to get and we must deliver good returns. 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:09.200 Market returns are better. Our goal is to have the 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:12.199 highest returns in the world. And we believe that the 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:16.720 need for this change is a really huge demand generator 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:21.480 revenue generator for these businesses. But I think everybody who's 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:28.520 investing explicitly in galvanized climate solutions knows we will only 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:30.720 invest in things that have positive climate impact. 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.840 So what kind of investments can actually have a positive 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:40.040 climate impact. We're going to spend a few minutes talking 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:45.600 about free areas where Toms's opportunity, real estate, information technology, 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:49.960 and something called sequestration. Let's start with the first one, 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:54.119 real estate. How can investing in real estate have a 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:55.080 climate impact? 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:58.200 We're doing a fund to do net zero real estate 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:03.000 and basically what is mean? That means generating electricity differently 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:08.119 reskinning the building using heat pumps, and to do this 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:10.800 in a way that gets better returns. And why is 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:13.919 it important to do this? Eighty percent of the buildings 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:17.320 in the US that exist right now will still be 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:18.600 in use in twenty fifty. 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:23.119 Those buildings are carbon super producers. A lot of the 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:26.000 infrastructure around us today was built at a time when 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:30.080 sustainable architecture wasn't at the top of people's minds. The 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:34.240 result is pretty astounding. Across the world, buildings makeup as 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:38.800 staggering thirty nine percent of all greenhouse gas emissions thirty 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:42.520 nine percent. Most of that comes from what we do 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:46.679 in those buildings, think heating and cooling the units we 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:49.879 live and work in. So yes, some of it is 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:52.040 due to how much energy we used to build them, 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.280 but these emissions could be greatly reduced if we made 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.600 small changes to how we run them. So all of 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.840 that is to say, of these buildings are powered matters 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:04.960 a lot in our fights to combat the climate crisis. 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:08.439 We have to reformat these buildings, and we have to 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:11.600 do it in a way that makes the landlord's richer, 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:16.040 because if that isn't true, they ain't going to do it. 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.639 So we have to do it and prove it and 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:24.320 develop the kind of you know, the recipe to do it, 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:27.600 so everybody goes like wall, Chris is doing it. If 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:29.080 Chris is doing it, I can do it. 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:32.520 For Tom and his partners. It's not just enough to 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:35.680 find companies that have an innovative business plan or a 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:38.879 cool new technology, it has to be something that works 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:42.800 in the real world. Sometimes when we imagine a green future, 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:44.879 we think of a world in which all the old 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:48.800 polluting technology has been wiped away and replaced with something 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:52.800 shiny and new. But real estate is a perfect example 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:56.440 of why that doesn't work. We can't tear down every 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:58.520 home in the world and replace it with a most 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:02.800 climate friendly alternative. It would take decades and cost an 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:07.320 absolute fortune, not to mention, of course, construction itself has 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:08.520 a climate impact. 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:10.600 I mean, two of the things I'd say about this 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:13.119 are one is we're not going to be able to 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:16.760 rebuild all the industry, the industrial plants, manufacturing plants either 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:19.639 one of the questions, and this is a real question 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:22.280 for technology. Let's say you have a cool technology, but 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:25.960 it means we have to rebuild every plant in the world. Okay, sorry, 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:28.480 We're going to have to take your technology and figure 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:31.639 out how to do it within the footprints of the 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:35.560 existing plants in a way that makes those owners richer, 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:38.439 because that's why they're going to do it. And you know, 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:42.480 we're looking at some technologies which just from an efficiency standpoint, 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:45.280 if they had no CO two impact at all, make 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:49.720 people multiples of their money in the first year. That's 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:50.520 what we need. 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:52.320 That's a complete noe brainer. 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:54.000 Isn't it. Yees. So it's like you sit here and 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:56.920 go like, Okay, I'll do that. I'm glad it does 0:20:56.960 --> 0:21:00.280 the CO two thing, but I'm doing it for the money. 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:04.119 That's one thing that's really true is within the footprint 0:21:04.200 --> 0:21:07.320 of the existing building or situation. 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:13.960 Okay, let's move on to Tom's second big investment opportunity, 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:18.200 information technology. As he sees it, one of the big 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:21.240 challenges in creating a cleaner future is that we don't 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:23.840 actually know how much we're actually polluting. 0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:26.280 And when we think about how we're going to solve 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:30.840 this problem, people think about all of these gadgets, solar 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:39.720 wind batteries, electric vehicles, things you can touch. But if 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:42.600 you're going to manage that, you have to know the information. 0:21:43.119 --> 0:21:47.199 If you're going to change your carbon footprint, you have 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:49.960 to know what your carbon footprint is, you have to 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:51.920 know where it's going to come from. So I always 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:55.359 say to people, Okay, what's the carbon footprint of my sweater? 0:21:56.520 --> 0:21:59.960 I don't know, and neither does anyone else. But until 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:02.560 the people making the sweater know, and until I know, 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:04.679 how are we going to change our carbon foot right? 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:06.919 How do I not buy the sweater that's made the 0:22:06.920 --> 0:22:09.520 wrong way if I don't know how they're made. So 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:12.879 a lot of this is going to be about information, 0:22:13.200 --> 0:22:16.920 transparency and holding people accountable to what they're doing. 0:22:21.320 --> 0:22:24.040 Do you know the climate impact of all the choices 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:27.760 you make? Can you tell if one sweater is better 0:22:27.800 --> 0:22:31.280 for the environment than another? In most cases, the answer 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:34.520 is probably no, And that's in part because measure the 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:37.640 climate impact of something is a lot more complicated than 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:40.440 you might think. It brings us to a concept known 0:22:40.480 --> 0:22:43.800 as scope free and a segment we like to call 0:22:44.119 --> 0:22:45.639 what the fuck are you talking about? 0:22:46.760 --> 0:22:49.160 What the fuck are you talking about? 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:55.240 When businesses want to measure their environmental impact, they use 0:22:55.280 --> 0:23:00.320 something called the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. This piffy title is 0:23:00.320 --> 0:23:03.879 an international standard for how we classify where emissions are 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:09.040 coming from, and, confusingly, these classifications are known as scopes. 0:23:09.760 --> 0:23:13.680 Scope one emissions are the direct pollution produced by a company. 0:23:14.200 --> 0:23:17.639 To stick with Tom's sweater example, imagine you run a 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:22.200 sweater making factory. The emissions from your company vehicles transporting 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:26.159 the sweaters are scope one Scope two emissions are created 0:23:26.240 --> 0:23:29.240 by the power your factory uses, So these are the 0:23:29.280 --> 0:23:32.760 emissions from a secondary source. The power plant that supplies 0:23:32.760 --> 0:23:36.240 your electricity is your sweater factory run by a coal 0:23:36.320 --> 0:23:40.199 powered plant or by a wind farm. And finally, scope 0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:42.960 free emissions are all the other pollution linked with a 0:23:43.040 --> 0:23:47.320 company's activities. Your sweater factory uses yarn that you bought 0:23:47.359 --> 0:23:50.800 from somewhere. How much pollution did the yarn factory create? 0:23:51.600 --> 0:23:54.880 Your employees are commuting to work each day? Are they 0:23:54.920 --> 0:23:59.000 driving bicycles or monster trucks? When you try to add 0:23:59.040 --> 0:24:02.399 all these up, enough to make your head spin. And 0:24:02.400 --> 0:24:05.439 it's why scope free emissions are the hardest to measure 0:24:05.760 --> 0:24:08.639 and why they're almost always for biggest source of emissions 0:24:08.720 --> 0:24:12.000 for a business. But if we really want to understand 0:24:12.000 --> 0:24:14.679 our climate impact, we have to be able to measure 0:24:14.800 --> 0:24:18.120