Ep 26: Armond Cohen, Co-Founder and Executive Director at Clean Air Task Force

My Climate Journey

Today’s guest is Armond Cohen, co-founder and Executive Director at Clean Air Task Force, an organization whose task is to reduce climate change by applying an overwhelming amount of force to some of the biggest levers to reduce carbon and other climate warming emissions. Armond has led CATF since its formation in 1996.

In addition to leading CATF, Armond is directly involved in CATF research and advocacy on the topic of requirements to deeply decarbonize global energy systems. Prior to his work with CATF, Armond founded and led the Conservation Law Foundation’s Energy Project starting in 1983, focussing on energy efficiency, utility resource planning, and electric industry structure. Armond has published numerous articles on climate change, energy system transformation, and air pollution; he speaks and testifies frequently on these topics. He is a member of the Keystone Center Energy Board, co-Chair of the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, and a member of the US Department of Energy Electricity Advisory Committee. Armond is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School and Brown University.

In today’s episode we discuss:

• CATF overview and history
• CATF current focus areas, how they prioritize, and measure success
• Climate problem explained, including a look at various high leverage potential solutions, and barriers that make the issue difficult to solve
• Policy vs innovation, and the role of each
• How to make progress in a polarized world
• Armond’d thoughts on the term ‘environmentalist’
• Armond’s advice for listeners on how to help

Links to topics discussed in today’s episode:

• Armond’s Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/armond-cohen-83a1484/
• Armond’s twitter profile: https://twitter.com/armondcohen1?lang=en
• CATF website: https://www.catf.us/
• Carbon180 website: https://carbon180.org/
• EDF website: https://www.edf.org
• Bret Kugelmass: https://www.myclimatejourney.co/episodes/bret-kugelmass
• USA Today article on Chernobyl and nuclear: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/06/17/hbo-chernobyl-tragic-nuclear-power-safe-clean-vital-column/1409096001/
• Stewart Brand: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Brand
• Sheldon Whitehouse: https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/

I hope you enjoy the show!

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