Voices of Change- Michael Oppenheimer
For Michael Oppenheimer, it was his scientist mother who initially inspired his interest in the environment. “I remember very clearly when I was seven or eight, we were at a family outing at Long Island Sound digging up oysters,” Oppenheimer said. “My mom wouldn’t let me eat them because they were from Long Island Sound and polluted, and the idea that something someone else did was preventing other people from enjoying the environment got me very aggravated.”
Thus began an interest in the environment that Oppenheimer started to act on during his time in college.
“When I was an undergrad there were very serious air pollution episodes where you could see bad air, which attracted a lot of attention in the press,” Oppenheimer said. “Then when I was in grad school I lived in Chicago and you could taste the sulfur in the back of your throat, and a lot of people started getting together at that point at different levels to do something.”
This was the late 1960s, when, in addition to the other issues of the time, environmental issues started to attract attention. Oppenheimer found himself swept up in the environmental movement and participated in the first Earth Day by teaching a third grade class about the environment.
Inspired by the environmentalism movement that surrounded him, Oppenheimer decided he wanted to be a researcher in this applicable and real-world field. His research slowly gravitated down to the situation on the ground, researching acid rain and climate change, and he eventually quit his job at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to work for the Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group. As chief scientist of the EDF, Oppenheimer analyzed environmental problems and proposed effective policy remedies based on environmental science, publishing a paper in 1998 on the consequences of polar melting from global warming.
“My family was always interested in politics so it was embedded in me,” Oppenheimer said. “Being a scientist didn’t completely satisfy my interest in knowing who makes decisions in people’s lives and why we do certain things in the political system, and that’s why I went to work for the Environmental Defense Fund.”
At the EDF, Oppenheimer’s work contributed to significant progress in addressing acid rain and developing a program to get an international treaty on climate change. “We certainly don’t deserve most of the credit, but we were one of the groups that managed to successfully press the UN summit and get the Kyoto protocol designed and signed,” Oppenheimer said. “I felt like I was playing a part in something big.”
Oppenheimer’s work at the EDF contributed to a new worldwide awareness of global warming and the importance of policies that reduced emissions. While it takes many individuals to make a noticeable change, “the work of a few individuals can be the catalyst of this change.” In many ways, Oppenheimer’s dedication and passion helped lead to incredible progress in both the visibility of and the solutions to environmental issues.
In addition to his work with the EDF, Oppenheimer also participated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Prize in 2007 "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."
The work of Oppenheimer and many others has brought climate change to the public’s attention, allowing for the change necessary to address this problem.
Oppenheimer believes that the solution to climate change will ultimately come through both public and private change. The private aspect will mostly involve new technology, innovations in energy technology, and investments by entrepreneurs.
However, while Oppenheimer acknowledges that “Some [change] will happen on its own”, he also feels that “most will only happen if the government takes a lead role and provides incentives for investments to happen”. While some policies will come directly from the government, like recent regulations to improve fuel economy and future regulations to improve power plants, individuals also have a role to play in contributing to these policies.
As Oppenheimer said, “Individual actions don’t add up to the solution but it’s a way to give leaders the courage to create solutions.”
While technology will certainly help mitigate the effects of climate change, intentional lifestyle changes are also very important.“Humans are incredibly flexible,” Oppenheimer said. While “it doesn’t happen overnight,” Oppenheimer believes that humans will ultimately find the current growth rate of consumption of polluting goods and services unsustainable and will thus adjust accordingly.
In his fight against climate change, Oppenheimer has found two things to be especially rewarding. Firstly, he is proud of the fact that environmental issues that were not in the public concern before are now broadly understood; and secondly, he feels that he is helping to produce a new generation of activist scientists to solve the problems.
On the first point, Oppenheimer feels that while a lot of misunderstanding still exists, most people understand climate change at a general level. “I think people have enough understanding so governments can mobilize a general solution,” Oppenheimer said. “I understand the risks in nuclear weapons but I don’t know all the details. I know enough to vote intelligently on different political positions on those issues, and I think it’s the same for people in terms of climate change.”
Regarding the next generation of scientists, Oppenheimer sees many different ways that motivated young people can work to fight climate change.“There’s so many different things you can do – if you’re a scientist interested in research there’s a world of issues whether it’s chemistry, biology, or physics; engineers develop solutions to problems for the whole energy system; for those interested in politics, no matter how cynical you are about governments and politicians this is ultimately where a lot of decisions are made; and if you’re an entrepreneur, businesses are eventually going to be the ones investing in new technology,” Oppenheimer said.
Overall, he is an optimist in terms of the future of the fight against climate change, and believes that people are concerned about the problem and as a whole want to do something about it. If his work has shown him anything, it’s that people with passion are able to change the public’s perception to help bring about important changes. And it’s this passion that will be a catalyst in solving the climate crisis.
Thus began an interest in the environment that Oppenheimer started to act on during his time in college.
“When I was an undergrad there were very serious air pollution episodes where you could see bad air, which attracted a lot of attention in the press,” Oppenheimer said. “Then when I was in grad school I lived in Chicago and you could taste the sulfur in the back of your throat, and a lot of people started getting together at that point at different levels to do something.”
This was the late 1960s, when, in addition to the other issues of the time, environmental issues started to attract attention. Oppenheimer found himself swept up in the environmental movement and participated in the first Earth Day by teaching a third grade class about the environment.
Inspired by the environmentalism movement that surrounded him, Oppenheimer decided he wanted to be a researcher in this applicable and real-world field. His research slowly gravitated down to the situation on the ground, researching acid rain and climate change, and he eventually quit his job at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to work for the Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group. As chief scientist of the EDF, Oppenheimer analyzed environmental problems and proposed effective policy remedies based on environmental science, publishing a paper in 1998 on the consequences of polar melting from global warming.
“My family was always interested in politics so it was embedded in me,” Oppenheimer said. “Being a scientist didn’t completely satisfy my interest in knowing who makes decisions in people’s lives and why we do certain things in the political system, and that’s why I went to work for the Environmental Defense Fund.”
At the EDF, Oppenheimer’s work contributed to significant progress in addressing acid rain and developing a program to get an international treaty on climate change. “We certainly don’t deserve most of the credit, but we were one of the groups that managed to successfully press the UN summit and get the Kyoto protocol designed and signed,” Oppenheimer said. “I felt like I was playing a part in something big.”
Oppenheimer’s work at the EDF contributed to a new worldwide awareness of global warming and the importance of policies that reduced emissions. While it takes many individuals to make a noticeable change, “the work of a few individuals can be the catalyst of this change.” In many ways, Oppenheimer’s dedication and passion helped lead to incredible progress in both the visibility of and the solutions to environmental issues.
In addition to his work with the EDF, Oppenheimer also participated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Prize in 2007 "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."
The work of Oppenheimer and many others has brought climate change to the public’s attention, allowing for the change necessary to address this problem.
Oppenheimer believes that the solution to climate change will ultimately come through both public and private change. The private aspect will mostly involve new technology, innovations in energy technology, and investments by entrepreneurs.
However, while Oppenheimer acknowledges that “Some [change] will happen on its own”, he also feels that “most will only happen if the government takes a lead role and provides incentives for investments to happen”. While some policies will come directly from the government, like recent regulations to improve fuel economy and future regulations to improve power plants, individuals also have a role to play in contributing to these policies.
As Oppenheimer said, “Individual actions don’t add up to the solution but it’s a way to give leaders the courage to create solutions.”
While technology will certainly help mitigate the effects of climate change, intentional lifestyle changes are also very important.“Humans are incredibly flexible,” Oppenheimer said. While “it doesn’t happen overnight,” Oppenheimer believes that humans will ultimately find the current growth rate of consumption of polluting goods and services unsustainable and will thus adjust accordingly.
In his fight against climate change, Oppenheimer has found two things to be especially rewarding. Firstly, he is proud of the fact that environmental issues that were not in the public concern before are now broadly understood; and secondly, he feels that he is helping to produce a new generation of activist scientists to solve the problems.
On the first point, Oppenheimer feels that while a lot of misunderstanding still exists, most people understand climate change at a general level. “I think people have enough understanding so governments can mobilize a general solution,” Oppenheimer said. “I understand the risks in nuclear weapons but I don’t know all the details. I know enough to vote intelligently on different political positions on those issues, and I think it’s the same for people in terms of climate change.”
Regarding the next generation of scientists, Oppenheimer sees many different ways that motivated young people can work to fight climate change.“There’s so many different things you can do – if you’re a scientist interested in research there’s a world of issues whether it’s chemistry, biology, or physics; engineers develop solutions to problems for the whole energy system; for those interested in politics, no matter how cynical you are about governments and politicians this is ultimately where a lot of decisions are made; and if you’re an entrepreneur, businesses are eventually going to be the ones investing in new technology,” Oppenheimer said.
Overall, he is an optimist in terms of the future of the fight against climate change, and believes that people are concerned about the problem and as a whole want to do something about it. If his work has shown him anything, it’s that people with passion are able to change the public’s perception to help bring about important changes. And it’s this passion that will be a catalyst in solving the climate crisis.