Dec 22, 2021Elect, The (noun) People who have switched to an all-electric lifestyle and therefore are going to…Elect, The (noun) People who have switched to an all-electric lifestyle and therefore are going to heaven (however they define it). Electable (adj) A candidate with a pro-electrification pro-climate solution agenda. ElecTaurus (noun) An electric Ford Taurus made with a hobby kit. Elect-ion (noun) The act of choosing an all–electrified…Climate Change8 min read
Oct 11, 2021COP 26: Here’s the speech I’d like to hearIf I were the Australian Prime Minister, a few words to lead the world — I have been wondering how world leaders will window-dress the chasm between climate ambition and climate reality. The “commitments” continue to outpace actual “action.” For example, the admirable Biden “50% reductions by 2030” goal is nowhere to be seen in the lackluster ambition of Infrastructure and reconciliation acts. I’m Australian…Cop 266 min read
Jul 16, 2021One Billion MachinesDecarbonization, demystified — With wildfires in the West, torrential floods in Europe, parched reservoirs, and other dramatic signs that the climate crisis is upon us, we would all like to flip a switch and stop our carbon emissions so that we can save the planet for our children. But in a world full…Electrification15 min read
Apr 29, 2021You Go, Joe!About 18 months ago, before the pandemic and the historic US election, I changed my life from working on energy technologies that will contribute to the climate solution to working on the politics, policy, and communications side of climate change. I founded Rewiring America with Alex Laskey, another successful energy…Electrify5 min read
Apr 22, 2021An Earth Day Climate AssessmentI’m in Australia, where I’m from and am staying for the duration of the pandemic, which has led me to look at the earth from this vantage point. In the Australian Academy of Science report “The Risks to Australia of a 3 degree warmer world,” the reality of climate science…Earth Day6 min read
Jan 19, 2021If I were writing the (new!) President’s climate emergency speechAs I write this, we have 75,000 seconds until Trump is out of office. Not a moment too soon (and years too late) for the climate. We are now in four years’ worse shape than we were when he came into office, and we are in a state of emergency. …Climate Crisis6 min read
Nov 24, 2020If I Were Secretary of Energy(Warning/TLDR : You can’t fix the DOE in 1000 words) — Apparently, some corner of the Twitterverse has nominated me to be energy secretary. As an Australian who is not yet a naturalized citizen, I’m not eligible (I’d be 15th in line to the presidency, so no go), but it’s worth running the thought experiment of what I would do if…Climate15 min read
Oct 26, 2020Butchers, bakers, and LED makers:How to rewire America to promote equity and create new jobs Sadly, due to the pandemic, we now have the highest unemployment we’ve seen since the Great Depression. Many of those jobs will disappear forever in the post-Covid world, and others will take years to return to normal. But with…Climate Action4 min read
Published in Rewiring America·Sep 15, 2020Rewire America!I’ve just finished a handbook for climate action called Rewiring America (also the name of a new nonprofit I’ve founded with clean energy entrepreneur Alex Laskey). You can get your own copy of it at rewiringamerica.org. …Climate Action3 min read
Sep 8, 2020Would switching to clean energy cause job losses? Nope–millions more.Rewiring America takes on the American Petroleum Institute The American Petroleum Institute, a national trade group representing some 600 oil and gas members, recently released a study claiming that a ban on fracking in 2021 would cause job losses reaching nearly 1 million in 2022. Rewiring America, a non-profit dedicated…Climate Action5 min read