Uploaded March 2018 | Updated September 2026, 19 hours ago
In 2017, more than 80 percent of the world’s energy supply came from the burning of fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As global climate change continues, opposition to action has shifted from denial of the impact of human activities to waffling about that impact, the damage to human well-being from climate change, and the costs of measures to sharply reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
In this address delivered in San Francisco, CA on October 26, 2017 to the World Conference of Science Journalists, John P. Holdren, science advisor to President Barack Obama, explained why the wafflers are wrong, and why investing in measures to avoid the worst impacts of future climate change is a far better “deal” for society than suffering the consequences of inaction.
John P. Holdren is professor of environmental science and policy at Harvard University. At the Harvard Kennedy School, he is Teresa & John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy and co-director of the Program on Science, Technology and Public Policy at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. During his tenure as President Obama's Science Advisor, he was the Senate-confirmed director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
In 2017, more than 80 percent of the world’s energy supply came from the burning of fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As global climate change continues, opposition to action has shifted from denial of the impact of human activities to waffling about that impact, the damage to human well-being from climate change, and the costs of measures to sharply reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
In this address delivered in San Francisco, CA on October 26, 2017 to the World Conference of Science Journalists, John P. Holdren, science advisor to President Barack Obama, explained why the wafflers are wrong, and why investing in measures to avoid the worst impacts of future climate change is a far better “deal” for society than suffering the consequences of inaction.
John P. Holdren is professor of environmental science and policy at Harvard University. At the Harvard Kennedy School, he is Teresa & John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy and co-director of the Program on Science, Technology and Public Policy at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. During his tenure as President Obama's Science Advisor, he was the Senate-confirmed director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
