Reversing Climate Change alumnus and founder and president of the American Conservation Coalition, Benji Backer, returns to the show to tell us about The Conservation Coalition's new multimedia project, The Electric Election Roadtrip 2020. Benji and his team are traveling the country in a Tesla X to investigate the multiple overlapping climate solutions being developed. You can follow the show and its video on Facebook, TCC's website, or the podcast via audio in your podcast app of choice.
Resources:
The Electric Election 2020 Roadtrip website
American Conservation Coalition's Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, website
The Conservation Coalition website, and Twitter
The Trump panel with scientists referenced in this episode
Full Transcript
Alexsandra Guerra: You’re listening to the Reversing Climate Change podcast by the team at NORI, the carbon removal marketplace. This is a show about the innovators and entrepreneurs developing solutions to climate change.
Ross Kenyon: Hello and welcome to the Reversing Climate Change podcast. I’m Ross Kenyon. Today, we have an alumnus back on the show to announce what they are doing that is interesting to our listeners. I’m sure you’ll like to catch up with Benji Backer, founder and president of the American Conservation Coalition. Welcome back, Benji.
Benji Backer: Hey, great to be back with you. I loved our first conversation. Obviously, big fans of what you guys are working on and just excited to kind of share this exciting initiative that actually is just kicking off this week.
Ross Kenyon: Thanks, Benji. Yeah, it caught my eye and I knew I had to have you back on to talk about it, which is the Electric Election Road Trip 2020, I should even add. What is happening there? What are you up to?
Benji Backer: Yeah, so we were kind of in the, it was in the spring of this year when we were deciding how are we going to continue making a difference during COVID and make these issues, you know, still at the forefront of American politics and the American culture. And we realized that we could do that through a very, you know, obviously socially safe distance road trip across the country to highlight what local communities and businesses are doing to combat climate change because we feel like public-private partnerships and market-based solutions As well as local solutions are the answer to these sorts of problems.
And in an election year where a lot of action has been stalled in Congress and in state legislatures, and of course is being stalled on the campaign trail because of all the other topics that are going on, which are very important themselves, we felt like it was really necessary to take the initiative to go across the country in a Tesla X for 45 days and do almost 35 podcasts In different states across the country to show what small companies, large companies and local individuals are doing to combat climate change within their own communities.
And not just focus on the coast, not just focus on your typical environmental hubs of Seattle and San Francisco and other places like that, but actually go to, you know, what they say is real America, right? You know, we’re going from Seattle to where I am right now, which is Jackson Hole, Wyoming to South Dakota to You know, states like that, as well as some of the coastal states on the East Coast, like New York and New York City, to really tell this story that it’s not just, you know, this one-size-fits-all way to fight climate change, that you can do it in every geographic region, and you can do it via these market-based public-private partnerships and innovation-based solutions.
Ross Kenyon: Are you able to disclose any of the guests you might have on the show?
Benji Backer: Yeah, so in the next few weeks, we’re going to be having Conrad Anker, one of the You know, most famous climbing leaders and somebody who’s very active on climate change. We’ll have the president of the University of Washington, Anamari Khause. We’re going to have Kathy McMorris Rogers, the congresswoman from eastern Washington. We’re going to have the chief environmental officer of Microsoft. And those are going to be some of our first few episodes of kind of the Pacific Northwest area. And then we’re going to move to the Midwest and talk a lot about clean energy development in the Midwest and some of the sustainable farming work that’s being done in that area.
And then up to the Northeast, where there’s a lot of research and technology being developed in those states around lowering emissions on all sources of energy. And then we’re going to go down to the Southeast, do a lot about wetlands restoration, you know, coastal resiliency, those sorts of issues, and then finish up in the Southwest where A lot of these solutions are really right there in the mountains, figuring out ways to manage forests, better focus on carbon capture in communities that are still very reliant on fossil fuels, talk with companies that are shifting from fossil fuels to renewables.
It’s going to be a really interesting journey to cover those different aspects of the American landscape and this issue of sustainability.
Ross Kenyon: How much of your communication work like this is focused on people that are right of center saying, hey, you don’t have to not be an environmentalist just because you’re conservative or a libertarian or a right-leaning moderate? And how much of it is pointing to the left saying, hey, we have something to contribute to the Green New Deal discourse as well? Which way are you looking for your audiences?
Benji Backer: Yeah, I mean, for us, this is an initiative that we feel like can unite people on both sides of the aisle. And so our audience does include people on the right and the left to your question. And actually with kind of that sort of messaging, we feel like, you know, unlike other political issues, these sorts of solutions aren’t political and they don’t have to be divisive. You know, we’ve already interviewed, you know, everyone from a tribal chairman to one of the biggest chief executives at one of the largest companies in the world.
And Yeah, everyone in between, they all kind of have this same mindset of like, let’s just do this together and we can do this through smart solutions. And of course, we’re not always going to agree, but there are things that we have a ton of overlap on, on these issues. And so from the left to the right, we want to show that during a divisive election, these sorts of policies and technology implementation and sustainability efforts in the marketplace can be at the forefront for people on all sides. But we also want to show that the issues around climate change don’t have to be solved via big government all the time.
And I think that’s a fatal flaw of the climate change movement has been always relying on a one-size-fits-all policy at the federal government level. If you know anything about the American Conservation Coalition or me, you will realize that I do believe the federal government has a role in sustainability and climate change. And we’ve advocated for policies like that. We can’t simply rely on the federal government to solve our problems. When we do that, we never have success. And what we can do is lean on local governments, state governments, and companies a whole lot more than we are doing currently.
And maybe that is going to be seen as a shot at some people on the left, but it has nothing to do with political ideology. It has to do with the fact that we want to solve climate change. And we feel like we can do that through an all of the above approach in terms of All sources of decision makers making the change to fight climate change.
Ross Kenyon: Got it. Well, this week I saw that video, you must have too, though I know you’re pretty busy, of Trump with the NOAA scientists on that panel. Did you watch that?
Benji Backer: Yeah, I did actually. I just saw it last night for the first time and yeah, definitely was frustrating.
Ross Kenyon: It hurt my brain a fair amount. What’s it like trying to work and influence the right of center, especially in D. C. where you guys spend a lot of your time? Is that a dominant attitude? Do you feel like you are making strides? How do you make progress on something like that when it seems like we’re either delaying or taking steps backwards even?
Benji Backer: Yeah, no, it’s a really great question. And I think what it comes down to is that the president is, We’re on a different page than where the Republican Party and conservatives are heading. Conservatives are heading in the right direction on climate. You have the three most climate-friendly states in the country in terms of reducing emissions per the previous year are run by Republican governors who are very much adamant about climate change reform. You have the House Minority Leader in Congress, Republican Kevin McCarthy, having his own climate plan Which would have seemed like an impossible situation a few years ago.
You have senators like Mike Braun in Indiana putting together constant climate change legislation. So it’s trending in the right direction, not just with young people. Young people are demanding the change. Young people are the ones that are making the change happen. But it is older generations of conservatives are falling into climate change reform as well. And as a conservative and as somebody who leans that way, To see the president like just totally on a different page than where this movement is heading is bizarre. I mean, it really truly is. I mean, we know that forest fires are ravaging our nation.
And instead of like trying to figure out a way to create a sensible approach of saying, yes, forest fires have to do with poor forest management and climate change and, you know, or even just acknowledging or trying to listen to the scientists that were at that panel, he just Flat out continues to deny climate change. And, you know, he’s had some great conservation wins and he could come out and try to find a way to do something great on climate change through a more conservative leaning approach. But he’s refusing to.
And it’s really bizarre. It’s not where the conservative movement is heading. And it’s obviously not very helpful for those of us who want to fight climate change.
Ross Kenyon: So it seems like you’re hopeful then that in the future, The conservative movement will look back on the Trump era as an aberration somehow. Maybe this isn’t where the heart of the movement is slash should be slash will be.
Benji Backer: Yeah, I mean, Donald Trump’s one person in the conservative movement. Of course, he’s got the largest microphone and he’s got the table and he’s the one driving the ship. But he is only one person and the rest of the movement is heading in the right direction. And so I think if you look back at this time, Regardless of if Donald Trump wins or not, we will try to work with whoever’s in the White House and try to get Donald Trump on the right page if he does win in November. But I think, to your question, if we look back at this five, ten years from now, I don’t think that the conservative movement will be known as the anti-climate change reform movement.
I don’t think you can even say that anymore. Unfortunately, Donald Trump is carrying on that stereotype a little bit here. But I do think that it is an aberration to reality. I think that Republicans are becoming on the right side of history on this issue. And the amount of bipartisan bills in Congress to fight for climate change reform is absolutely incredible. And I think that there’s a lot of power to that. And whenever the era of Trump is over, regardless if he comes in the right direction or not, I think He’s not going to hold up the Republican Party and the conservative movement being better stewards on climate change.
And we’re already seeing that happen here in 2020.
Ross Kenyon: Fascinating. Yeah, I look forward to seeing how that plays out. Well, Benji, I’m imagining that someone listening, if they wanted to follow you with, oh, by the way, congratulations on joining the ranks of podcasters. It’s one in every three Americans now. It’s not really, but it might as well be.
Benji Backer: Only one in three? It seems like two in three.
Ross Kenyon: I know, I know, it really does. Where can someone check out your show and follow what ACC is doing?
Benji Backer: Yeah, well, you can definitely follow us on social media at ACC underscore national, all over social media. And then we also have a brand new website, For our nonprofit, we have the American Conservation Coalition and The Conservation Coalition. This is an educational initiative through the Conservation Coalition, and you can check out this initiative on tcc. eco slash road trip, or just go to tcc. eco and you’ll see it. I’m really excited to be able to share this journey across the United States. We already have a lot of amazing episodes that we’ve pre-recorded in Seattle, and then we’ll be releasing them as we go throughout the next 45, 50 days.
We’re going to be pumping out more content than everyone’s going to want, but it’s going to be there, and we’re going to have pretty much every story that people want to be told being told, and that’s the power of this podcast. I really appreciate the opportunity to share it with your audience because I know that it’s going to resonate incredibly well with your incredibly strong audience, and I think at the end of the day, we both know and agree, and we’ve talked about this a lot, that these sort of market-based solutions paired with smart government are the answer, and This kind of private sector leadership can drive the change, which is exactly what Nori is doing.
So I’m really thrilled to be able to be going around the country and showcasing other initiatives like that. And hopefully, Nori’s listeners and Reversing Climate podcast listeners can join in and tune in as well. And honestly, we’ll probably be releasing a podcast every day or two. So if you’re constantly pressing the refresh button, you might see a new video. Every day. So really excited to continue kind of inspiring people around these sorts of solutions and realize that it will take all of us to fight climate change. And it’s not just going to be the members of Congress and the president that decide if the United States is going to be a leader or a follower when it comes to reducing carbon emissions.
Ross Kenyon: I love it. And I love the solutions focus too. I think that’s really agency granting. People like it. They don’t feel hopeless. And it’s also going to take a gigantic portfolio approach rather than just like one singular policy or approach in general. So very cool, Benji. What’s the name of the show too? I imagine people probably want to listen in their podcast app. What are you calling it?
Benji Backer: Yep. So it’s going to be called the Electric Election Road Trip and the Electric Election Podcast. It’s going to be on pretty much everywhere you can find it. And we’ll be uploading it as we go. First episode will drop probably in the next couple of days. And we’re going to be uploading it to everywhere and anywhere. So if you want to see it, you’ll be able to find it. The Electric Election Podcast.
Ross Kenyon: Great. I’m going to hold this episode until the first one comes out so I can steer people right into your waiting arms and get that to happen.
Benji Backer: So thank you for having me.
Ross Kenyon: I’m happy to have you back on. It was fun to catch up. I know you have to run. You are busy, a man with a schedule. So how about we call it there?
Benji Backer: Let’s do that. And honestly, you know, just really happy to be back on. Happy to do it again at the end to kind of recap the trip. I’m a man with a schedule, but it’s all very exciting things. And hopefully we can continue growing the ACC movement as we travel across the country. Doing these sorts of podcasts and reaching new communities that haven’t really had a voice at the table. So excited to come back on in the next couple of months and share what we’ve learned and share maybe some surprises as well.
So thanks again for having me on.
Ross Kenyon: Yeah, my pleasure. And links to all of the ACC social media accounts, website, etc. is on there. Would be happy to have you back on to recap the trip. It sounds like an exciting one. Hopefully you don’t get too sick of everyone being cooped up in there like a band on tour. I think they go a little bit crazy during those. I think you’ll be okay, but good luck to you guys.
Benji Backer: 50 days together in a car is going to be a test in itself, and I think we’ll probably be able to tell a lot of stories, not only from the stories we’re hearing about climate change reform within local communities, but also we will tell stories about How is it to be on a road trip with people that you don’t really know incredibly well for 50 days and how that turns out? So a little bit of a social experiment and a podcast all in one. If I have to hear Benji say public-private partnership one more time, I’m going to lose it.
Well, you’re going to be hearing it a lot more. So get ready for that. You’re going to lose it.
Ross Kenyon: Okay, cool. Thank you, Benji. Thanks for being on the show.
Benji Backer: Yeah, appreciate it.
Unknown speaker: Yeah, thanks.
Ross Kenyon: And if you like the show, write us a review on Apple Podcasts or iTunes. We always appreciate that. Follow us on social media. There’s a link to our Patreon in there too. And thanks so much for listening.
