The climate crisis is a subtle, long-term problem because it doesn’t manifest itself like weather, which changes a lot from day to day. Yet 194 out of 195 countries acknowledge this crisis. It’s already too big for individual actions alone to make any difference in solving it. So how shall we respond, collectively?

Robert Haw will discuss how to pay for a clean-energy transition and pay ourselves at the same time. In a lively presentation with easily understood terms, Haw discusses some of the changes occurring in our world. Current manifestations of climate change (like the crazy weather) are illustrated and the science behind it explained. On the economics of climate change, he shows that transitioning to a clean-energy economy is affordable by levying a revenue-neutral extraction fee on carbon-based energy sources. Revenue-neutrality means that 100% of the fee gets returned to households. Economists tell us that the extra household “income” will be spent, creating lots of new jobs and boosting GDP.

A physicist by training and a graduate of Stanford University, Robert Haw has been employed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for twenty-five years as an interplanetary navigation engineer on exploration missions across the solar system. He's currently working on SMAP, an Earth-orbiting spacecraft mapping soil moisture levels around the planet.

In 2012 Robert co-founded the Pasadena Foothills chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby, an organization devoted to building the political will for a livable planet. He has spoken frequently to our elected representatives and to public audiences in the Foothill communities about a practical, affordable, and bi-partisan solution to the climate crisis.