As NRDC’s US-China climate policy coordinator, I support NRDC’s 30-person office in Beijing and help inform US-China environmental protection efforts in Washington. A scientist at heart, I use my physics degree to explore technical solutions to our fossil fuel addiction, and push for ambitious, science-based governmental policies and support for ramping up energy efficiency and clean energy. NRDC’s China Program covers a unique breadth of issues – from environmental governance to energy efficiency to smart growth – and it a great pleasure to work with such an amazing crew.
In advance of the Rio+20 Earth Summit in June 2012, I am also spearheading engagement with the next generation of environmentalists. This opportunity comes along just once every two decades. I am thrilled to help define my generation’s sustainable development agenda that is both relevant and action-oriented.
Posted May 24, 2012 by Michael Davidson in Solving Global Warming, Living Sustainably
We can’t make the future with what we did in the past. I mean that is ridiculous, isn’t it? The past actions are what caused the problems in the first place. We need innovation and imagination. So says 17-year...continued→
Posted May 11, 2012 by Michael Davidson in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
Imagine you are trying to come up with the perfect recipe for a summer solstice party you’re hosting with 193 friends. The caveat: each guest insists on picking one ingredient to include in the final dish, and your guests are...continued→
Posted April 17, 2012 by Michael Davidson in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
I’ve blogged extensively about why my generation has a crucial stake in the outcomes of Earth Summit 2012 this June (here, here, here...). If young people don’t raise our collective voices now, nations will spend the next two months arguing...continued→
Posted April 9, 2012 by Michael Davidson in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming, The Media and the Environment
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you probably have seen or heard about the Kony 2012 video. People posted the video on Facebook and tweeted it to their followers, generating a staggering...continued→
Posted January 30, 2012 by Michael Davidson in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
Following a stale round of Rio+20 negotiations last week, the long-awaited report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability released today provides the much-needed vision that has so far eluded negotiators. Rather than a bibliography of UN conference...continued→
Posted January 27, 2012 by Michael Davidson in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
Over the last three days here at the UN in New York City, I have heard a lot of criticisms of the “zero” draft outcome document for the June Rio+20 Earth Summit. Countries have passionately lambasted its lack of “vision”,...continued→
Posted December 15, 2011 by Michael Davidson in Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
Unemployment and underemployment are major concerns for youth around the world. The global economic downturn hit youth disproportionately hard, and even today, youth are three times more likely to be out of a job than adults. The Rio+20 Earth Summit...continued→
Posted October 26, 2011 by Michael Davidson in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
One block from my office in Washington, DC, young people frustrated by the lack of accountability and democracy in corporate America have gathered to demand and demonstrate change. I hear many voices of my generation as I walk through McPherson...continued→
Posted October 6, 2011 by Michael Davidson in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
Over 1,400 young people descended on Indonesia last week in the biggest youth gathering on the Race to Rio yet. Coming from 118 different countries, it was also the most global gathering. With the Rio+20 Earth Summit just nine months...continued→
Posted August 9, 2011 by Michael Davidson in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
The sun may be shining a little brighter in China for the rest of the year, as the country’s solar industry gets a shot in the arm with its first-ever nationwide solar PV feed-in-tariff (or FIT) enacted this week. In...continued→
Posted June 6, 2011 by Michael Davidson in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Reviving the World's Oceans, Solving Global Warming
One year from this week, government leaders, civil society members and representatives of the business community will meet in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the future of the planet. The Earth Summit (also called Rio+20 after the first such global...continued→
Posted April 14, 2011 by Michael Davidson in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
Everyone is interested in what China’s doing on environment these days. I spoke to a group of environmental law students at Tulane University on what China is doing on climate and energy, and they wanted to know how China is...continued→
Posted March 14, 2011 by Michael Davidson in Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming
For the last several weeks, I’ve been following hearings here in Washington on President Obama’s 2012 budget request, and their impact on key environment and energy programs. These coincide with the ongoing battle over funding the federal government for the...continued→
Posted March 6, 2011 by Michael Davidson in Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
On a miserable and rainy New York Sunday with gusts of up to 50 mph, what could fill a conference hall on sleepy 1st Avenue across from the United Nations? Civil society representatives have converged a day before the second...continued→
Posted February 23, 2011 by Michael Davidson in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
What will the U.S. clean energy standard look like? Following President Obama’s call for an 80-percent clean electricity-driven economy by 2035[1], Center for American Progress released a brief “Helping America Win the Clean Energy Race”. It outlines a framework for...continued→
Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.
