Born in New York, but moved to New Mexico when I was 12, and spent the next 15 years out West or in Vermont. I’ve been back in New York since 1993—don’t hold it against me, I got a job here after grad school! At NRDC, I work on global warming-related issues, mostly in the Interior West and Midwest. My primary focus is on fighting proposed new conventional coal plants, but I also work on the impacts of global warming on water resources in the West, as well as federal climate legislation.
All of that is done in the realm of “campaign” work. That means I’m a bit of a fish out of water here—I’m not a lawyer, a scientist or a PhD policy wonk. (In my life before NRDC, I was a journalist. My last job was at Fortune Magazine). So I work with other enviro’s, businesses and government officials to advance clean energy policies and discourage dirty ones. It’s fun, and I feel very lucky to be here at NRDC.
Posted May 16, 2012 by Theo Spencer in Solving Global Warming
NRDC released a report today along with the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization using new analysis that shows rain storms that dump more than three inches in a day have doubled over the last 50 years. Those storms are linked to...continued→
Posted May 4, 2012 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming
"Connecting the Dots” is a phrase we use all the time. It generally means, ‘use your simple logical skills to understand that one event or data point is related to another, and they both add up to something greater than...continued→
Posted March 1, 2012 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming
There’s been a fair amount of wacky weather recently, in the small chance you haven’t noticed. People walking around in tee shirts in the Northeast marveling at flowers that don’t usually appear until several months later. 50 degree below zero...continued→
Posted February 6, 2012 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming, The Media and the Environment
So far, it hasn’t been a great winter for skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers and folks who depend on a lot of snow for their recreation and livelihood. Some states—Washington and Alaska—and some ski areas like Taos in New Mexico, and Telluride...continued→
Posted November 18, 2011 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming
More extreme weather events—heat waves, floods, drought—are coming our way this century, and there is new evidence that links these extreme events to climate change, according to a report issued today by the world’s most respected scientific body on climate change....continued→
Posted November 8, 2011 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming
Economists at the Universities of California at Berkeley and San Francisco, along with our team here at NRDC, released findings in a study Published in the journal Health Affairs today. The economists and scientists investigated the health costs of six...continued→
Posted November 4, 2011 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming
Recent influential reports have made the direct link between the rise in extreme weather events and rising carbon pollution. More extreme weather events are becoming the norm, they’re costing companies money, and they’re putting electricity supplies at risk. Plus people...continued→
Posted October 25, 2011 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming, The Media and the Environment
Climate change skeptics and deniers often point to alleged flaws in temperature monitoring data, and analysis of that data, to bolster their arguments. But a new study by a team at the University of California--called the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature...continued→
Posted October 19, 2011 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
Midwestern governors most of them Republicans, are mad as hell and they don’t want to take it anymore. Costs associated with record flooding, they say, and a lack of preparedness for such extreme events are devastating their states. The governors...continued→
Posted September 14, 2011 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Green Enterprise, Solving Global Warming
Most of us like a change in the weather every now and then. People in Dallas are probably feeling that way, after enduring 70 days over 100 degrees since July 4--perhaps a little winter wouldn't be bad down there. But...continued→
Posted July 13, 2011 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
Our National Parks have been called 'America's Best Idea.' But a new report we've released today with the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization shows how National Parks in the Great Lakes region are already suffering from the impacts of climate disruption,...continued→
Posted June 28, 2011 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming, The Media and the Environment
Sound preposterous? At least an over-statement? Well that's the headline of the first part of a series published today in Scientific American. The full title: "Storm Warnings: Extreme Weather Is a Product of Climate Change." Are the recent extreme events truly no...continued→
Posted May 18, 2011 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming
Last week I wrote about the recent National Academy of Sciences report, America's Climate Choices. But I think the editorials below from USA Today and the San Francisco Chronicle do a much better job of dealing directly with the importance of the study. For...continued→
Posted May 12, 2011 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming
As The Washington Post reported today, people along the Mississippi River and its swollen tributaries are facing a very difficult decision: should they flood the farms to save the cities? That’s a tough spot to be in, and one we...continued→
Posted February 7, 2011 by Theo Spencer in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming
I won't waste a lot of your time here, just please read this story in Sunday's LA Times. It reports in comprehensive detail the tale of the two brothers' horrifically outsized influence over American politics. I've blogged on the Koch's...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.
