Dr. Erica Smithwick is a leading climate scientist, but she acknowledges that changing how society views global warming is more about conversations with friends and neighbors than warnings from experts.
A big part of the challenge ahead, she says, is “changing hearts and minds about how we’re thinking about the problem and the solutions.”
We don’t talk much about climate change—and that’s part of the problem, she says.
“If you are at the bus stop and you’re like, ‘Hey, this weather is kind of weird,’ let’s talk about that. Bringing it up in conversations, just even casually, can go a long way toward people prioritizing [solutions] when they’re making decisions about their household, at the ballot box, and other places,” Smithwick says.
Smithwick, a Distinguished Professor of Geography and Ecology, is director of the Climate Consortium and of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State. The consortium is a collective of partners inside and outside the university focused on research-based solutions to climate change.
Smithwick uses whale blubber as historical context for why she’s optimistic that society can adapt to the threat posed by climate change—if we start taking the issue more seriously.
“We used to just fuel ourselves on wood and on whale blubber, right?” she says with a laugh. “And then we went to coal and oil. We know how to transition society; we can figure this out.
“We’re not going to go back to whale blubber, but we’re gonna go to something else that is going to be better. It’s possible that solar energy and wind aren’t the only things that we end up innovating toward. But they are a solution that we need to take seriously and try to enable them to scale in a way that helps us.”
Here’s more from our conversation:
It seems that many people don’t have a sense of urgency about climate change. How do you go about changing those minds?
Smithwick: I think the traditional cry of scientists that this is an urgent problem and people need to change has not worked. It is motivating for a small subset of people, but the narrative is better when we talk about how this will improve the health of people, it will improve the health of your children, it will improve air quality, it will improve energy efficiency, and save you money.
Maybe you want to go hunting. Maybe you want better forests to do that. And by addressing climate change and putting in strategies that might promote forest growth, you’re sequestering carbon but you’re also promoting habitat. And that’s something that people can connect to. So, I think making it tangible to people’s daily lives and having those decisions be easier for them to make.
Climate change has become somewhat of a political issue, which must be frustrating.
Smithwick: It is unfortunate because if we work together on this topic, I honestly think that society will benefit in all the ways that everybody wants it to benefit. From my perspective, it’s a moral obligation that as a society we recognize the signals and we respond accordingly. And if we don’t, if we pass this on to other generations, then bad on us. I wish we could find that space for common ground. The federal government has decided that investment in infrastructure can advance some of these things; that is about expanding the electric grid, it’s about innovations in battery storage technologies that are cleaner and cheaper and more affordable.
One of the things that we are excited to see as well is that there’s attention when we’re thinking about climate change that we’re also thinking about justice. … We’re thinking about indigenous communities, we’re thinking about communities in underserved areas of major cities, and we’re thinking of rural communities. We’re trying to recognize how climate has differential impacts on people, but also how people have potentially differential ability to buy into the solutions. So it’s enough to say, go buy a Tesla. But if you can’t afford a Tesla, what are your options? And so we need to really think about this as an equity issue. And that’s where hopefully our society can come together.
Are there certain impacts of climate change being felt more in Pennsylvania?
Smithwick: We’re getting more intense rainfall events, which is overwhelming a lot of infrastructure and causing flooding in streets and moderately built-up communities; major cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are seeing extensive flooding. We also are getting just more rain overall, causing our streams to have more inland flooding. So, more water is going to be our challenge. But we’re also going to experience more droughts. The thing about climate change is it’s going to have the extremes happen more and more on both ends.
We’re also seeing already a decrease in our snowpack and an increase in frost-free days. We’re starting to see the growing season extend, which could be good in some cases for the agricultural sectors if we get the right amount of moisture and things to go along with that. But it also can threaten some of our native species; it can have mismatches in terms of the natural world when pollinators haven’t yet emerged and yet the flowers are already out, and then the flowers die and then the pollinators emerge. That can have negative impacts on the agricultural sector, as well as biodiversity.
The other thing I’ll mention is the fire effect. We just experienced this last June [in 2023], where we had the smoke come from fires in Canada. So, we are feeling the effects of climate change that are happening in other areas. We are not immune to what’s happening elsewhere. We’re all very, very connected.
I’d like to ask you to address some of the arguments against greener alternatives. Let’s start with electric vehicles; some people say they don’t have enough range, there are not enough charging stations, and they’re expensive.
Smithwick: There are an increasing number of options around the electric car [market]. The change is happening really fast. The range is expanding, the battery power is expanding. The first thing I often say to people is that they’re really fun to drive, so go test-drive one. I hate going to the gas station. I can plug it in in my garage.
One of the big concerns that people have around electric vehicles is the critical minerals that go into the batteries themselves. At Penn State, we are doing research right now that is addressing that very problem. For example, sourcing the critical minerals and rare earths that are needed for the construction of the vehicles—we want to create economies that allow that to be produced in Pennsylvania and in the Appalachian region. You can actually use old coal waste and coal slag from areas … in impoverished communities now because a lot of those industries have moved out. We can revitalize those communities through the extraction of these critical minerals that are already existing in that coal waste. And there’s lots of other innovations in that world that are emerging right now. We have the technologies; it’s just a question of getting them to scale.
Buying into the electric vehicle market, you’re buying into a technology that is not going away; it’s emerging and it’s become much more sustainable, and it’s just going to keep growing. It’s a good investment to make, but it doesn’t work for everyone. I think we have to recognize that. If you do have long-distance travel all the time, then it may not work.
Many people love their gas stoves, especially folks who are really into cooking. Are gas stoves bad? What should we do?
Smithwick: I love cooking and I’ve always desired a gas stove. But we know the evidence is there that it causes noxious fumes that are unhealthy. Are you OK living with noxious fumes in your home? And some people will make that choice. But I can tell you that the induction ovens [are] more efficient from a carbon perspective; they also can cook really well. I think that’s a personal choice, but people need to be aware that there is a health cost to having a gas stove, or even gas fireplaces in your home.
Solar power is a big undertaking. What about for people who don’t own their own home, or for whom solar is not practical?
Smithwick: The investments now from the Inflation Reduction Act and state rebates are such that you can offset some of the cost of [solar installation] from your taxes. And then, you do get cheaper bills each month.
If, for example, you don’t own your own home or you don’t know if you’re going to be in your own home where that investment makes sense, you can purchase your electricity from clean electric companies. West Penn Power, for example, pays for the utility lines to come to your house and you get charged through West Penn Power, but you have the opportunity to buy directly from them or to specify the company that you want your energy to come from. So, you could get 100-percent clean energy in your home just by making a choice.
Clean electricity is appealing, but it costs a little more, right?
Smithwick: You can be smart about [the cost], though; there is a website [papowerswitch.com] where you can look up different companies and you can call around. You do have to be careful of the contracts, but that’s with all things.
Read your electric bill and figure out what you’re paying, and then call around and see if you can get a deal because there are more and more of these markets coming up, and they’re going to be there competing with each other for your business. T&G
Mark Brackenbury is a former editor of Town&Gown.
