Hello, its a pleasure to be here. Im the founder and Senior Advisor at the institute right now. [applause] weve been talking about it nonstop for ten years. Its a pleasure to meet you all. You can hear a bit about this message of mobilizing us, inspiring us and keeping us optimistic. Thats a hell of a job. Jonathan is the author of the nonfiction book, eating animals and the novels, everything eliminated, incredibly close and here i am. In this book, we are the weather, Climate Change the Central Global dilemma of all time and Surprising New ways. Some people reject the fact that our planet is warming because of human activity. Are those of us who believe in the science who need to change our lives in response, its a great reckoning with ourselves. With our comfort for the sake of the future, we have turned our planet into a farm for growing animal products. The consequences are catastrophic. All of it starts with what we eat and what we dont eat for breakfast. In her review, they noted the message is for depressing and optimistic informs readers to rethink their commitment to combating the greatest crisis humankind has ever faced. Please help me welcome jonathan. [applause] thank you. Nice to be here. I knew within a second or two we were going to get along. We have a lot to talk about. I said it probably be better if you and i had a public conversation rather than my just getting up and reading or delivering some kind of lecture because i have believed the problem of Climate Change is largely a problem of conversation and how conversations are ahead. This is the last event i think im doing for a book tour for this book. The first event i did wasnt an event, it was an interview with someone name ben shapiro, a far right winged, hes quite conservative, public intellectual radio host. Before i went out there, my friends said why would you do that . Why would you talk to this person . Why would you even share a table with him . Second, why would you think theres anything productive to be had in the conversation . I felt that even if a lot of his opinions and values are quite different on my own, hes driven by his own values. I dont think of him as somebody as i might some other public figures, purely in it for money or fame. Hes clearly a smart person. However, i strongly disagree with him. He has an audience in the millions. This is a problem we will either solve or suffer together. There has to be some white of having productive conversations. When we sat down, we made some nice conversation between us and then he began to dig in and said Climate Change, what is it you want to talk about . What are your feelings about Climate Change . I said what do you think Climate Change is . And i will tell you my feelings. He said well, the fact not the idea, notion or argument, the fact that the planet is going to warm in the next century by between two and 6 degrees because of human activity. I thought, thats a pretty robust description of Climate Change. It was not at all what i expected him to say. The goalposts of climate has been moving over the last month and year. It used to be that a fairly large number of people didnt accept the basic science of human activity, the new form of denial was the earth is warming, we dont really know if its human activity or not or if its regular climate cycles. Now the most form of climate denial is the earth is warming because of human activities, we dont know exactly how bad it will be. It would be premature or even reckless to overreact, lets wait ten or 20 years. Technologies will develop which will get us out of the problem. So i spent a lot of time thinking about different kinds of climate denial because i have grown to think of myself as a kind of denier. A different kind, but kind that knows everything thats necessary to know and cares about necessary amounts, but doesnt do very much. It has a larger Carbon Footprint meet average science denier. 91 now citizens except the basic science of Climate Change. Many americans believe in the existence of bigfoot but deny the existence of Climate Change. 70 say they wished the u. S. State in crime accord. The challenge is how to have a conversation in a way that reveals this broad agreement rather than focuses on the areas of disagreement. I thought before we get into our conversation, i would read a short passage that gets this notion of there being different kinds of denial and the most insidious kinds, probably everybody in this room practices. Including myself. 1942, a 28yearold catholic embarked on a mission to travel to poland 200 and ultimately america to inform World Leaders of what the germans were perpetrating. In anticipation of his journey, he met with resistance groups accumulating information testimonies to bring to the west. After surviving the journey, he arrived in d. C. In june 1943. He met with Supreme Court justice, felix, one of the great legal minds in American History and himself a jew. After hearing the account of the clearing, exterminations and concentration camps, after asking him a series of increasingly specific questions like what the height of the wall that separates the ghetto from the rest of the city parks he paced the room and silence and took his seat and said mr. Gorski, a man like me talking to a man like you must be totally frank, i must say im unable to believe what you told me. When he pleaded with him to accept his account, frankfurter responded i didnt say this young man is lying, i said i am unable to believe him. My mind, my heart is in such a way i cannot accept it. Frankfurter didnt question the truthfulness of his story. He didnt dispute the germans were systematically murdering the jews of europe. He didnt respond while he was persuaded and horrified, theres nothing he can do. Rather he admitted not only is an ability to believe the truth but his awareness of the inability. Our minds and hearts are wellbuilt to perform different tax for others. We are good at things like calculating the path of a hurricane and bad at things like deciding to get out of its way. To need evidence of this, look around miami and people building houses 3 feet higher and if that were a solution. We evolved over hundreds of millions of years and the resemblance of the modern world, we are left with desires, fears and differences neither correspond nor respond to modern realities. We are disproportionately drawn to immediate and local needs, we create sugars which are bad for people, we watch our children despite the many greater risks to their health we ignore. While remaining indifferent to what is lethal but feels over there. Many Climate Change is accompanying calamities, extreme water weather events, wildfires, displacement of scarcity, vivid, personal and suggestion of the worsening situation, it doesnt feel that way. Distance and isolated rather than the strengthening narrative. As the journalist put, evil psychologist gathered enough secret undersea base, would be hopelessly deliberate to address and contact on better in Climate Change. Socalled Climate Change deniers reject the conclusion that 97 of climate scientists have reached. The planet is warming from human activity. What about those of us who say we accept the reality of human caused Climate Change . We may not think the scientists are lying but are we able to believe what they tell us . Such a belief would surely awaken us to the imperative attached to it, shake our conscience and willing to make small sacrifices in the presence to avoid cataclysmic ones in the future. Intellectually accepting the truth isnt virtuous in and of itself and it will save us. As a child, i was often told you know better, i did something i shouldnt have done knowing the difference between mistake and an offense. If we accept the factual reality that we are destroying the planet, unable to believe it, then we are no better than those who deny the existence of human caused Climate Change. Just as frankfurter was no better than those who denied the holocaust. When the future distinguishes between these two aisles of denial, it will appear to be in error and an unforgivable crime. With that, i can begin our conversation. [applause] way to dump a heavy question here in miami. What side will you be on . I have to say thank you, totally unprepared for this, its only your generation that has us here. What side of history . I dont know. I dont know how much change i am capable of. In a way, that was the point of the book. I wasnt sharing some sort of moment of enlightenment and i wasnt sharing any kind of accomplishment, i was trying to share my own struggles and i find my response, my experience of Climate Change is a struggle. I dont feel like there are things i know because i spent a fair amount of time becoming familiar with the science but you know, i flew hear from new york yesterday. Im flying back today. I did an awful lot of flying when i was getting readings from this book. I live in a house that i know is not the right kind of house to live in. I make decisions every day, often times i try to pretend im not making them by ignoring them but the truth is, i make decisions every day that i know that im keeping with my failures because its very complicated to have competing values. Especially when some of them are immediate and primitive like winter break is coming up, what should i do with my kids . It would be great to fly somewhere warm. Or, i am hungry and my hotel has not a single vegetarian option. What will i do . Those are sort of primitive and immediate values that are sometimes at odds with other things that i know but are a little bit vague or feel distant so i am not figuring out what is that im capable of. Will either all be on the right side or all on the wrong side. We will all figure this out together. Its not that half of us can figure it out on behalf of the other. 90 which is an idea that i think was something weve grown accustomed to. My hope is that i will participate in something and i cultural wave, which sometimes it feels like we are on the verge of and sometimes it feels like a fantasy. Thank you for being honest, i do think it concert of the summative, to know one thing and to do another. If we all get what we could, and an individual but the big thing, the political and economic world to turn the shift on fossil fuel. His constant and individual everything you do affects the weather from what you have for breakfast, what you drive, what you order your hotel room but are you voting . How you spend your monday, what is the momentum . Is that what we are looking for . A combination . And awareness to begin with. As we make choices in our life, we are not only having the real world, we are changing our culture with influences our system. An example of this the rise of veggie burgers which might sound silly but six months ago, if i were traveling from new york to d. C. , as i often do, i stopped at a restaurant, there was virtually nothing to eat as a vegetarian, within the last three months, pretty much every fast food chain in the country now sells a beyond burger or impossible burger and mcdonalds is now in the process of making that transition. Its not because the government regulated them to do that and to stop because the ceo of these corporations woke up one morning and said wouldnt it be great to participate in the solution rather than the problem, its because there were Market Forces because people are making changes in their lives. We live in an age of historically unprecedented tracking of our choices. Amazon is aware of our choices. Google is aware. Netflix is aware. In this sense, its a good thing because our choices can take on a greater importance. One of the interesting things about the rise of beyond burgers is that 90 of them are sold to meat eaters, not vegetarians. I think we are now moving away from the binary of this being a question of personal identity. You can either do all or none. Anybody whos in between is a version of a hypocrite. Instead, we are moving toward the idea that we know we will do our best to do it. Even if that best is not complete. The reality is, nobodys best is complete. Ive never met or heard of anybody in any ethical route whos complete. I think we allow the fear of hypocrisy is so great that it prevents us from even trying. Really, i really appreciate that answer because theres some insight, this group is probably on believing this but theres insight on this now of people thinking we are wasting our time, changing lightbulbs and doing those things and we should focus on elections and economy and so on. But i agree, i think it will take all of us, everything to start that wave. Democrats are only talking about Climate Change because of young people. Voters have made it clear its important to them. I have no faith whatsoever in the current administration. Virtually no faith in whatever the Replacement Administration will be. I dont necessarily believe than talking, i like her, i would be happy if she became president , we are just talking now. She said these corporations are happy when you talk about your lightbulbs. Happy because it distracts from their responsibility. Im going to tell you nobody will take away your hamburger. I thought is this heston talking about guns right now . This does not sound like a message i believe and it doesnt sound like a message she believes in either. The reality is, we cannot wait for our leaders to lead us. We have to participate in this Virtuous Cycle where our individual choices nudge the marketplace and leaders to make it easier for us to make good choices, harder to make bad choices which will create a system easier for them to make it easier for us as it happens with veggie burgers. It something driven by an individual desire of individuals to drive a different kind of automobile. So what scientists tell us, therefore what matters, more than all others. In terms of an individuals participation in stopping Global Warming which are lifeless, car free, have fewer children and eat a plant based diet. 85 of americans drive to work, the majority of flights we take are either for work or non leisure personal purposes like visiting a sick relative. Most people are not right now in the process of deciding whether or not to have a kid. Those three things, but we have to do, i dont know if thats a nervous laughter or those three things we have to do less of. Theres a fifth thing, which is to vote. While its true that theres nothing more important than systemic change, its probably the aspect of the battle against Climate Change that i have the least amount of faith and. What about evil . This Information Campaign is wellfunded. I asked backstage, how do you deal with climate denial . He goes, i dont get them that often. I have this kind of mouth that gets them. They attract me on social media all the time and they want to prove this and that, i give them a website. Stop being lazy. But these are very bright peop people, these are doctors and lawyers and Healthcare Professionals and teachers who have drunk the koolaid that the others so beautifully given them they call themselves skeptics, i laughed. Skeptics work truth. Thats the difference. So how do we confront billions of dollars, the coke brothers and not that we find out so many more that hid the signs from us in the interest of province, knowing, im taking names and i will publish them because their children and grand children need to know, my daughters no, they will say he died trying. Thats what its going to take. [applause] so how do we, with limited fun funds, how do we deal with that . How do we deal with the amount of money and cleverness and successful ways that that Information Campaign is still taking root . The scientists pronounced a window of opportunity for us to change this is shrinking. We are not saying the world will disappear. Our ability to provide this uncontrolled warming and it will be compromised. What do you see . Its fairly easy to wake up somebody whos asleep, just nudge the shoulder or make a loud noise or pinched their nostrils closed, whatever. But its impossible to wake up somebody whos pretending to be asleep. People who deny science of Climate Change right now are pretending to deny the science of Climate Change. Its not intellectually honest and there are so few of them, its a great shame our present happens to be one but there are so few of them that i think its a waste of energy to involve oneself any more than is proportionate to how the bigger piece of the problem they are. The problem is people like us, we are the low hanging fruit. All the people who are aware of whats happening and care about whats happening in our either not making changes in their lives are not insisting from the elected officials that brought systemic changes in place. I think theres a way in which battling against signs deniers can be selfindulgent. It can be soothing because when we externalize the responsibility, it feels good to not be one of the ignorant people. Even though each of us has a hard time believing what we know and acting on the things we know. So i would let them go. Im confused because of the denials of money and power that are spending so much money on on informing. Its like the cigarette you dont want to tell them its not happening but create enough doubt that theyre not worried and they dont see urgency. Thats what kisses me off. I worried about getting pissed off. Health me there. My worry is that it feels good to be pissed off. I gave a reading about a month ago and theres assigning afterwords. The couple opened the book to what would normally be an empty page and it was filled with their handwriting. I asked him, what is this . They said were getting married in a month and we decided that we needed to have a plan for how we will live our life together. Their plan was, have no more than two children. Each vegetarian unless you are serve to meet at a friends house and theres no other option. Eat vegan two days a week. Only car sharing and no more than 1000 miles in the year. Instead of having that a headline that said, witness. And then just a ton of bricks. I said i dont have a plan for myself. I wrote this book. I was on the stage. I expect my government to have a plan. I expect the school that my kid goes to to have a plan for it and my plan is to say things like im going to fly left which is no plan at all. I went home back to my hotel that night i wrote out a plan. That is to eat no animal products for breakfast or lunch. Eat is vegetarian for dinner. A maximum of three cab rides a week. No flying for vacation in 2020. Volunteer one full day of week and in the new York City School system, to raise awareness. So i wrote the plan and i knew it wasnt really enough that i knew i would be for cyclic consistent about it. But it changed me very genetically. To force these feelings like hope or hopelessness. Feelings of being pissed off into numbers and sentences that i could not only witness myself. You have to confront that on an viciousness of your own limitations. You risk having witnesses and being held accountable. I dont even have to ask, i assume everyone accepts the science of Climate Change. I dont even have to ask. Does anybody in this room, how many people in this room have a plan . By that, i dont mean i4 a tesla. Where you break down the various aspects of your life that you know are significant. And have concrete ties to your values. Numbers are days the week or numbers. Does anybody here have such a thing . One person. So i think thats a great use of energy. I agree. I think you should be vp if Elizabeth Warren wins and make a plan. Challenge everybody to make a plan. I dont think im the best choice. Hour that we push jonathan and his next book to be, make a plan. That was this book. Its such a simple notion, isnt it . Before this couple mentioned it to me, i spent two years researching, doing interviews. Its just a great human exercise. If you do it with a partner or your kids. It brings you closer. The kids would love it. Kids need hope. They desperately need a plan. Theres a poll the Washington Post conducted that found the majority of teenagers are feeling scared and angry about Climate Change. Which is understandable. The thought of those emotions arent being turned into anything. I work with a group. We have this mobilization called generation of climate leaders. They are part of extinction rebellion. Sunrise. All sorts of things. And we are there hope. You take your anxiety and depression on the science and you mobilize your plan. So these kids have been with the city of miami, city of miami beach. Getting them to make a plan. B claire [indiscernible]. He was going, no, i will act like its an emergency but i will declare an emergency. The kids were getting desponding and i was dusting them off saying, hes listening. No ones challenged him like this before. And then last week, he did it. And of the city of miami beach did it first. Now are going to the county. So we are trying to mobilize people but you have to let that anxiety and depression sink and a little bit because it is the reality, isnt it . Use the word x essential threats. You have kids . Yeah i do. 13yearold and 10yearold boys. If you have to do it again, would you have kids . If i do it again . [laughter] very cute, jonathan. I know my kids so i would do it again. Theyre just so adorable. Mine are very adorable. The reason i brought up that issue of how to move emotions into actions as its not a problem unique to kids. We live in a culture where we are at extreme risk of mistaking for action. Watching Rachel Maddow for doing your political duty that night. Mistaking saying someone having to do something. Marches are wonderful and a necessary part. Of this broader action. But they are not sufficient. I would much rather see students of america boycott beef than school. 91 percent of amazonian deforestation is for livestock. A clear area for those animals to graze. I believe any number of marches will sway tron. It may sway the democrats to have agendas more in line with our values. But in the meantime, when this enormous power in our wallets. To withhold money from the bad actors and to give money to the good actors. Theres literally no better place than the beef industry. And its so catchy, boycott beef. It would make a good tote. At this point, we will open it up to questions. You know the drill but i will repeat, please have a question. And one per customer. So if people want to ask, they have a chance as well. The author will be at the signing station after this session. I do of this will sound like bragging. But i will do it anyway. 13 years ago, this college made one of its learning outcomes for every student that students will be able to describe how Natural Systems function in the impact on humans. So the college you are at has been real proactive in terms of education. You can google our Earth Ethics Institute to see what students are doing on this question. And that is like 15 years old. The other is where opening a Training Center for tesla on our campus. We partnered with them. But enough about us. Right . Thank you very much for your optimistic view in getting us to mobilize amongst ourselves. Im just curious as to how you this is a nonchaotic way to overcome the climate crisis. So how are we going to go from individual plans to convincing our congressmen to formulate their plans. And ultimately to change the ultimate goal, being to decrease fossil fuel use almost to zero. How are we going to do that. In an orderly fashion. Because, if we cant, then the earth will sort of, nature will take its course. And that will be chaotic. If things get very bad, i mean, you could see a lot of people just demonstrating and closing down every single drilling operation. And that will reduce carbon 20. So how can we do it in an orderly process and convince everyone to . I wish i knew. I dont really know. When i was telling you i wrote that plan of mine. I didnt want it all to just be individual choices. I wanted to participate in the systemic change that is necessary. All of the things we can do as individuals are not enough. We also need systemic change. Are we going to write letters to our congressmen . I dont leave that will ever bring everything. I think theres not going to be a Silver Bullet solution just as not a Silver Bullet version of the story that moves people to care. And its relation of conversations and actions. I dont know the song, at the harvard yale football game. Couple hundred people took the field urging universities to divest from fossil fuels. In my hotel this morning, i heard that as i glided past fox news but they said this is a perfect example of americas elite interrupting football games. Forgetting who was playing in that football game. Right . [laughter] one of the things i keep coming back to is, i have to know the ultimate answers to begin. Sometimes when we feel vulnerable, race to the end of the story. Well im not going to become a vegan so i will take food off. I cant stop we measure our distance from perfection rather than measuring our distance from doing nothing at all. Someone said the other day, i read your book and i decided i will become a vegan. Is there any chance youre setting yourself up for failure or success, he said ive been a vegan for eight days. He said i will slip because everybody does. As opposed to im doing my best to eat as little of these products as possible. Is all or nothing. Right. If he goes for a month and messes up one meal, thats a failure. Instead he looks at it starting from the beginning. Rather to the end. He will get 90 out of 91 meals. I know that we need to have a leader that will push us in ways that will make us uncomfortable. My lack of that knowledge doesnt stop me from doing what i can do as modest as it might be. I dont even know what the ultimate effectiveness is. Maybe you can run from office for office. I smoked too much pot probably. That qualifies now. If you want to be president , you have to smoke pot. You run the Cleo Institute doing amazing work in miami. Can you talk about the Cleo Institute and how we can become involved . Get online. Www. Cleoinstitute. Org and register your name. Best thing you can do is sign up to become a cleo climate speaker. Where we train your on the basic science. Give you slides. A coach. Time to practice. Now we bring you back into present and recertify you if you pass. That really allows you to be an informed advocate as you influence your circles. We all have circles of influence. Another way to do is to follow cleo. The mayors roundtables. We had 104 donors help us reach 23,000. Weve trained more than 20,000 people. I cant celebrate 100 donors when ive trained hundreds of thousands. Get out there and do the good work and thank you for asking that. [applause] we have time for one more question and then the author will be at the autographing table. Sorry about that time. We have another show coming up. Its really great that you municipalities are starting that trend. But how are we going to stop all of those monstrous buildings on the bay and ocean from being built . Thats not my pay grade. Its likely Mother Nature will take care of that. I do think theyre getting closer to discussing policy and zoning restrictions. We couldnt talk about retreat five days ago years ago. Slow but steady. Although we dont have the time, so its a little frustrating. I was really moved by what you said to the last verse. The idea of training people to talk rather than asking them to give. I was reading, the last question in a session like this was maybe a sevenyearold young woman. And she said very boldly, do you think we will do what we need to do to save the planet . I said, i really dont know. She said, i dont know either. I asked her, what do you think it would take to do what we need to do . In time. She thought about it and she said, i think we would need to talk about it all the time. And im sometimes asked questions as if, how to convince a representative. I really dont know. The more we talk about it, the more progress we will make. To talk about zoning. Talk about elections. How to reform the Animal Agriculture industry. The fossil fuel industry. This is a case where we have to be vigilant about making a subject around our dinner tables. Thanksgiving is giving us a nice challenge. Thats another story. I will leave you with this one thanksgiving thought. Every single turkey sold in every single supermarket in the United States was incapable of sexual reproduction. It was artificially inseminated because theyve been bread to grow so quickly that their genitals literally cant meet anymore. Its something to contemplate thanksgiving is the perfect occasion when gathering to think about themes of harvest and gratitude to talk about why it is we sometimes choose to go against the flow of the river. And make the foods on our plate that are reflections of our values. Rather than antithetical to our values. [applause] if we can head this way and the autographing is on this