EvC BONUS | Fire Weather: John Vaillant on the New Era of Extreme Fire
Energy vs Climate X Climate Books Reviews
"It is arguably the greatest betrayal in the history of the human race. And we are living in the middle of it."
This week we're sharing an episode from Ed's other podcast, Climate Book Reviews, co-hosted with Dr. Roger Thompson of Arizona State University.
Their guest is John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast. (US and International - Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World)
Many listeners will know Vaillant from his earlier books The Golden Spruce and The Tiger, both gripping works of narrative nonfiction. In Fire Weather, he turns his attention to the massive 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire and what it tells us about the new era of extreme fire.
The conversation covers a lot of ground: the surprisingly non-partisan origins of climate science in the 1950s, the oil industry's deliberate pivot to denial, what attribution science actually tells us about today's fires, and why Fort McMurray ā the oil sands hub at the heart of Canadian petroleum ā was always going to be where these forces collided.
About Our Guest:
John Vaillant's acclaimed, award-winning nonfiction books, The Golden Spruce and The Tiger, were national bestsellers. His debut novel, The Jaguarās Children, was a finalist for the Rogers Writersā Trust Fiction Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award. Vaillant has received the Governor Generalās Literary Award, British Columbiaās National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize, and the Pearson Writersā Trust Prize for Nonfiction. He has written for, among others, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and The Walrus.
About Your Co-Hosts:
David Keith is Professor and Founding Faculty Director, Climate Systems Engineering Initiative at the University of Chicago. He is the founder of Carbon Engineering and was formerly a professor at Harvard University and the University of Calgary. He splits his time between Canmore and Chicago.
Sara Hastings-Simon studies energy transitions at the intersection of policy, business, and technology. Sheās a policy wonk, a physicist turned management consultant, and a professor at the University of Calgary where she teaches in the Energy Science program, and co-leads the Net Zero Electricity Research Initiative. She has a particular interest in the mid-transition.
Ed Whittingham isnāt a physicist but is a passionate environmental professional. He is the founder of Advance Carbon Removal, a coalition advancing demand side solutions for carbon removal in Canada. He is also the former CEO of the Pembina Institute, Canadaās widely respected energy/environment NGO. His op-eds have been published in newspapers and magazines across Canada and internationally.
Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts
Energy vs Climate: How climate is changing our energy systems
www.energyvsclimate.com
