DAN KAMMEN

Founding Director of Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL)

Chair of Energy and Resources Group Energy and Resources Group (ERG)

Professor of Public Policy at Goldman School of Public Policy

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 2007

“We don't just want to save the world, we want to save a quality version of the world, and if we wait till the 11th hour we will have already given up the best part of nature.”

Dan is an intersectional environmentalist. He addresses not only the physical effects of climate change but also the social. His work has brought light to those that are disproportionately affected by global warming, as well as the fact that quality of life and economic opportunity is directly tied to energy access.

Based out of UC Berkeley, Dan’s next project is the Oakland Eco Block, a plan to connect 30 to 40 neighboring homes into a microgrid and provide clean, reliable energy access to its residents.

His work in this sector has earned him a Nobel Peace Prize.

Dan gives us simple facts about the benefits of renewable energy.

“For every dollar invested in solar, we get three to four times more jobs than a dollar invested in coal or natural gas. We get two to three times more jobs by investing in energy efficiency than in natural gas or coal.”

“We study the clean energy transition around the world from poor communities, to rich communities in the United States, in Kenya, in China and over and over again the message comes back from real-world data that we are creating a more employment rich economy, creating more different types of jobs by building out clean energy generation, electrified vehicles, distributed power for communities than we would get by continuing to invest in the fossil fuel economy, which we know environmentally we cannot continue anyway.”