We look forward to our first Zoom call on short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) with this impressive line-up of climate and clean air experts, who will help answer several key questions:

• In the battle with climate change is it as important to reduce SLCP emissions as it is to reduce CO₂ emissions?
• Why aren’t more people talking about SLCPs (also called super pollutants)?
• If we are able to pass a statewide ballot measure that would provide about $3 billion a year to roll back climate change— including $1 billion a year to reduce SLCPs alone—what should that $1 billion be spent on and why?

We are eager to hear the responses from our knowledgeable panelists (in alphabetical order) below.

Join us for Zoom #1—Reducing Short-Lived Climate Pollutants—the first in a 5-part series on rolling back climate change June 24, 10am-12pm. REGISTER HERE!

Jason Anderson, Director of Governance, Diplomacy and Super Pollutants at ClimateWorks
ClimateWorks believes we must curb super pollutants alongside carbon dioxide because SLCPs can be thousands of times more damaging to the climate than CO₂, and cutting them will yield seven times the global warming reduction by 2050 compared to cutting CO₂ alone. ClimateWorks also believes that aggressively reducing these emissions supports a healthy climate while also providing significant public health, social, and economic benefits.

David Doniger, Senior Strategic Director of the Climate and Clean Energy Program, NRDC (Natural Resources and Defense Council)
David has been at the forefront of the battle against air pollution and global climate change since 1978, and helped formulate the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement designed to stop depleting the earth's ozone layer, and has made several essential amendments to the Clean Air Act, one of the first and most influential modern environmental laws in the U.S., and one of the most comprehensive air quality laws in the world.

Chanell Fletcher, Deputy Executive Officer of Environmental Justice, California Air Resources Board (CARB)
Chanell plays a key role in CARB programs addressing the disproportionate impacts of air pollution, climate change and associated chronic health conditions on communities of color. She oversees CARB’s Environmental Justice and Community Air Protection Program and develops CARB’s environmental justice policies with a focus on moving away from a top-down equity model to one centered on building trust at the community level.

Ryan McCarthy, Director of Climate and Clean Energy, Weideman Group
Ryan spent eight years in the administrations of Gov. Brown and Gov. Newsom as the Science and Technology Policy Advisor to the Chair of the California Air Resources Board. At CARB he developed many of the state's leading climate policies, including its 2030 and climate neutrality targets, short-lived climate pollutants strategy, and clean energy and transportation policies. He now leads a climate and clean energy practice in Sacramento.

Jerilyn Mendoza, Los Angeles Regional Organizer for the Climate Center
Jerilyn trained as a lawyer but has worked on environmental-related policy initiatives for two decades with environmental non-profit organizations, as an appointed government official on local, state and international levels, and with utilities—most recently at Southern California Edison. Jerilyn has been guided always by the words of Ellie Goodwin, who urged people to talk not just about global problems but about environmental abuses in their own backyards.

Dr. Ilissa Ocko, Senior Climate Scientist at EDF (the Environmental Defense Fund)
Ilissa has researched the most effective ways to limit warming in the near-term and long-term by reducing both short-lived and long-lived climate pollutants including carbon dioxide, methane and black carbon. A recent paper shows that a rapid, full-scale effort to reduce methane could slow worldwide warming by as much as 30%, highlighting the critical role of methane in any climate strategy, even as we decarbonize our energy systems.

Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Presidential Chair in Climate Sustainability at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, and winner of the prestigious Blue Planet Prize
Dr. Ramanathan is often described as the “Pope’s climate scientist” because of his work with Pope Francis. He published his first study on super pollutants in 1975, and when it made the front page of The New York Times he thought the super pollutant problem was solved—but that was five decades ago. He’s done many SLCP studies since, including one concluding the planet will cross a major global warming threshold by 2030—with a 50% amplification of today’s temperatures.

Coby Skye, Assistant Deputy Director, LA Department of Public Works
Coby oversees the Environmental Programs Division at the Department of Public Works. He is a registered Civil Engineer, having received a B.S. degree from Polytechnic University and a Masters in Public Administration from Cal State Long Beach. Coby provides insight and direction for solid waste management policies and administers waste reduction and recycling programs and initiatives. He volunteers with various environmental organizations.

Join us to talk with these SLCP experts on Zoom #1—Reducing Short-Lived Climate Pollutants—the first in a 5-part Climate and Clean Air series on June 24, 10am-12pm. REGISTER HERE!