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Tom Steyer’s initial experience with the impacts of climate change was during a family trip to Alaska. Upon returning, he and his family sat at their dining room table and broke down what they had witnessed of the melting landscape.

“We said, ‘what is going on and what should we do about it?’” Steyer said. “You could really see that this was a huge monumental global change.”

Steyer, a billionaire environmental activist, businessman and 2020 presidential candidate, discussed his actions to combat climate change, how his upbringing influenced his ideologies and the future of carbon emissions in a Tuesday talk at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Steyer addressed the plausibility of modern climate goals and efforts, specifically pointing to net-zero emissions targets by corporations and institutions. Under its current sustainability plan, SU is aiming to reach net-zero emissions by 2040.

“I’m both encouraged and skeptical of corporations that promise net-zero (emissions) without really knowing how to get there. Of course, it’s great that people are starting to care but you’ve got to wonder, I think it’s easier said than done on this,” Steyer said.

SU’s Dynamic Sustainability Lab hosted Steyer with the primary goal of spreading environmental awareness on campus, said Dr. Jay Golden, the lab’s founder and the main host for the event. The lab’s mission overall is to employ SU students to analyze risks and benefits of new environmental public policy and technology amid the pursuit of net-zero carbon emissions.

“What I want students to take away is the importance of their impact moving forward,” Golden said. ‘This generation is going to be the most impactful, whether it’s climate energy or just peace and prosperity.”

Steyer, a Yale University alum, sold his stock in 2012 from the hedge fund firm he founded in 1986, Farallon Capital, and reidentified his career focus in climate change activism and economic and racial injustice.

“I wanted to feel like I’m having an impact in the world in a good way, deliberately engaging all myself, not just my analytical capabilities,” Steyer said.

Since signing the Giving Pledge – a public commitment to commit at least half of his wealth to philanthropic efforts – in 2010, Steyer said he’s focused most of his efforts on investments in sustainability, economic development and voter registration.

Most recently, and despite his previous investments in coal mining, Steyer launched the Galvanize Climate Solutions climate investment fund in September 2021 with an objective of accelerating potential climate change solutions.

At SU, students have supported efforts to urge the university to prioritize sustainability. Nearly 93% of voters in this spring’s Student Association election approved SA’s Carbon Neutrality Referendum, which calls on SU to accelerate its 2040 carbon neutrality goal timeline by a decade to 2030.

Steyer also discussed the influence of younger voters in American politics in recent years. About 27% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 cast a vote during the 2022 midterm elections, which marks the second-highest turnout among voters under 30 in at least the last three decades, according to NPR. Steyer pointed to Wisconsin’s recent state Supreme Court election as an instance where voter turnout played a pivotal role, especially considering that court’s upcoming decisions on abortion rights and redistricting.

Danielle Blyn, an SU freshman who attended the discussion, said she hopes Steyer’s ideas can inspire young people, and emphasized that climate change should be a center-stage focus for politicians right now.

“I feel like as a voter, I really benefited from hearing him speak, especially being a young student who can have such a large impact on the world and use my voice for something that really matters,” Blyn said.

SU is set to host a “Sustain Our Campus” event on Tuesday in the Schine Student Center, at which students can ask questions and learn more about campus sustainability efforts from organizations and professionals who oversee sustainability at the university.

Steyer labeled climate change as an “overwhelming” challenge for the U.S., but emphasized that working to solve it can be a way to mitigate partisanship.

“This is a time where people are mad at each other and different parties are mad at each other. But the truth is that underneath it all, we share a ton of values and a ton of sense of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Steyer said. “I believe that working out on something together, and making it happen is something that will actually pull us together.”

Published on April 11, 2023 at 11:56 pm

Contact Faith: flbolduc@syr.edu