Rational Middle: Net Zero

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(soft ominous music)

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- [Mark Finley] Where are we in our fight against climate change?

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We're losing.

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- [Dr. Richard Newell] We have levels of carbon dioxide that are

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as high as they've been in two million years.

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- [Dr. Virginia Burkett] We have changes in the distribution

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of plants and animals,

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increases in wildfire,

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tide gauge records from around the world

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showing acceleration of sea level rise.

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- [Eric Drummond] We are just now at a point

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where climate change is clearly impacting

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virtually every segment of our population.

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When you start to have that happen

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then it becomes clear that it's a call to action.

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- [Mark Finley] We are rapidly running out of space

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to stop adding new greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere

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if we want to limit the adverse consequences

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before the social costs really take off.

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- [Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti] We've been very, very slow to realize

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the importance of global climate change.

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What is going well is that there's an awareness

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that is starting to build.

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- [Dr. Michael Webber] The workforce is demanding a low carbon future.

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Major industrial customers are requiring low carbon.

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The investors are starting to demand it.

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The markets have spoken and the markets have said

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we're gonna make this change.

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- [Eric Drummond] We will have to bring into the marketplace

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technologies that aren't in existence now.

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- [Todd Snitchler] Can it be done?

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If we allow innovation to do what it does, yes.

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- [Joy Ditto] A lot of different components are going to have

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to come together, industries, support from government.

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There has to be leadership.

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- [Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti] We will have to start doing things at scale

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and try out every one of these approaches.

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We can't afford to get it wrong.

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- [Dr. Isabella Gee] We can become a leader in net zero technologies

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and in decarbonizing technologies.

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And I think that we can grow our economy that way.

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- [Dr. Virginia Burkett] We got ourselves in to this,

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human ingenuity and working together,

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I mean, that's the way out.

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(tense music softens)

AllListenableWatched

 

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- Hi, my name's Gregory Kallenberg,

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and I am the founder of the Rational Middle.

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The Rational Middle is a group

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of passionate independent filmmakers

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who create short documentaries about contentious issues.

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We started the Rational Middle in 2011

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when we created the "Rational Middle of Energy"

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with Shell as our partner.

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The films have been seen and shared over six million times.

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They've won awards, and what's most important is

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they help people understand how complicated

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energy and the energy future was.

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And now, a decade later,

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we're once again partnering with Shell

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to create a new series,

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called the "Rational Middle: Net Zero."

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(soft music)

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- We're doing the "Rational Middle: Net Zero" edition

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to really dig into what it's gonna take

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for the United States to be at net zero by 2050.

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And that might sound like a long way off,

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and it might sound like something that's difficult

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to get your head around, but actually,

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we're gonna walk through what's happening right now

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and try to make it a little bit more tangible for people.

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- Climate change is an incredibly important issue,

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and it's not a left or right issue.

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It's something that is affecting our livelihood,

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our communities, our cultures, our economy.

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I can't think of an issue that is more difficult

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than the decarbonizing of our economy.

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And the only way that we can tackle

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this massive challenge

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is if we chart a path forward together.

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- And that's gonna take collaboration

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by companies like Shell,

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but it's also gonna take collaboration with the government.

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It's gonna take collaboration with communities,

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with individuals, with consumers,

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and all of that needs to come together.

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It's one of the reasons why

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we are entering into this conversation,

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because working together is the only way

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we're gonna reach net zero by 2050.

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- We know that people will have a skepticism

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about Shell sponsoring the series.

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This happened last time.

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In fact, we knew that

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when we were getting kicked by both sides

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that we were doing exactly the job we needed to do

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by serving the rational middle.

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That's why we're not only being transparent

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about our support, but we're also ensuring

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that we have a strong foundation of facts

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that back up every one of our experts.

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- So everything you hear will be fact-checked,

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but you will hear differing views.

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We will be challenging ourselves.

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We will be challenging each other.

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Bring your skepticism. Bring your curiosity.

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Bring your questions.

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That's the way we're going to actually create action,

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is when people get involved and people have disagreements,

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people come together, but we create the dialogue,

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we create the curiosity, and we create the action.

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Net zero by 2050 feels like a goal

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that's way far out in the future.

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And through this conversation,

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we hope to bring it right here to now.

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This film series, I think,

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is going to help catalyze that conversation

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and drive others into action

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and help Shell be an action on that too.

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- "Rational Middle: Net Zero" could be...

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It actually is the greatest project

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we've ever been able to work on.

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And it's not just because we get to bring the voices

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of the world's leading energy experts

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to talk about their technologies

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and how they're going to decarbonize our economy.

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But also, through this series, we're gonna get to show

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the communities that are being affected by climate change

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and the work they're doing in those communities

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to mitigate the effects of climate change.

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- Climate change is the biggest challenge of our lives,

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but I worry about how the world will look

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when my kids grow up.

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What kinds of actions can I be taking

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that will help the world be a better place by 2050,

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that will help us achieve that?

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In fact, it's the reason I joined this company

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four years ago, is 'cause I wanted to be part

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of creating the future of energy.

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- So no matter where you find yourself today,

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whether you're someone who understands climate change

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and is looking for those solutions

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or you're just somebody just starting

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to understand the issue,

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what's important is that you see these films

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and you become an active part of this discussion.

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- Whether you're involved just by asking more questions

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or reading more information

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or having a conversation at your dinner table,

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having those kinds of conversation drives action.

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- We can't do this without you.

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In fact, we can't do it without all of us.

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So see the films, be an active part of the discussion,

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and start getting on the road with all of us

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to create the net zero future.

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(soft music)