Veerabhadran Ramanathan
Credit: Cheryl Hogue/C&EN
“ ‘Laudato si’ ’ [Pope Francis’ recent encyclical letter on the environment] is entirely consistent with the best findings of climate change science.” Veerabhadran (Ram) Ramanathan, distinguished professor of atmospheric and climate sciences, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, and member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
Peter Turkson
Credit: Cheryl Hogue/C&EN
“We received this earth as a garden. We do not want to pass it down to those who come after us as a wilderness.” Peter Turkson, a Ghanaian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and president of the Pontifical Council for Justice & Peace.
Fatih Birol
Credit: Cheryl Hogue/C&EN
“Today in the world, we have $500 billion of subsidies for fossil fuels … which translates into $110 per [metric] ton as an incentive to emit carbon.” Fatih Birol, executive director, International Energy Agency, calling for the phaseout of these subsidies.
John Kerry
Credit: Arnaud Bouissou/MEDDE
“I don’t look at this as something governments are going to solve. I believe the next, whether it’s Elon Musk or Steve Jobs or some entrepreneur, someone investing today in battery storage that’s going to transform our abilities to take renewable and alternative energy and store it and then be much more competitive with fossil fuel, these are the ways we’re going to change it.”
— U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Credit: Newscom
“We support research and development for low-carbon solutions with all fuels and of course also with efficiency.” — U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz