Today we bring on Nicole Loher, a strategist, adjunct professor at NYU, and climate change advocate in New York. After accidentally becoming a competitive triathlete, Nicole now balances her passions for training and for climate change policy (with a little bit of fashion thrown in – yes, she contains multitudes). She talks us through Climate Policy 101 and what the Green New Deal *actually* means. Plus, she overviews the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal that Biden recently signed.

We also talk about “climate anxiety,” the feeling of dread that’s induced by the thought of the future of the climate), and how that might affect women differently than men. (And food for thought: the search term “climate anxiety” hit its peak popularity in August of 2021, and it’s remained popular since). And similar to Azora Zoe’s perspective that “sustainability is a spectrum,” Nicole also explains why it’s a myth that you don’t have to be a perfect climate activist to be an effective climate activist. 

One of the most fascinating themes running through our conversation was something surprisingly uplifting: climate change is not the fault nor the responsibility of any one individual. Moreover, Nicole identifies as a “climate optimist” who believes there’s time to turn this Spaceship Earth around. 

“It’s not an individual’s job to solve the climate crisis,” she says in this episode. “This is a bigger issue that should fall on the shoulders of corporations in tandem with policy pushing those corporations.” She also points to the factoid that it only takes 3.5 percent of a population to move a movement along – which seems totally manageable. 

About Nicole Loher:

Nicole Loher is a triathlete and fitness enthusiast as well as a student at Columbia University and a professor at New York University and the Fashion Institute of Technology. Her work sits at the intersection of insights, strategy and emerging technology to help tell stories that advance complex climate communications goals. Her strategic work has received multiple awards (Shorties, Drum), has been recognized in the press (Forbes, Adweek), and is featured in the Smithsonian. She is currently finishing her Master's at Columbia University's Climate School with a focus on policy and communications and consulting for a variety of climate and solution focused organizations. In her down time, she’s an Adjunct Professor at NYU, where she’s led the creation and development of the school’s first social media course curriculum and social media certificate. She has also overseen the research and publishing of two white papers with a focus on the influence of social media on consumer behavior. She’s a Council on Foreign Relations member focused on advancing the conversation around climate change within corporations, she has her own column focused on discussing the implications of future climate policy, and she ghostwrites for a swath of technology executives on various topics within emerging climate tech.

Resources for this episode:

• The Google Trends report for the phrase “climate anxiety”
• From The New York Times: Climate Change Enters the Therapy Room
• Find Nicole on Instagram and Twitter, where she shares her takes on climate policy
• Nicole recommends Carbon Brief Daily as a great starting point for the most updated climate news 
• Heading to D.C.? Stop by the Smithsonian to see Nicole’s work in the Futures that Work exhibit (she contributed to the Hypergiant Eos BioReactor)