Climate Science Gets a Seat in Congress with Eric Sorensen

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Representative Eric Sorensen of Illinois brings his background as a meteorologist to the halls of Congress, advocating for science-based policy amid intensifying climate threats. In this episode, he shares how personal experiences with extreme weather shaped his career and why protecting agencies like the National Weather Service is more urgent than ever. Sorensen also discusses the political challenges of defending climate science and makes a compelling case for why more scientists should enter public office. Recommended reading: Higher Bills, Hotter Planet: What Trump’s Megabill Means for You Texas Failed to Spend Millions in Federal Aid for Flood Protection Flood Forecasts Could Worsen as Trump’s NWS Cuts Take Hold E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-checked ourthe show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:27.8	slash UK slash AI for people. For Scientific American Science quickly, I'm Rachel Feldman.
0:52.5	Representative Eric Sorensen of Illinois spent 22 years forecasting the weather on television
0:57.9	before winning his congressional seat in 2022.
1:01.4	He now finds himself defending scientific agencies from unprecedented attacks at a time when
1:07.0	climate change is pushing weather patterns into uncharted territory. Today, we're talking to
1:13.0	Eric about how his scientific background shapes his approach to politics, what he'd change about
1:18.2	the country's approach to catastrophic weather events, and why he thinks more scientists should
1:23.4	consider running for office. Thanks so much for coming on to chat with us today.
1:28.1	Oh, it's great to be with you.
1:29.2	I'd love to start with a little bit about your background as a meteorologist.
1:33.0	How did you get interested in the field?
1:35.5	And what was your career like?
1:36.7	Yeah, I grew up in Rockford, Illinois, and I grew up afraid of storms.
1:40.5	I grew up afraid of tornadoes, right?
	...

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