We actually have a shot at stopping the climate crisis | Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
TED Talks Daily
TED
4.1 • 12.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 October 2023
⏱️ 9 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How is the US going to reach net zero by 2050? That's the question Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, director of the Office of Science for the US Department of Energy, is urgently trying to answer. She shares the thinking behind what her team is calling "Energy Earthshots" — projects designed to accelerate innovation in the fight against climate change, from nature-based solutions in the soil to the creation of brand-new technologies – and calls for innovative, equitable policies backed by science.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Ted Audio Collective |
| 0:11.0 | I'm Elise Hugh. |
| 0:12.0 | It's Ted Talks Daily. |
| 0:13.4 | So how could lessons from U.S. President John F. Kennedy's moon shot initiative be applied |
| 0:18.5 | to our ambitious goals to transition away from fossil fuels? |
| 0:23.0 | The director of the U.S. Energy Department's Office of Science, Asperette Asifab-Burhe, |
| 0:28.5 | is working on exactly that. |
| 0:31.0 | In her talk from the Ted Countdown Summit in 2023, she lays out how the country is undertaking |
| 0:36.3 | this ambitious effort after a short sponsor message. |
| 0:58.5 | 80% filthy. |
| 1:04.4 | That's how much energy the American population still derives from fossil fuels. |
| 1:10.8 | Deployment of clean energy, even at today's rapidly accelerating pace, is simply not enough |
| 1:17.4 | to halt the climate crisis. |
| 1:20.0 | Going forward, if we're going to reduce the risk of overshoot of global temperature |
| 1:25.2 | beyond two degrees C, we also have to reduce the amount of CO2 that remains in the atmosphere. |
| 1:33.0 | The TMI lead, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, is part of an unprecedented |
| 1:38.7 | national effort to get us to net zero emissions by 2050. |
| 1:44.6 | To achieve our goals, we're aiming to establish a transformative ecosystem of innovation that |
| 1:52.6 | achieves major innovations in science and technology for carbon dioxide removal. |
| 2:00.3 | Innovations and policy and regulations to enable the nascent center on carbon dioxide |
| 2:05.1 | removal to grow, and innovations to engage more people in our quest to finding and implementing |
| 2:13.9 | sweeping solutions. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.